July 3, 1890] 



NATURE 



237 



fronts of the tanks and the ceiling, so that all the light reaching 

 the spectator must pass through the tanks. Previous to this there 

 appears to have been an excess of light in the tanks, and the 

 fishes now appear to be much more comfortable, and keep nearer 

 to the glass fronts. 



The following fishes, molluscs, and Crustacea have spawned in 

 the tanks during the past year : — 



The Plaice (Phuronectes platessa). 



The Flounder (Pleuronectes Jiesus). 



The Pouting [Gadus luscus). 



The Poor Cod (Gadus viinutus). 



The Rockling {Motella tricirrata). 



The Lucky Proach ( Cottus bubalis). 



The Spotted Dog-fish (Scyllium canicula). 



Chilon cinereus. 



The Whelk {Buccinum undatum). 



The Purple {Purpura lapillus). 



The Sea-hare {Aplysia punctata). 



The Sea-lemon {Archidoris tuberculata). 



Goniodoris nodosa. 



The Lobster {Homarus vulgaris). 



The Crawfish {Palinurus vulgaris). 



The Shrimp {Crangon vulgaris). 



The Prawn (Palamon serrattis). 



Idotea tricuspidata and emarginata, 



as well as other species not so well known. 



The personnel of the staff and servants remains unchanged, 

 with the exception of the fisherman, W. Roach, who left in 

 October. His place has been filled by E. G. Heath, a trawl 

 fisherman of great experience. 



The Council sanctioned the purchase, in July 1889, at a cost 

 of ;[^25o, of a small steam-launch, the Firefly, which has been of 

 great service. Being half-decked, and only 38 feet long, this 

 launch is only suitable for local expeditions, and its purchase in 

 no wise diminishes the necessity for a sea-going steam-vessel for 

 carrying on investigations on food- fishes. The Firefly is very 

 economical in coal and water, and has entailed no extra expense 

 in working. The Association now possesses three boats, the 

 Firefly, the Mabel, a three-ton hook and line fishing-boat pre- 

 sented by Mr. Bourne, and the Anton Dohrn, a rowing-boat 

 bought in 1889. 



Trawling, dredging, surface netting, and shore hunting have 

 been carried on continuously during the year, and examples of 

 interesting species, many of which are new to the district, have 

 been added to the list since the last Report. 



The standard collection of species is making good progress, 

 the collection of Decapod Crustacea being remarkably complete. 



(2) The researches on food-fishes and Crustacea carried on 

 under the direction of the Council have made considerable 

 progress. 



The Director of the Association, Mr. G. C. Bourne, has con- 

 tinued his observations on the pelagic fauna in the neighbour- 

 hood of Plymouth, and was also able, through- the courtesy of 

 Captain Aldrich, R.N., to make an expedition off" the south- 

 west coast of Ireland in H.M.S. Research in July last, for the 

 purpose of comparing the surface fauna at the entrance of the 

 Channel with that ot the Channel itself. Some interesting ob- 

 servations have been made in connection with the presence of 

 multicellular floating algae in spring months and the presence of 

 mackerel, which it is hoped may lead to practical results. 



The Director has made observations and collected notes on 

 the destruction of immature fish in various localities, and has 

 been able, with the kind co-operation of the medical staff of the 

 Deep Sea Mission to Fishermen, to arrange an extensive inquiry 

 into the presence of immature fish in deep waters in the North 

 Sea, their movements and destruction by beam trawling. This 

 inquiry is in progress, and promises to be full of interest. 



In connection with the destruction of immature soles in the 

 estuary of the Thames, the Director has been making arrange- 

 ments for keeping young soles in inclosed ponds with the view 

 of rearing them to a marketable size, as is done in the Adriatic. 

 For various reasons these experiments have been delayed, and 

 are not yet in progress. 



Experiments are also being made on the possibility of culti- 

 vating soles in fresh water, and it has been proved that the adult 

 sole may be kept in fresh water. 



In conjunction with Dr. G. H. Fowler, the Director has 

 studied the natural history of the oyster, and through the kind- 

 ness of Lord Revelstoke he has been able to arrange a series of 



NO. 1079, VOL. 42] 



practical inquiries on the natural history add propagation of the 



oyster in the River Yealm. 



The Naturalist of the Association, Mr. J. T. Cunningham, 

 has been chiefly occupied during the past year with a treatise on 

 the; common sole, which is now ready for publication. 



Mr. Cunningham also has gathered much valuable informa- 

 tion about the occurrence of the anchovy in English waters, and 

 the possibility of an English anchovy fishery. A full account 

 of the anchovy is given in the last number of the Journal, vol. i. 

 No. 3. 



In the early spring of this year, Mr. Cunningham made 

 several expeditions to procure the ova of soles and other flat- 

 fishes. He was able to secure and artificially fertilize a much 

 larger number of soles' ova than on any previous occasion, and 

 the fertilized ova were successfully hatched and the larvae reared, 

 up to the period of the absorption of the yolk-sac, in the 

 aquarium. 



On March 13 this year the plaice in the aquarium were found 

 to be breeding. The Director and Mr. Cunningham collected a 

 large number of their fertilized ova and transferred them to suit- 

 able hatching apparatus. The ova hatched out by March 18, 

 and the larvae were kept alive in specially isolated tanks till 

 April 2. By this time the yolk-sac was completely absorbed, 

 but the larvae, although apparently healthy, could not be induced 

 to feed. They died off very suddenly, evidently for want of 

 food, on April 3 and 4, having lived fifteen days after hatching. 

 A second batch of ova was procured on March 28, and the 

 eggs were hatched out on April 3 and 4. These larvae were 

 placed in a tank and fed with the pelagic organisms caught in 

 the tow-net. They paid no attention to this food, so on April 

 22 they were fed with crushed crab, which they appeared to like, 

 for on the following day their intestines could be seen full of 

 food. In spite of this they began to die on April 24, and all 

 were dead by the 26th. 



Thus in the second experiment the larvae were kept alive 

 twenty days after hatching, a considerably longer period than in 

 previous experiments at Plymouth, and, what is more important, 

 they were induced to feed. These experiments show that some 

 steps have been made towards success. None of the larvae 

 underwent metamorphosis, but Mr. Cunningham has procured 

 some young plaice, flounders, and brill, already "flattened," 

 and these are thriving in the tanks and feeding regularly. 



Arrangements have been made with the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland for carrying on an investigation on the food of the 

 common sole, in connection with the work done by the Board 

 on the food of other fishes. 



Mr. W. Bateson was working on the sense-organs and habits 

 of fishes, with the view of showing the possibility of using arti- 

 ficial or preserved baits in sea-fishing, from April to October 

 1889. The results of Mr. Bateson's investigations have been 

 published in the Journal, vol. i. No. 3. 



Mr. Weldon continued his investigations on the artificial rear- 

 ing of lobsters last year. His experiments were apparently 

 turning out successfully, when an accident caused the loss of his 

 larvae and apparatus. This year the artificial rearing of lobsters 

 is being proceeded with by means of a different form of apparatus 

 suggested by Dr. Fowler's successful method of raising the young 

 of Idotea. 



In addition to his experiments on bbsters, Mr. Weldon is 

 engaged on important scientific investigations on the variation 

 and natural history of the Decapod Crustacea, his expenses 

 being, as before, met by the grant of ;^i5o from the Govern- 

 ment Grant Fund of the Royal Society, intrusted in 1887 by 

 the Government Grant Committee to the President of the 

 Association, the Hon, Secretary, Prof. Moseley, and Mr. 

 Sedgwick. 



The following gentlemen and ladies have been engaged on 

 independent scientific researches in the Laboratory since the 

 date of the last Report : — 



Dr. G. H. Fowler (Studies in Descent), Mr. M. C. Potter 

 (Marine Algae), Mr. S. F. Harmer (Development of Polyzoa), 

 Mr. T. T. Groom (Cirrhipedia), the Rev. Canon A. M. 

 Norman, D.C.L. (Crustacean Fauna), Mr. A. O. Walker 

 {Amphipoda), Prof. T. Johnson {Floridea), Mr. A. E. Shipley 

 (Gep/iyrea), Dr. Hans Driesch, Jena ( Heliotropism in .^(/ma'<?a), 

 Mr. P. C. Mitchell (Histology of Tunicata), Mr. T. H. Riches 

 (Nephridia of Mollusca and Crustacea), Mr. Herbert Thomp- 

 son (Development of Crustacea), Miss Marion Greenwood, 

 Newnham College, Cambridge (Physiological Studies), Miss 

 L, Ackroyd, Newnham College, Cambridge (Morphology of 

 Nebalia). 



