MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION ON PUFFIN ISLAND. 11 
sands. Would it not be worth while to establish artificial 
mussel beds in the neighbourhood of Hilbre Island ? 
The Liverpool Salvage Association, with their usual 
liberality, placed their famous old steamer, the ‘‘ Hyzena,”’ 
once more at the service of the committee at Whitsuntide, 
for a three days dredging expedition. During the three 
former biological cruises of the ‘‘ Hyena,’ in 1885, 1886 
and 1887, the region explored has been the southern part 
of the L.M.B.C. district around the coasts of North 
Wales and Anglesey. (See fig. 1, over page.) 
On the present occasion the committee decided to run a 
couple of lines of soundings and dredgings between the 
Mersey and the Isle of Man, and to spend some time 
dredging round the southern end of that island, the 
general objects being (1) to get some knowledge of the 
depths, bottom, and animals, across the eastern half of the 
Irish Sea, and (2) to investigate the rich fauna living 
around the ‘‘ Calf’? and south end of the Isle of Man. 
About seven a.m. on Saturday morning, 19th May, the 
“ Hyena” left the Liverpool Landing Stage with a party 
of nearly twenty biologists on board, including Mr. I. C. 
Thompson, Mr. W. 8. McMillan, Mr. A. Leicester, Mr. J. 
Lomas, Mr. A. O. Walker, Dr. R. Hanitsch, Mr. J. A. 
Clipp, Dr .C. liarkin; Mr. C..H. Hurst;. Mr. Hill, Mr; 
R. McMillan, Professor Denny, Mr. Watson, Professor 
Miall, Mr. N. Caine, Professor Herdman, and Captain 
Young, of the Salvage Association; and provided with 
dredges, trawls, tow-nets, sounding line, deep-sea reversing 
thermometer,* microscopes, and the other necessary instru- 
ments, dishes, bottles and reagents. 
Atter the well-known sand-banks round the mouth of 
the Mersey had been passed, soundings and bottom 
* This very important instrument was kindly presented to the committee 
by Mr. Isaac Roberts, of Maghull. 
