director's report. 79 



E. S. Goodrich, b.a., March 20th to April 4th (General Zoology). 



L. J. Picton, March 20th to April 4th {General Zoology). 



T. H. Taylor, March 23rd to April 13th (Polyzoa). 



W. Garstang, b.a., March 21st to May 1st (Tunicata). 



G. W. Butler, m.a., April 3rd to May 17th (Teleostean development). 



Prof. C. C. Nutting, April 12th to May 20th (Hydroids). 



T. H. Eiches, r..A., April 13th ( Nemcrteans ). 



T. V. Hodgson, May 27th to June 9th ( AmijMpoda). 



Dr. P. Barthels, ]\Iay 28th to June 8th (Echinodermata). 



W. Garstang, m.a., June 2Gth to July 31st (Tunicata). 



S. P. Bedford, June 29th to August 1st (General Zoology). 



J. E. Gray, July 2nd to August 1st (General Zoology). 



Prof. W. F. K. Weldon, f.r.s., June 29th (Variation of Carcinus 

 mojnas. 



Dr. A. Bethe, July 5th (Nervous System of Crustacea). 



J. Bancroft, July 8th to July 30th (General Zoology). 



G. P. Bidder, m.a., July 11th (Sponges). 



W. J. Beaumont, b.a., July 17th (Faunistic investigations). 



J. D. Gilchrist, Ph.D., July 20th (Nervous System of Mollusea). 



Amongst the workers v/e have been glad to welcome the three foreign 

 naturalists who have visited us. Prof. Nutting, of the State University 

 of Iowa, was engaged for some six weeks on the study of the Hydroids 

 found at Plymouth, and succeeded in finding not only several species 

 new to the Plymouth fauna, but also in making a number of 

 interesting observations on the structure of the Plumularidw, a family 

 to which he is devoting special attention. It is hoped that the next 

 number of this Journal will contain a paper by Prof. Nutting, embodying 

 some of his more important results. 



Dr. P. Barthels, from Prof. Ludwig's Laboratory in Bonn, was 

 occupied chiefly in the preservation of Eclmioderms for future study, 

 whilst Dr. Bethe, from Prof. Hertwig's Laboratory in Munich, is 

 engaged in a physiological study of the nervous system of Carcinus 

 mcenas, side by side with an investigation of the minute anatomy of 

 that structure. The latter researches are of particular interest, as they 

 are being made with the aid of the new method which Dr. Bethe has 

 devised for fixing methylen blue preparations with Ammonium 

 molyhdate. This method is, without doubt, destined to play a most 

 important part in future studies of the minute histology of the nervous 

 system of many forms. There can be no question that it is superior 

 to any means yet devised for rendering the results of methylen blue 

 staining permanent, and it has the immense additional advantage that 

 sections of the preparations can be made after imbedding in parafliu in 

 the usual way. 



