288 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. 



The Staff. 



At the last Annual Meeting it was announced tliat Mr. J. P. 

 Thomasson had generously offered £250 for the expenses to be 

 incurred in carrying out observations in the North. Sea bearing on 

 the proposed closure of certain fishing grounds by International 

 convention. The Council was fortunate enough to secure for the 

 investigation the services of Mr. E. W. L. Holt, who commenced 

 work in January last. 



Mr. W. Garstang, formerly Assistant to the Director, has been 

 appointed a Naturalist on the Staff, and entered on his office on 

 May 30th. His chief duties will be to superintend the collection 

 and supply of material to workers both in the Laboratory and else- 

 where. 



Mr. F. Hughes, who was appointed temporarily to carry out 

 investigations on the question of artificial bait, has concluded his 

 year of office. 



Scientific Investigations. 



Mr. Cunningham has been chiefly occupied during the past year 

 in continuing his valuable observations and experiments on young 

 food-fish with reference to their habitat, rate of growth, and 

 attainment of sexual maturity. His results will be found in detail 

 in the last two numbers of the Journal, and it will suffice to 

 mention here that some of the flat-fish which he has reared from 

 about a half -inch in length are now nine inches long, and have 

 reached sexual maturity. Direct observation of this kind is of the 

 utmost value, as supplementing the information derived from fish 

 under natural conditions. 



The daily meteorological observations have been continued by Mr. 

 Dickson. 



Mr. Holt has only been at work for six months, but his results 

 promise to be of extreme interest. Their scope may be gathered 

 from his notes and from the Director's Report in the last number of 

 the Journal. The Marine Fisheries Society of Grimsby has gene- 

 rously placed its aquarium at Cleethorpes at his disposal, and the 

 Council has undertaken in return to pay half of the caretaker's 

 salary. The Council begs to tender the thanks of the Association 

 to the Society for its assistance in this matter. 



It was announced in the last Annual Report that a special drift 

 net was being constructed for the purpose of ascertaining whether 

 anchovies could be procured on the south coast in sufficient numbers 

 to make an anchovy fisheiy a commercial success. The weather last 

 autumn was most unfavourable for the enterprise : the fish taken by 

 our nets, on the few occasions when they could be used, were very 

 large, and but few in number, although in some places at the same 



