466 



NATURE 



{Sept. ir, 1879 



zenden Meeresgebiete." Folio. Yearly, i volume with 10-20 

 plates. The first volume is already in the press. 



"Prodromus Faunae Mediterranese." A selection from the 

 whole zoological literature of short Latin diagnoses of the 

 animals found in the Mediterranean, with their habitats and 

 local names. 



" Zoologischer Jahresbericht." This will contain short notices 

 on the various memoirs and papers published in various countries 

 on the subjects of zoology, development, and comparative 

 anatomy. It is under the editorship of Prof. Carus, with the 

 assistance of four collaborateurs in different countries. One 

 volume will appear yearly. 



Two naturajists have ocaipied the table hired by the Associa- 

 tion, viz., Mr. Walter Percy Sladen and Mr. Patrick Geddes. 

 Mr. Sladen has sent in a report on his stay and his work, which 

 is appended. In this report he proposes " a means by which 

 the table might be even more frequently occupied than it 

 has been, and its sphere of utility thus extended, by suggesting 

 to the consideration of the Committee that a further additional 

 grant might be made by the Association, which would serve as 

 a travelling fund. This might be apportioned in moieties say of 

 25/. to naturalists who desired to avail themselves of such assist- 

 ance, and it is not improbable that many a student would by this 

 means be enabled to participate in the advantages of the table at 

 Naples, who might otherwise be deterred by the expense of the 

 journey. The plan, extended or modified according to circum- 

 stances, is one adopted by several of the foreign bodies having 

 tables at the Zoological Station." 



Mr. Patrick Geddes worked at the station from February 26 

 to April 4. He "repeated and extended certain observations 

 •onjcchinoderm histology, and made experiments on Boncllia 

 viridis and Idotea viridis, with a view of ascertaining the function 

 of their (supposed) chlorophyll." The results of these studies 

 are at present being published in the Archives de Zotlogie 

 expSrimentaU of M. de Lacaze Duthiers, viz., "Etudes sur le 

 Chlorophylle animale," "Observations suTile Fluide perivis- 

 cerale des Oursins." 



Mr. Geddes also gained information on the working of the sta- 

 tion, in the hope (now realised) of helping to found a zoological 

 station in Scotland. This station is now in working order at 

 Stonehaven. 



Mr. Arthur \Vm. Waters, who worked at the Association 

 table last year, intends again to apply for the appointment to 

 ■occupy it, with a view of extending his researches on the bryozoa 

 of the Bay of Naples, already published in the Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History, 1879. 



Yoiur Committee think that the above particulars are sufficiently 

 encouraging to induce the Association to renew the grant of 75/. 

 for the ensuing year. 



Rejiort on the Occupation of the Table, by Mr. W. Percy Sladen. 

 — In conformity with the requirements of the Committee of the 

 British Association appointed in connection with the Zoological 

 Station at Naples, I beg to submit the following report con- 

 cerning my occupancy of the table which I had the privilege of 

 using. 



In availing myself of the opportunity of working at Naples, 

 the main object which I had in view was that of studying the 

 premature stages of the echinodermata, and more especially the 

 growth-phases which intervene between the period when the 

 pluteus is resorbed and that at which the adult characters are 

 developed — the range and significance of these changes being 

 very important and remarkable throughout the group. In addi- 

 tion to this chief object, it is scarcely necessary to add that there 

 were numerous points in the morphology of echinoderms upon 

 which, as a specialist, I was anxious to direct my attention, 

 should time and opportunity permit. 



I arrived in Naples on December 3, 1878, and remained there 

 ■until February 17, 1879. During the greater portion of the time 

 the weather was very inclement and stormy ; in consequence of 

 which the pelagic larval forms that I had hoped to have met with, 

 "by use of the surface- net, were driven to too great a depth, and 

 owing to their microscopic proportions became thus altogether 

 inaccessible. For this reason 1 was greatly disappointed in my 

 expectations, and the material which I was able to obtain, in 

 any way available for my projected investigations, was unfortu- 

 nately very scanty ; nevertheless several premature forms of 

 considerable interest were procured, and these I am hoping still 

 further to elucidate, before the end of the year, by finding, if 

 possible, the corresponding and intermediate stages on our own 

 coasts, and which will then enable me to work out the develop- 



ment of at least one or two forms completely. I also endea- 

 voured to contribute somewhat to this subject by means of the 

 artificial fertilisation of ova in several different families, but was 

 always unsuccessful in keeping the//«te' alive beyond a certain 

 stage ; whilst the fact that those thus raised in confinement were 

 subject to very considerable abnormality in their development 

 and present unnatural modifications which require much care and 

 skill in elimination, in order to avoid error in subsequent deduc- 

 tions, greatly diminishes the utility of such observations as a 

 direct method of erabryological study, although they are not 

 without value as furnishing some indication of the plasticity 

 inherent in a given form. 



Better success rewarded what I may speak of as desultory 

 investigations upon the general structure of echinoderms. I 

 may mention that I have in hand a contribution to the knowledge 

 of Pedicellarice, which I consider will throw light (if not entirely, 

 at least in part) upon the functions of these obscure appendages. 

 It was also my good fortune to discover in certain asteroids an 

 hitherto undescribed organ, most probably performing sensorial 

 functions ; an account of which I hope to publish shortly, as 

 soon as time permits me to work up the material which I col- 

 lected more exhaustively than I was able to do whilst staying at 

 Naples. In addition to the above I am also hopeful of furnish- 

 ing a communication upon the premature anatomy of certain 

 young echinoderms, for which purpose I was able to preserve 

 and bring back with me several very good series of specimens. 



The general success and continually increasing prosperity of 

 the Zoological Station at Naples are now so fully known from 

 the reports and various publications emanating from the institu- 

 tion itself, that it would be presumption on my part to offer any 

 remarks in such a direction. I consider, however, that it is a 

 duty for me to bear my individual testimony to the admirable 

 arrangements which characterise the working of the station, and 

 which conduce so greatly to the comfort of naturalists engaged 

 in studying there. The daily supply of fresh material, the tank 

 and aquarium accommodation for keeping the same alive, are 

 highly satisfactory, and leave little to be desired ; whilst in the 

 way of ordinary laboratory apparatus and reagents no reasonable 

 requirement is unprovided for. 



I also desire to record my indebtedness for the genial kindness 

 and the ever-ready assistance which I met with not only from Dr. 

 Dohrn and the acting director Dr. Eisig, but the same friendly 

 spirit of courtesy and help was accorded me without exception 

 by every gentleman connected with the staff. 



The utility of the Zoological Station being now so thoroughly 

 established, and its reputation world-wide, it is unnecessary for 

 me to allude to the fact, except to point out that the main- 

 tenance of such an undertaking is very costly, and that of neces- 

 sity the results can only be continued by keeping up the funds. 

 So much good work has already emanated from the station at 

 Naples that the institution has a fair claim not only upon biolo 

 gical specialists, but on every one interested in the advancement 

 of science. Upon such an argument, therefore, the Zoological 

 Station is particularly worthy of the support of the British Asso- 

 ciation, even if its members were not (as many of them have 

 already been) individual participants in the advantages whica 

 the station provides ; and on this ground I would strongly urge 

 the continuance of the grant usually made by the Association. 



I would further beg to propose a means by which the tablt; 

 might be even more frequently occupied than it has been, and 

 its sphere of utility be thus extended. 



In conclusion I desire to express [my cordial thanks to the 

 Committee of the British Association for the privilege of using 

 the table at their dispo.-al- W. Percy Sladen 



Exley House, near Halifax, August 2 



[A list of the naturalists who have worked at the Station, and 

 of those to whom specimens have been sent during the past year, 

 will be printed in the Annual Report^ 



SECTION A— Mathematical and Physical 

 On the Cause of the Bright Lines of Comets, by G. Johnstone 

 Stoney. — 15r. Huggins and other observers had seen the bright 

 lines of the carbon spectrum in the spectra of several comets. 

 This established the fact that some compound of carbon wr.s 

 present in comets. In what had been hitherto written on this 

 subject it had always been assumed that the compound of carbon 

 was incandescent, and on that account emitted these bright lines. 

 Mr. Stoney suggested, however, an alternative hypothesis which 

 he believed to be entitled to much weight, viz., that these Unes 



