MAEINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT POET ERIN. 285 



basement, appeared, one at the beginning of the winter 

 and the other early in the present year ; the result, most 

 probably, of slight settlement of the building. Fortunately, 

 they have not interfered with the usefulness of the tanks. 

 Each still holds a depth of 18 inches of water without 

 appreciable leakage. 



"During the early part of March all the tanks were 

 emptied, thoroughly cleansed and, where necessary, re- 

 stocked. A considerable number of the animals introduced 

 at Easter, 1898, survived the winter, but during the 

 excessive heat experienced at the end of August, the 

 mortality amongst them was great, and few now remain. 

 A specimen of Sabella pavonia, placed in one of the 

 shallow table tanks in July, 1898, is still (December, 1899), 

 alive. Several Shannies {Blennius pholis) and a Sting-fish 

 (Cottus scorpius) spawned in one of the tanks during the 

 first week in March, but the eggs were not fertilised. 

 The last named fish has well maintained its reputation for 

 pugnacity and voracity by attacking and killing every fish 

 that has been placed in the tank, with the exception of a 

 young Dragonet {Callionymus lyra), which escaped the 

 fate of three others placed in the tank at the same time, 

 and still survives. I have several times seen the Sting- 

 fish swallow so many young plaice that it could only with 

 some effort raise itself from the bottom of the tank. 



"A small lobster, about 3 inches long, was captured and 

 placed in one of the wall tanks, about the middle of 

 February, and it now appears to be thoroughly accli- 

 matised. One morning in March I found the dead body 

 of a Sting-fish, which had been in a sickly condition for 

 several days, buried in the gravel at the bottom of the 

 tank. On removing it I found that it had been partly 

 eaten. A fortnight later a hermit crab was killed, and its 

 body similarly buried. As the lobster was the only 



