28 HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE 



astonishment at the enormous fertihty and variety of life 

 brought to the service — fishes^ Crustacea^ and zoophytes^ of 

 every sort, and the lowest forms of sponge-life are brought 

 up at haphazard, with immense numbers of molluscs and 

 cuttle-fishes upon almost every occasion. It is impossible 

 in these circumstances not to be struck with the immense 

 fertility of the sea. There are special circumstances affect- 

 ing marine life which make it an especially valuable field 

 for observation. Many specimens are almost crystalline in 

 transparency, and one can see the insides of the animals 

 without wounding their outsides ; there is thus this great 

 advantage, that in the study of biology we get rid of those 

 painful discussions which have been raised in regard to 

 vivisection, because, quick as the sympathies of modern 

 society are with every form of suffering, it has not yet 

 occurred to anyone to object to the vivisection of a jelly 

 fish. I hope and believe that by the operations of a 

 society like that which it is proposed to establish some of 

 the most important questions of physiology may be settled 

 without -vivisection . 



The Right Hon. Sir Lyon Playpaie, K.C.B., seconded 

 the resolution. He said, — The motion is one which com- 

 mands my hearty sympathy. It is an extraordinary fact 

 that while other nations having far less interest in the sea 

 than the United Kingdom, have established, either by 

 private generosity or by public aid, laboratories for the 

 study of marine life, England has not made even a begin- 

 ning in this important work. The need for such labora- 

 tories is recognised, and an effort has lately been made in 

 Scotland to found one, which already promises success. 

 Though the promise of practical utility from such labora- 

 tories is very great, that is not the first or the only thing 

 to be considered. Laboratories of this kind, in which the 

 habits of all kinds of marine life should be studied, ought 

 primarily to be established — not with a view to practical 

 uses, but with the main purpose of advancing science for its 

 own sake. Science so studied rewards a nation a thousand- 

 fold in the most unexpected practical applications; but 

 without science there are no applications. It is only when 



