86 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
had favoured a marine biological station, for attacking fishery 
problems in Canada as they had been attacked, and in many 
cases solved, in other countries; but it was a letter of Professor 
Knight of Queen’s University, Kingston, addressed to the secretary 
of the Royal Society on May 6th, 1895, which gave the proposal 
a practical shape, and after Sir John Bourinot had referred the matter 
to Section IV, it was decided to bring the proposal before the British 
Association, which appointed a committee in 1896, the members of 
which met in Toronto, under the presidency of Professor Miall, F.R.S., 
from whom, I may be pardoned for mentioning, I received my first 
training in Comparative Anatomy nearly a quarter of a century ago. The 
committee, as constituted in Oct. 1897, consisted of Professor John 
Macoun, Professor T. Wesley Mills, Professor E. W. MacBride, Professor 
A. B. Macallum, Mr. W. T. Thistleton-Dyer, (Director of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew), Professor D. P. Penhallow as secretary, and myself 
as chairman. It held a meeting in the Botanical Laboratories of McGill 
University (Professor Penhallow’s Department), and it was decided 
to memorialise the Government for support. Sir Louis Davies was, at 
that time, Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and gave a most kindly 
reception to the deputation, representing this Society, the various univer- 
sities, and certain scientific bodies, whose delegates were as follows :— 
Toronto University (Prof. Ramsay Wright), Queen’s University (Sir 
Sandford Fleming), Laval. University (Mgr. Laflamme), McGill 
University (Prof. D. P. Penhallow and Prof. E. W. MacBride), 
Dalhousie University (Prof. B. Russell, M.P.), The Royal Society of 
Canada (Prof. D. P. Penhallow), Nova Scotia Institute of Science 
(Professor Benjamin Russell), The Canadian Institute (Prof. A. B. 
Macallum), Natural History Society of Montreal (Dr. F. D. Adams), 
and the Natural History Society of New Brunswick (Prof. Bailey). 
An appropriation was passed by Parliament, and a station was 
built. This building has been described as resembling a Pullman car 
externally, and is placed upon a scow so that it could be towed from one 
location to another. Its total length is 50 feet, and the main laboratory 
is 30 feet by 15 feet in breadth, and it is provided with shelving, tables, 
porcelain basins, and salt-water and fresh-water supplies. A small 
library apartment, and other rooms, afford storage accommodation. A 
good working library has been collected, including the magnificent 
“ Challenger” reports presented by the British Government through the 
Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, and a considerable series of valuable 
papers and reference works. A small launch, 22 feet long, and nets, 
dredges, etc., and an assortment of glass-ware, add to the equipment. 
