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Marine Biological Association of the 
United Kingdom. 
Report of the Council, 1917. 
The Council and Officers. 
The Council has met four times during the year, the meetings having 
been held in the Rooms of the Royal Society. The Council desires to 
express the thanks of the Association to the Royal Society for the accom- 
modation provided. The average attendance at the meetings has been 
nine, and a Committee of three members of the Council visited and 
inspected the Laboratory at Plymouth. 
The Council has to record with regret the death of the Earl of Ports- 
mouth, who for a number of years was a Governor, representing the 
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. Lord Portsmouth showed much 
interest in the work of the Plymouth Laboratory. 
The Plymouth Laboratory. 
The new gas-engine supplied last year by Messrs. Crossley Bros., for 
circulating sea-water through the tanks, has worked smoothly and 
continuously, but unfortunately has consumed considerably more gas 
than the old engine. This, at the present high price of gas, has led to 
a marked increase in our working expenses. With a view to more eco- 
nomical working, it will be advisable, when conditions are more favourable 
after the war, to reconsider the whole of our pumping arrangements and 
try to reach greater efficiency. 
The Boats. 
The steamer Orthona has again not been used this year. The vessel, 
however, has just been requisitioned by the Admiralty for service in 
connection with the war. What collecting work was possible under the 
restricted conditions imposed by the naval and military authorities 
has been done with the eighteen-foot sailing boat Anton Dohrn, 
