ance, were till now :il)solulely unknown as ic^aids tlu'ir (Icvflopinenl. 

 Tluis e.g. ol' llic I'.chinoidea llu- great and iniportanl lainilics Diadenia- 

 lida', Temnopleurida' and I'.chinonu'lrida? are, with tlir exception ol 

 one or two forms of each, confined to the Indopacitic (and. moreovei', the 

 few forms which do occur in I'-uropean and Ameiican Seas have not been 

 made the object of endjryological study till now). Only the family Arbaciidie 

 is confined to the luiropean and American seas and the family Kchinida' 

 for the main part so. For the rest the European-American Kchinoid-fauna 

 forms only a small oiitskirt of the Indo-Pacific fauna, and. accordingly, 

 even if we knew the development of all the European-American forms, 

 such knowledge would be fragmentary and altogether insufficient for 

 forming a decisive judgment of the classificalory value of the larva*. 



For a long time it has been my ardent desire to tackle this subject, 

 taking up tiic study of the lu'hinodeiiu laivu' nu'thodically fiom the |)oint 

 of view expressed here. As an introduction a visit was made at the marine 

 Laboratory at Plymouth in the summer of 1913, especially in order to 

 become acquainted with the excellent methods of rearing marine larva 

 worked out there through the eflorts of the director. Dr. F. .). Allen and 

 his fellow workers. ,\ preliminary rej)ort on the researches made there, 

 resulting in the rearing of several forms the larva of which were lill 

 then unknown, was given in the paper "Notes on the development of 

 some British hk'-hino(lerms'".i) Hut the main thing was, of course, to 

 undertake such investigations in the Pacific regions. This was at length 

 made j)Ossible for me through liberal grants from the (larlsberg Fund and 

 from the (lovernment (the "Konununitet" Fund), enabling me to spend 

 more than two years there in diflerent localities. As thie Expedition 

 had several other objects besides the study of the I^chinoderm larva the 

 plan of the voyage could not be laid exclusively with regard to the latter 

 purpose, but it need scarcely be stated that ever\ oppoitunity was seized 

 for making the most out of this special subject. 



The first place visited was the Pliilipiiines, where Zamboanga, on the 

 Southern end of Mindanao, and .lolo were tlu' main spots chosen for 

 working places. No embryological researches were carried out lure — 

 this being mainly due to lack of experience, not of undertaking artificial 

 fertilization, but of what may be done even where all laboratory facilities 

 are wanting, as they were here — an experience which there was rich 

 opportunity of gathering by the continued work during the voyage. 



In .Japan, the next place visited, the Biological Station at Misaki. at 

 the Sagami Bay, oflered splendid opportunities for carrying out embryo- 

 logical work, and the author's efTorls in this direction weic very succes.s- 



') Jouni. Mar. Biol. Assoc. N. S. X. 1913. 



