August 2, 1883] 



NA TURE 



323 



PROPOSED ZOOLOGICAL STATION AT 

 GRANTON, NEAR EDINBURGH 



AT the half-yearly meeting of the Scottish Meteorolo- 

 gical Society held at Edinburgh on Thursday last 

 week, Mr. John Murray, convener of the Society's Fish- 

 eries Committee, submitted the following Report : — 



"The Fisheries Committee of the Council appointed in 

 February last have had under their careful consideration 

 the matters remitted to them by the Council, viz. the 

 carrying out of investigations in accordance with the 

 terms of the grant of 1500/. made to the Society by the 

 Executive Committee of the International Fisheries Ex- 

 hibition held in Edinburgh in 1882. The Committee 

 recommends (1) to continue and extend the river obser- 

 vations and the observations made by the District Fishery 

 officers through the Scottish Fishery Board, and to dis- 

 cuss all observations made to the end of the fishing 

 season of 1883, which are yet undiscussed. 



" 2. To obtain the assistance of a few naturalists in 

 making observations at several of the chief fishing cen- 

 tres and principal inland lakes. Prof. Herdman has 

 consented to reside at Loch Fyne for a month, and to 

 arrange for observations for a year. Mr. Hoyle is in like 

 manner to go {to Peterhead, and Mr. Beddard to Eye- 

 mouth. The Rev. Dr. Norman has during the present 

 month been engaged in examining a large number of the 

 Scottish lochs. Instructions have been drawn up for the 

 guidance of these gentlemen, and a sum not exceeding 

 50/. has been placed at the disposal of each for the ex- 

 penses immediately connected with the investigations. 

 These observations are of a strictly tentative character, 

 but will certainly lead to additions to knowledge, and are, 

 moreover, necessary as a basis for further investigations. 



" 3. The Committee have had under consideration the 

 recommendation of the Executive Committee of the 

 Fisheries Exhibition as to the foundation of a zoological 

 station. A number of the members of Committee have 

 examined the capabilities of the old Granton Quarry, 

 which has been for many years in direct communication 

 with the sea, as a suitable position for a zoological 

 station. 



" The convener has drafted the following scheme, which 

 in the opinion of the Committee would, if carried out, 

 afford excellent facilities for biological researches and 

 meteorological observations bearing upon these in- 

 quiries : — It is proposed to inclose the Granton quarry, 

 which has an area at high water of about ten acres, and 

 depths varying to sixty feet, so as to regulate the inflow 

 and outflow of the tide in such a manner that while 

 admitting abundance of sea water at each tide, fish and 

 other animals will be prevented from escaping out of the 

 inclosure. This will be done by means of stakes and 

 wire with other kinds of netting. The quarry will then 

 be stocked with all kinds of fish and marine invertebrates. 

 When it is desired to separate fish or other animals for 

 special study this will be done by floating or fixed wire 

 and wood cages. 



"A barge, about 64 feet by 27 feet, of great stability, 

 will be moored in the inclosure ; upon this will be built a 

 house with laboratories, workrooms, and a library ; it will 

 also be furnished with a small windmill to pump up sea 

 water into a tank on the roof. The water in this tank 

 will be conveyed by pipes to the various tiled tables, glass 

 jars, and aquaria of the establishment. A small cottage 

 will be built on the shore for the accommodation of the 

 keeper and engineer, with one or two spare rooms. A 

 steam pinnace for dredging and making observations in 

 the Firth of Forth and the North Sea will be attached to 

 the station. 



"A naturalist will be appointed whose duty will be to 

 make continuous observations and experiments, assisted 

 by the engineer and keeper. There will be ample accom- 

 modation for four other naturalists to work at the station 



and carry on investigations ; and, so far as the accom- 

 modation will permit, British and foreign naturalists will 

 be invited to make use of the station free of charge. 



" Towards the carrying out of this scheme the Duke ot 

 Buccleuch has liberally granted a lease of the quarry at a 

 nominal rent, with permission to erect a cottage on the 

 shore; and Mr. Howkins, his Grace's local commis- 

 sioner, has promised all the assistance in his power to 

 further the undertaking. A gentleman who takes a warm 

 interest in the progress of research in Scotland has 

 offered 1000/. to construct the barge and fit it up with 

 laboratories and workrooms. Mr. John Henderson (of 

 Messrs. D. and W. Henderson, shipbuilders, Glasgow) 

 has undertaken to provide the plans and specifications of 

 the barge and laboratories gratuitously ; Mr. J. Y. 

 Buchanan has promised to fit up one of the rooms on 

 the barge as a chemical laboratory suited to the require- 

 ments of the station ; Mr. Thomas Stevenson, the 

 Society's Honorary Secretary, has agreed to give his pro- 

 fessional services in inclosing the quarry gratuitously ; 

 and Mr. John Anderson, of Denham Green, has under- 

 taken to provide the station with a salmon and trout 

 hatchery. The convener will furnish the laboratories 

 with apparatus, and place his large zoological library at 

 the service of workers. A number of gentlemen have 

 promised to support the undertaking when once com- 

 menced ; and the convener believes that within a few 

 months he will be able to announce that the station has 

 been presented with a steam pinnace and with funds for 

 the erection of a cottage on the shore — the only deside- 

 rata to complete the scheme. 



" In these circumstances the Committee, believing that 

 this scheme deserves their hearty support, recommend, 

 for the year ending November 1, 1884, a grant from 

 the Fishery Fund not exceeding 300/., and 250/. for each 

 of the two subsequent years, towards the expenses of the 

 station, on the conditions that the biological and meteoro- 

 logical observations and the investigations above referred 

 to, relative to the Scottish fisheries, be carried on, and 

 that a report on the work done be annually furnished to 

 the Council of the Society." 



The above grants were agreed to, and it was announced 

 that the works at Granton would be commenced at once. 

 It is expected that by the beginning of November the 

 proper work of the station will be begun. Already, we 

 understand, several distinguished naturalists have signi- 

 fied their intention to avail themselves of the altogether 

 unique facilities which will be afforded by this zoological 

 station for the successful prosecution of biological re- 

 search. It is gratifying to observe the heartiness with 

 which the funds required for carrying out this admirable 

 scheme are being provided, and it cannot be doubted 

 that the 800/. still required for the steam pinnace, the 

 500/. for the cottage, and the 200/. for inclosing the quarry 

 will also be soon provided by some of our more generous 

 patrons of science. 



ELEVATION AND SUBSIDENCE; OR, THE 

 PERMANENCE OF OCEANS AND CON- 

 TINENTS 

 IT has been observed, and with increasing frequency 

 within the last few years, that wherever considerable 

 weight is added on any part of the earth's surface, a 

 corresponding subsidence of its crust almost invariably 

 follows. It is generally admitted that nearly the whole 

 of the sedimentary rocks, enormous as their known thick- 

 ness is, were deposited in shallow water, and therefore in 

 slowly subsiding area?. The Palaeozoic rocks consist 

 mainly of sandy and muddy sediment, with occasional 

 intercalated zones of limestone. They everywhere bear 

 witness to comparatively shallow water and the proximity 

 of land. Their frequent alternations of sandstone, shale, 

 conglomerate, and other detrital materials, their abundant 



