director's report. 93 



and valuable work in this direction has been done in recent years 

 by Swedish, Norwegian, and Scottish investigators, an account of some 

 of which Mr. Garstang gives in the present Journal (pp. 56-70). 

 Mr. Garstang is also paying special attention to the mackerel which 

 are being taken in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, with a view to 

 determining whether different races of this fish can be recognized ; and 

 at the same time arrangements have been made, through the Inspectors 

 of Irish Fisheries, for samples of mackerel taken off the south-west 

 coast of Ireland to be sent from time to time to Plymoutli for 

 examination. 



Mr. Holt has been chiefly devoting his attention to the distribution 

 in this neighbourhood of young fishes, more especially of young flat- 

 fishes, and to the study of the eggs and larval stages captured in the 

 tow-net. 



The trawling experiments in Teignmouth, Start, and Tor Bays have 

 been continued by Mr. Scott and Mr. Holt. In March the work 

 was done with the hired sailing trawler which had been used in all the 

 previous experiments. In May and June our own steamboat, Busy Bee, 

 was used, and with the aid of the steam winch with which she 

 has been fitted, she proved herself satisfactory for the work. A 

 fortnight was spent at Exmouth and Dartmouth, and successful hauls 

 of the trawl were made in each bay. 



We have been able to extend our work this year to the Cornish 

 Coast, Fowey and Falmouth being used as centres. At the latter port 

 a fortnight was spent, and with the assistance of Mr, Vallentin the 

 trawling and dredging grounds, both of the harbour and of the 

 neighbouring bays, were examined. 



The results of the experiments with floating bottles, described in 

 my last Report, for the purpose of determining the direction of 

 the surface drift, have so far proved interesting. A considerable 

 number of bottles put into the sea in the neighbourhood of the 

 Eddystone in January and February last have now been recovered. 

 These have been found to the eastward of Plymouth, having been 

 carried up Channel. At first we received the post cards from the 

 south coast of England, between the Isle of Wight and Dover, with 

 a few from the north coast of France, in the neighbourhood of Calais. 

 Later cards, from bottles put out about the same time, have been 

 returned in numbers from places in the southern part of the North Sea, 

 the bottles having been washed ashore chiefly on the islands off 

 the Dutch and German coasts (Terschelling, Amiland, Borkum, 

 Langeoog, etc.). 



In addition to the members of the Association's staff who have been 

 engaged in these investigations, a number of naturalists have, as 



