156 



NA TUR£. 



[June i6, 1892 



fauna of Liverpool Bay published by the L.M.B.C., 

 he declared the building open for work, and then the 

 party entered anc? proceeded to examine the results 

 of the forenoon's dredging, laid out in dishes and 

 under microscopes. At two o'clock the Governor 

 and the Bishop were entertained to luncheon at the 

 Bellevue Hotel by the L.M.B C, Prof. Herdman 

 being in the chair, with the Governor on the right and 

 the Bishop on the left. Mr. I. C. Thompson, Hon. Sec. 

 L.M.B.C., occupied the other end of the table, and about 

 seventy in all sat down to luncheon, including the Presi- 

 dent and Secretary and some other members of the Isle of 

 Man Natural History Society. The Governor proposed 

 the toast of " The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee," 

 to which Prof. Herdman replied. 



The whole of the following day was spent in dredging 

 and tow-netting from the Mallard to the west and south 

 of Port Erin at the following localities : — 



(i) 3 miles west of Fleshwick : 20 fathoms, 6 hauls of 

 dredge : good varied ground, old shells, &c. 



(2) 14 miles west of Dal by : 60 fathoms, 2 hauls ; sticky 

 clay mud, with few animals. 



(3) 8 miles west of Fleshwick : 33 fathoms, 3 hauls. 



(4) 6 miles west of Port Erin : 24 fathoms, 2 hauls. 



(5) I mile west of Calf : 20 fathoms, 2 hauls. 



(6) Off Kitterland, Calf Sound : 17 fathoms, I haul. 



At each of these localities, besides the ordinary large 

 dredge, tow-nets were used, and also Mr. Walker's small 

 dredge with a canvas bag for bringing up samples of the 

 bottom to be washed for small Crustacea, &c. 



On the following day (June 6), on the way back to 

 Liverpool, dredging from the Mallard was conducted at 

 the following places : — 



(i) 20 miles south-east from Port St. Mary : 26 fathoms. 



(2) 25 miles south-east from Port St. Mary : 23 fathoms. 

 Both of these localities were good productive ground, 



and large hauls were obtained. 



(3) 20 miles north-west from the Bar : 18 fathoms. 



(4) 15 miles north-west from the Bar : 16 fathoms. 



On all these occasions, besides the surface tow-nets, a 

 bottom tow-net was attached a little way in front of the 

 dredge, and appeared to work well ; its contents were 

 usually a good deal different from those of the surface 

 nets. 



Amongst the forms dredged in these two days were : — 

 Clathria seriata, Spongelia fragilts, Sarcodictyon cate- 

 nata, Palmipes inembranaceics^ Stichaster roseus, Porania 

 pulvtllus, Antedon rosaceiis, Adamsia palliata, Crania 

 anomala, Pandora inceqidvalvis, Cynthia echinata^ and 

 the rare little Ascidian Forbesella tcssellata, and a large 

 number of other species, representing most of the inver- 

 tebrate groups, which have not yet been sorted out and 

 identified. A Hst of the species previously found in the 

 neighbourhood of Port Erin will be found in " Fauna of 

 Liverpool Bay," vol. i. pp. 318-41. 



The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee's Station at 

 Port Erin is now open, and is provided with a few micro- 

 scopes, microtome, ordinary reagents, dishes, &c. Any 

 biologists wishing to go there for collecting or other work 

 are requested to apply for particulars to Prof. Herdman, 

 or to Mr. L C. Thompson, 4 Lord Street, Liverpool. 



THE ANNUAL VISITATION OF THE 

 GREENWICH OBSER VA TOR Y. 



HTHE report of the Astronomer-Royal to the Board 

 -•• of Visitors this year commences with a reference 

 to the loss sustained by the Observatory by the death of 

 Sir G. B. Airy, who for sixty years was closely connected 

 with the working of this institution. 



As regards the buildings, that of the south wing of the 

 ^proposed Physical Observatory has been authorized by 



NO. I 181, VOL. 46] 



the Admiralty, considerably more space being required 

 for the storing of chronometers and deck watches. The 

 buildings of the three other wings and the two upper 

 stories of the central tower have, for the present, been 

 laid aside, sufficient provision not being made for them 

 in the present financial year. The new 36-foot dome, 

 which is being provided for the efficient working of the 

 28-inch refractor, is still in course of erection, while the 

 pair of semi-domes for the Transit Pavilion in the Front 

 Court has been found to be quite satisfactory. The 

 electric light installation, which has in a former report 

 been suggested by the Astronomer-Royal for the photo- 

 graphic equatorial and for other instruments, has been 

 sanctioned by the Admiralty, and will, during the course 

 of the present year, be provided. The advantages of 

 such a means of lighting will at once make themselves 

 apparent, for by the old method the storage cells had to 

 be charged from primary batteries. 



The Observatory, by the will of the late Sir George 

 Airy, has had several valuable works bequeathed to 

 it. Mr. Wilfred Airy has as yet transferred 94 

 volumes and 134 unbound tracts, which will form a 

 valuable addition to the library, together with the manu- 

 script containing the calculations of Sir George Airy's 

 numerical lunar theory. His bust, by Foley, has also 

 been received and is now placed in the Octagon 

 Room, 



With regard to the work done with the transit-circle, the 

 number of observations was not so great as in former 

 years, as the object-glass was removed for repolishing on 

 August 10 to October 5. The definition and colour- 

 correction of this glass has been greatly improved by Mr. 

 Simms. New steel screws to the R.A. and Z. D. micro- 

 meters were added at the same time, and the wire system 

 also received a slight modification. The wires are ten in 

 number, distant from each other by exact multiples of a 

 screw-revolution, and so arranged that the mean of the 

 ten nearly coincides with one of them. A little compu- 

 tation is thus saved in taking the mean of a transit, and 

 the only thing lost is symmetry in the arrangement. 



During the rest of the year the sun, moon, and planets 

 have been regularly observed on the meridian as 

 before :— 



Transits, the separate limbs being counted as 

 separate observations ... 



Determinations of coliimation error 



Determinations of level error 



Circle observations 



Determinations of nadir point (included in the 

 number of circle observations) 



Reflexion observations of stars (similarly in- 

 cluded) 



4801 

 249 

 335 



4463 



436 



The annual catalogue of stars observed in 1891 con- 

 tains 1813 stars. 



The results from the observations for the determination 

 of variation of personal equation with stellar magnitude, 

 indicated that there was a general tendency with all the 

 observers to observe stars later when the light was 

 diminished by placing a gauze screen before the object- 

 glass; but it was stated that "it is not clear that we are 

 here measuring a real change of personal equation in 

 observations of fainter stars, as the introduction of the 

 screen modifies the image of the star, and this modifica- 

 tion of the image may give rise to a change of personal 

 equation unconnected with the diminution of bright- 

 ness." 



It is noted that as the external thermometer rises there 

 is a nearly uniform decrease of the readings of the 

 internal thermometers over that of the standard exterior 

 thermometer, the excess vanishing at something over 7o^ 

 This is accounted for by the variation of the temperature 

 of the walls of the room, the permanent temperature of 

 which is always slowly changing. 



