March 19, 1903] 



NA TURE 



475 



during the last ten years have appeared from time to time in 

 the pages of Nature. 



'The alliance between a committee appointed by the Manx 

 Government and the Liverpool Committee, which has now 

 resulted in the provision of a much larger biological station on 

 a better site at the southern side of Port Erin Bay, had its 

 origin in the sea-fisheries work carried out on an experimental 

 scale in the old station for the purpose of obtaining information 

 for the Lancashire Sea-fisheries Committee. 



The details of the arrangement concluded between the 

 Manx and Liverpool committees are given in the report. It 

 may suffice to say that the two committees have evidently 

 worked most harmoniously together, and will no doubt continue 

 to cooperate cordially and usefully. Of the three departments 

 in the institution, the laboratory block will be wholly under the 

 control of the Liverpool Committee, the fisheries block will 

 belong solely to the Manx Committee, and the aquarium in the 

 centre will be managed as a joint concern in the interests of 

 both the scientific and economic work. The curator of the old 

 biological station (Mr. H. C. Chadwick) has become curator of 

 the whole institution, with a practical fisherman assistant under 

 him, and the hon. director and chairman of the Liverpool 

 Committee (Prof. Herdman) is recognised as being director 

 also of the whole. This should secure unity of aim and 



Fjg. : 



-Plan of Ground Floor of Station. 



economy of working, and will result in the various departments 

 being mutually helpful. The fishery work will be instructive to 

 the scientific students, and the investigations in the laboratoryand 

 experiments in the aquarium will be useful in connection with 

 fishery problems. The aquarium, which, with its museum of 

 local marine animals and plants in the gallery, occupies the large 

 central block of the building, is the only part open to the public, 

 and will, it is hoped, be useful alike (i) to the scientific workers 

 in the laboratory, (2) for experiments and observations bearing 

 on fishery questions and practice, and (3) as an educational in- 

 fluence which will be appreciated by the more intelligent visitors, 

 and may, it is hoped, betaken advantage of by local schools for 

 instruction in nature-study. 



The station is a plain but substantial two-storied stone building 

 of nearly 100 feet in length by more than 40 feet in breadth, 

 with a light railing in front and a large yard, enclosed by a 

 wall, behind. At the western end (Fig. 1) is a large pond 

 excavated in the rock, measuring about 90 feet in length, nearly 

 50 feet in breadth, varying from 3 to 10 feet in depth, and 

 capable of containing about 130,000 gallons of sea-water. 



The plan (Fig. 2) shows the division of the building into a 

 central aquarium and lateral laboratory and fisheries wings, and 

 gives the arrangement of the rooms on the ground floor. The 

 upper storey has a broad gallery round the aquarium and large 

 laboratories in the wings. Of the six small workrooms to the 



front on the ground floor, four are now permanently engaged by 

 universities, leaving two still vacant. The junior laboratory on 

 the floor above, it is announced, will be occupied by a class for 

 school teachers during the Easter vacation. 



For the information of students and other naturalists who 

 may propose to visit the new biological station, it may be wel 

 to slate that Port Erin is at the south-west end of the Isle of 

 Man and occupies a fairly central position in the Irish Sea, 

 being about 30 miles from Ireland, 33 from Scotland, 40 from 

 Wales and 45 or so from England. The bay faces nearly due 

 west, has sand at the end, and is bounded by precipitous cliffs 

 both to the north and south. From its position and the shape 

 of the land, Port Erin has within a distance of a couple of miles 

 in three directions — to Fleshwick Bay, to the Calf Island and 

 to Port St. Mary — a long and varied coast line with a number 

 of small bays furnishing good collecting ground and shallow 

 water for dredging. Two of these bays, Port Erin and Port 

 St. Mary, have harbours with sailing boats and face in nearly 

 opposite directions, so that in most winds one or other is 

 sheltered and has a quiet sea. 



The rich fauna round the Calf Island and off Spanish Head is 

 within easy reach ; while at a distance of three to four miles 

 from the biological station are depths of 20 to 30 fathoms, 

 and at 14 miles 60 to 70 fathoms depth is found. 



The aquarium of the new 

 station was opened to the 

 public in the middle of August, 

 and in October more than six 

 hundred visitors had already 

 paid for admission. 



The report from which these 

 remarks are extracted gives 

 also an account of the scien- 

 tific work undertaken by the 

 Committee during the last 

 year and records many addi- 

 tions to the local marine 

 fauna, chiefly amongst the mi- 

 croscopic crustaceans worked 

 out by Mr. A. Scott. 



The report points out, 

 finally, that while the change 

 to the new building is advan- 

 tageous in giving better ac- 

 commodation and larger op- 

 portunities, it also gives 

 increased labour and responsi- 

 bility and in no way relieves 

 the Liverpool Marine Biology 

 Committee of financial bur- 

 dens. The Committee retains 

 its identity and constitution 

 exactly as before, and the 

 subscriptions from those who 

 are kindly supporting the work will be required fully as much 

 in the new building as they were in the old. The Manx 

 Government subsidy will be entirely applied to the economic 

 work in connection with the local sea-fisheries and will not be 

 available for the purely scientific work of the biological station. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



T TNDER the title of " Vegetationsbilder," Messrs. Gustav 

 ^ Fischer, of Jena, announce a series of photographic 

 reproductions which will illustrate characteristic types of 

 vegetation. Each part, consisting of six plates and the 

 explanatory text, will be devoted to one region or formation, 

 and will be complete in itself. The photographs were taken 

 by Drs. Scherick and Karsten, who undertake the arrange- 

 ment of the work. The first and second parts now received 

 depict the scenery of South Brazil and of the Malay Archi- 

 pelago ; other parts of the eight projected will illustrate 

 botanical features of South-West Africa, Mexico, tropical 

 economic plants, &c. The photographs are reproduced 

 nearly full-plate size, and recall the illustrations of 

 Schimper's " Pflanzengeographie, " which is published by 

 the same firm. 



NO, 1742, VOL. 67] 



