ii4 



NA TURE 



[Bee. 4, 1884 



Our Donation Fund has also proved of much service, and 

 several of the applications for comparatively small amounts, which 

 were referred by the Government Grant Committee for the 

 consideration of the Council of the Royal Society, were met 

 by grants from this source. This most valuable fund, the annual 

 income of which is now about 400/., has, during the past year, 

 rendered important aid to various scientific objects. From it 

 considerable grants have been made towards obtaining specimens 

 of Hatteria and Apteryx ; for expenses incurred on account of 

 the voyage and investigations of the surveying-ship Triton ; for 

 collection of materials relating to the Krakatoa eruption ; 

 towards the borings in the Delta of Egypt ; and, lastly, in aid 

 of the Marine Biological Association. 



The close connection of the future of our fisheries with the 

 advancement of certain branches of zoological science was com- 

 mented upon by our President in his last Anniversary Address, 

 and I have now to record the foundation of two establishments 

 devoted to marine research. The first of these is the station 

 established at Granton, near Edinburgh, mainly through the 

 energetic labours of Mr. John Murray of the Challenger Expedi- 

 tion. It consists of a floiting laboratory where physical and 

 biological investigations are carried on, and it is provided with 

 a steam yacht for taking observations at sea and procuring speci- 

 mens for examination. Chemical and other laboratories are 

 now being erected on the shore, close to the inclosed piece of 

 water where the floating laboratory is moored. Two naturalists, 

 a chemist and a botanist, are permanently attached to the station, 

 and have an engineer, a fisherman, and three attendants to 

 assist them in conducting regular systematic observations. 

 2500/. have been spent on the equipment of the station, and it 

 has at present an income of 400/. a-year, independent of the 

 grants which some of the permanent staff have received from 

 the Government Grant Committee to aid them in their re- 

 searches. It is well that it should be known that any scientific 

 observer is at liberty to make use of the station free of charge ; 

 indeed, during the past year five gentlemen and one lady have 

 availed themselves of this privilege during short periods of time. 



But the movement in favour of such stations has not been 

 confined to Scotland, for I have also to chronicle the foundation 

 of the Marine Biological Association, which originated in a 

 meeting held in these rooms on March 31 list, our President 

 being in the chair, and many of our principal naturalists taking 

 part in the proceedings. The formation of such an Association 

 has long been hoped for by many interested in obtaining a 

 correct knowlege of the life and conditions of our sea-coast, who 

 are now principally indebted to Prof. Ray Lankester for the 

 realisation of their hopes. The operations of the Association 

 will in no way clash with those of the station at Granton, but 

 both institutions will work towards a common end. One effect, 

 indeed, of the new Association will probably be to render all 

 the more fruitful the labours on the more northern shores by 

 instituting similar researches at other parts of the coast of our 

 island. 



The work of the Association is as yet in the inceptive stage, 

 but a site well adapted for a marine observatory will, through 

 the liberal endeavours of the Mayor and Corporation of Plymouth, 

 probably be secured in that town, some citizens of which have 

 also promised a noble donation of 1000/. towards its erection. 

 The Clothworkers' Company has contributed 500/. and the 

 Mercers' Company 250 guineas, while the Council of this 

 Society has also shown its sympathy with the movement by a 

 grant of 250/., and the British Association by one of 150/. 

 Handsome donations have also been made by private individuals, 

 and the number of members of the Association is gradually 

 increasing. When once the station is completed and at work, 

 and its aims and operations become better known, I make little 

 doubt that it will receive a much larger share of public support. 

 But before the station can be erected and at work, it is calcu- 

 lated that an outlay of 10,000/. is necessary for its building and 

 equipment, of which as yet not quite half is forthcoming, and 1 

 venture to take this opportunity of enforcing the claims of the 

 Association upon all who are interested in "the improvement 

 of natural knowledge." As has already been pointed out in 

 the memorandum issued by the Association, "great scientific 

 and practical results have been obtained in other countries, 

 notably in the United States of America, in Germany, France, 

 and Italy, by studies carried on through such laboratories as the 

 Marine Biological Association proposes to erect in this country,'' 

 and I may add as is already at work at Granton. When we 

 consider the enormous importance of our fisheries, and h iw 



large may be the amount of material benefit derived from a 

 scientific investigation of the causes of their increase and dimi- 

 nution, it will, I think, be evident that the work to be carried 

 on at these stations is not only for such a purpose as the develop- 

 ment ot abstract biological science, important as that may be, 

 but for the advancement of our national resources. It is, there- 

 fore, to be hoped thai, in addition to the private support which 

 they will receive, they may in some manner be recognised by 

 the nation at large as centres for carrying out systematic in- 

 vestigations into the circumstances determining marine life, 

 from which a portion of our food-supply is drawn, and a much 

 larger portion might probably be derived. The importance of 

 our sea fisheries, which it will be one of the principal objects of 

 the Association to promote, has of late years been more fully 

 recognised, and the recent International Fisheries Exhibition 

 has done much to popularise the subject ; while the official 

 appointment of our President also proves that in the opinion of 

 our Government the scientific aspects of our fisheries are not to 

 be neglected. 



In the last Presidential Address reference was made to the 

 great desirability of carrying out, on the part of this country, 

 investigations into the nature of cholera in continuation and 

 extension of those so zealously and bravely initiated by the 

 distinguished German inquirer Koch. Although the Society 

 has had no very direct influence in the matter, the Fellows will, 

 I venture to think, regard it as a subject for congratulation that 

 the wish then expressed from this chair lias been fulfilled, and 

 that the distinguished expert in such questions — our Fellow, 

 Dr. Klein — is at present engaged in India in the investigation 

 of cholera at the instance of the Indian Government. It is sad 

 to think how much nearer our own shores such investigations 

 might have been conducted ; may it be long ere they can be 

 instituted on this side of the Channel. 



These remarks have already extended to such a length that I 

 can now only briefly refer to a few of the events of scientific 

 interest which have during the past year occupied the attention 

 of the Society or cf a large number of its Fellows. In the 

 month of April last the University of Edinburgh celebrated its 

 Tercentenary with great pomp and no less hospitality, upwards 

 of 120 delegates from various universities and other learned 

 bodies being invited as guests. On this occasion Lord Rayleigh 

 kindly consented to be our representative, and was among those 

 on whom the University conferred the hor.orary degree of LL.D. 

 The same distinguished Fellow occupied the Presidential chair 

 at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science at Montreal, on which occasion many of our body 

 took the opportunity of crossing the Atlantic. Owing to the 

 munificent liberality and ungrudging hospitality of our brethren 

 in tile 1 lominion of Canada, the somewhat bold experiment of 

 holding a meeting of the Association beyond the limits of the 

 British Isles has proved a great success, though, perhaps, it is 

 an experiment which would require exceptional conditions to be 

 successfully repeated. 



The Society was represented by delegates at the meeting of 

 the American Association for the Advancement of Science at 

 Philadelphia in September last. The Electrical Exhibition at 

 the same place resulted in the formation of a Memorial Library 

 in connection with the Franklin Institute, to which separate 

 copies of the papers relating to electricity that have appeared in 

 tlie Philosophical Transactions have been granted by the Council. 

 An Electrical Congress at Paris, and an Ornithological one at 

 Vienna have also been among the events of the year. 



Subscribers to the Darwin Memorial Fund will be pleased to 

 hear that a fine block of marble has been secured for the statue 

 to be erected in the Natural History Museum at South Ken- 

 sington, and I am glad to learn from Mr. Boehm that his work 

 will probably be completed by the end of this year. When the 

 total cost of the statue has been ascertained, it will be necessary 

 to hold a meeting of the Committee in charge of the Memorial 

 Fund to determine the manner in which the balance is to be 

 applied. 



It now only remains for me to thank the Fellows and others 

 conversant with the subjects on which I have touched, for in- 

 formation kindly afforded me ; to thank yon for the attention with 

 which you have listened to me. and to express a hope that it 

 may m it again for many years occur that the Anniversary Address 

 from this Presidential chair shall have to be delivered by deputy. 



After the Address the awards of the medals and the election 

 of the Council for the ensuing year were proceeded with ; these we 



