president's address. 187 



the " Lightning," reached the depth of 650 fathoms, and obtained 

 temperature-observations of the greatest interest. 



In May, 1869, the "Porcupine," with Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys as 

 scientific director, dredged off the west coast of Ireland. The 

 deepest dredging reached a depth of 1470 fathoms, and no lack 

 of animal life was found. In the September of the same year 

 the "Porcupine" dredged to a depth of 2000 fathoms in the Bay 

 of Biscay, and hauls of specimens from Protozoa to Mollusca were 

 obtained. 



In 1869 Mr. Robert MacAndrew, accompanied by Mr. Edward 

 Fielding, proceeded to Suez, and devoted six weeks to dredging along 

 the coast of the Sinaitic peninsula. They obtained 619 species of 

 Mollusca, 355 of which had not been previously recorded from the 

 Red Sea. 



In 1870 Captain Marshall Hall devoted his yacht " Xorna " to 

 deep-sea dredging work during a cruise along the coasts of Spain 

 and Portugal. In this Mr. Saville Kent and Mr. Edward Fielding 

 took part, and numerous interesting papers were published by the 

 former, based on specimens dredged during the cruise, princij)ally 

 siliceous sponges (as Pheronema Leidyi, etc.). 



In the same year Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys and Dr. Carpenter made a 

 highly interesting series of soundings and dredgings in the Mediterranean 

 from the " Porcupine," and the following year Dr. Carpenter dredged 

 from the " Shearwater " in the same region. 



In December, 1871, and early in 1872 the "Hassler," under the 

 scientific direction of Prof. Louis Agassiz, dredged in considerable 

 depths off the coast of South America. 



By far the greatest scientific exploration undertaken by the 

 Government of this country, was that of the Voyage of the 

 "Challenger," with which the names of Sir George Kares, of Sir 

 Wyville Thomson, Buchanan, Moseley, Murray, "VYillemoes-Siihm, 

 and Wild will always be connected. 



The cruise, which extended from 1873-76, was followed by the 

 issue of a succession of volumes from the " Challenger Office" in 

 Edinburgh, lasting from 1880 to 1891, and embracing in some forty 

 ponderous quarto volumes (profusely illustrated) the Narrative, 

 the Meteorology, the Physics and Chemistry, the Botany, and, 

 in thirty-two volumes, the Zoology of the collections obtained 

 during the voyage. It is veiy agreeable to be able to state that 

 of these volumes, to which so many of our ablest Naturalists have 

 devoted themselves, that on the Brachiopoda (which was the first to 

 appear) was executed by our friend of many years, the late Dr. 

 Thomas Davidson, and appeared in 1880. The Monographs on 

 Mollusca are : Nudihranchiata, by R. Bergli (1884) ; Lamellibranchiata, 

 by E. A. Smith (1885); Scajjhopoda and Gastrojjoda, by the Rev. R. 

 B. Watson (1886); Marseniidce, by R. Bergh (18S6) ; Polyplacophora, 

 by Professor Haddon (1886); Cephalopoda, by W. E. BLoyle (1886); 

 Fteropoda, by Dr. P. Pelsener (1887-88) ; Eeteropoda, by E. A. Smith 

 (1888); Anatomy of Deep-sea Mollusca, by Dr. P. Pelsener (1888). 

 So that three at least of our Members, namely, Mr. W. E. Hoyle, 



VOL. I. OCTOBEK, 1894. 13 



