164 



ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of the LIVEKPOOL 



MARINE BIOLOGY COMMITTEE and their 



BIOLOGICAL STATION at POET EKIN. 



By Professor W. A. Herdman, D.Sc, F.K.S. 



[Read December 10th, 1897. ] 



The past year, though comparatively uneventful, has been 

 marked, as the following pages will show, by much solid 

 biological work carried on at Port Erin and elsewhere on 

 our littoral ; and several of our local workers have opened 

 up interesting lines of investigation of both scientific and 

 economic importance. There was experimental fish 

 hatching at Easter, several meetings have been held at 

 Port Erin during the year and lectures and practical 

 demonstrations given, the College tables have been well 

 occupied, some additions have been made to our faunistic 

 lists, and several notable papers published in scientific 

 journals upon the results of work done at the Biological 

 Station. 



The fact that we have had fewer dredging expeditions 

 than in some previous years is probably due to the absence 

 of the Hon. Treasurer in Scotland and of the Hon. Director 

 in America dining a considerable part of the summer. 

 But the new season will see renewed activity in this 

 direction. Plans are being laid for a more detailed survey 

 of our submarine area, for a systematic exploration of the 

 problems of distribution and environment. The changes 

 of the plankton, or floating life of the sea, a knowledge of 

 which is so important in fishery <|uestions, has already 

 engaged our special attention, and, as will appear further on 

 in this Report, a scheme is in operation for the simultan- 



