30 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and identifying the specimens. He succeeded in finding 

 23 marine species and 2 fresh water forms : with one ex- 

 ception {Leptoplana tremellaris) all these are new records 

 for the district, the Turbellaria being a group which has 

 not hitherto received adequate attention in our seas. 



Mr. Gamble informs me that the most noteworthy forms 

 in his list are : — Stylo stomum variahile, Gnjptocelides 

 loveni, Promesostoma lenticulatitm and Plagiostoma sul- 

 pliureum ; with the exception of Stijlostomum variahile, 

 these are all new to the British Fauna. Mr. Gamble's 

 detailed report upon the Turbellaria of the L.M.B.C,. 

 district — which will be one of the first-fruits in the way of 

 published scientific work from the new station — is now 

 nearly finished. It will be laid before the Biological Society 

 at the next meeting, and will be published in the forth- 

 coming volume of Transactions. 



Mr. W. J. Beaumont stayed for nearly four months 

 at the Station, and besides working through a series of 

 type animals of various invertebrate groups, he kept a 

 number of live animals under observation, and verified for 

 his own satisfaction points that had already been deter- 

 mined. In this way he reared and watched stage by stage 

 the developing young of the small star-fish Asterina gihhosa 

 which is very abundant in the " Coralline " pools at Port 

 Erin ; and at my suggestion he kept under observation for 

 a long period living colonies of the Alcyonarian Sarco- 

 dictyon catenata, which is dredged not far outside the break- 

 water. The polypes of Sarcodictyon are very shy or 

 sensitive, and have very rarely been seen in the expanded 

 state. From Mr. Beaumont's observations there can be 

 no doubt that it is the bright day-light that affects them. 

 He found by visiting the laboratory at night that they were 

 then frequently fully expanded, and also occasionally on 

 dull mornings. Mr. Beaumont also made some observa- 



