510 THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATIONS OF EUROPE. 



ing to the Mediterranean fisheries, and owes, in a measnre, its financial 

 support to this practical work. 



Villa Franca (Ville-Franche), between Nice and Mentone, is one of 

 the most interesting points of the Riviera. Its laboratory is situated 

 directly on the mole, a large one-storied building of masonry, with a 

 small garden, and with several shops and out-houses. It is supported 

 essentially by Russians, and its description has recently been published 

 by Prof. Alexis Korotueff (Russian text, Cracow), one of whose figures 

 is here reproduced. The station has had as a constant visitor Prof. 

 Carl Vogt, of Geneva, and is well known through the work of Dr. 

 Bolles Lee. 



II, — ENGLAND. 



The laboratory at Plymouth is quite a recent one, its foundation due 

 in the first instance to the efforts of Prof. Ray Lankester. Its building, 

 first opened in 18S8, is, in many regards, hardly second to Naples. This 

 locality was found well suited for the needs of an extensive marine 

 station. Opposite Brittany it takes advantage of the same extremes 

 of tide, and the rocky Devonshire coast affords one of the richest col- 

 lecting grounds. The situation of the building is a remarkable one; 

 it stands at one end of the aucient Hoe of Plymouth — a broad, level park 

 whose high situation looks far oft' over the channel. At the rear of the 

 building are the old fortifications of the town. As shown in the illus- 

 tratioii (PI. XXIX, fig. 2), the building is, at the ends, three-storied. On 

 the ground fioor is the general aquarium room, well supplied with local 

 marine fauna, and open to the public. The laboratory proper is upon 

 the second tloor, divided into eleven compartments, the work places of 

 the students. A series of small tanks passes down the middle of the 

 room. In the western end are the library, the museum, the chemical, 

 photographic, and physiological rooms; in the eastern are the living- 

 quarters of the director. The water supi>ly of the laboratory is con- 

 tained in two small reservoirs directly between the building and the 

 fortifications, and is carried throughout the building by gas engines. 

 Tidal aquaria are in constant use for developmental studies. The col- 

 lecting for the laboratory is aided by a 38-foot steam launch. 



The present support of the station is not, unfortunately, as generous 

 a one as might be desired. The station is obliged to consider in the 

 work of its director matters relating to j)ublic fisheries, and is only 

 enabled by this means to secure governmental assistance. The build- 

 itself was constructed by the eftbrts of the Marine Biological Associa- 

 tion of the United Kingdom, under whose auspices the present work is 

 being carried on. The investigators' tables are occupied by any founder 

 of the association, or liis representative, by the naturalist, or institutions 

 who have rented them. The subscription price per year of an investi- 

 gator's place is £40, but tables may be leased for as short a time as a 

 njontlj. The laboratory provides material for ipvestigation and the 



