NA TURK 



473 



THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 18S4 



A BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY ON THE 

 ENGLISH COAST 



ARRANGEMENTS have been made for ameeting in 

 the rooms of the Royal Society at half-past four, 

 on Monday, March 31, the object of which is to found a 

 Society having for its purpose the establishment and 

 maintenance of a well-equipped laboratory at a suitable 

 point on the English coast, similar to, if not quite so ex- 

 tensive as. Dr. Dohrn's Zoological Station at Naples. 



The value of such an institution to the progress of 

 zoological science, and the simple necessity which exists 

 for the thorough and detailed knowledge only to be 

 gained by the constant worlc of a well-supported labora- 

 tory devoted to the complete exploration of a definite 

 area of sea-bottom, if any reasonable action is to be taken 

 in regulating and improving British sea fisheries, have 

 been set forth at various times in these pages during the 

 past year in connection with the conferences held at the 

 Fisheries Exhibition. 



English naturalists have at length determined to do 

 their best to bring about the foundation of the desired 

 laboratory. A large sum of money will be needed in 

 order to secure a site and erect the necessary buildings, 

 besides the provision of an annual income. The Society 

 will be able to raise these funds and to administer them 

 in a more satisfactory way than would be possible were the 

 matter taken in hand by a few private individuals only. 

 The laboratory, when once set going, together with its 

 boats and fishermen, will be used for the purpose of 

 carrying on investigations by any naturalists who are 

 members of the Society, and may desire from time to 

 time to avail themselves of its resources. Its work will 

 therefore be chiefly carried on by volunteers, and it is 

 quite certain that there are a very large number of 

 thoroughly competent naturalists who are only waiting 

 for the opportunity thus afforded. At present such men 

 are to be found scattered here and there on our coasts, 

 making shift to carry on observations without laboratory, 

 boats, or any efficient appliances. Eventually it will no 

 doubt be possible to place a qualified observer in charge 

 of the laboratory. The laboratory will also be avail- 

 .ible for special investigations, for which a public body or 

 other authority may have employed the services of a 

 naturalist. 



Apart from the conveniences which it can afford and 

 the value of the moral effect of combined action even in 

 scientific investigation — the continuous working of a 

 number of naturalists at one spot has a most important 

 reaction upon their work. In proportion as a particular 

 area becomes thoroughly familiar in this way, it becomes 

 easy to obtain special animals and plants for study which 

 were at first regarded as rare, or were altogether unknown 

 in the locality. The thorough and long-continued opera- 

 tions of such a laboratory have naturally enough the 

 value of systematised work as compared with the casual 

 dippings and exploratory incursions of the isolated natu- 

 ralist who spends a month in one year at this place and a 

 month in another year at another place. 

 Vol. XXIX.— No. 751 



Already in Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, close to 

 Edinburgh — through the admirable energy of Mr. John 

 Murray, the director of the Challenger Expedition pub- 

 lications—a small laboratory has been set up, and funds 

 obtained for carrying on its work by the engagement of 

 young naturalists to investigate special problems. The 

 English laboratory will be erected at a point as rich as 

 possible in respect of its marine fauna, and at the same 

 time in proximity to important fishing grounds. No 

 locality has yet been decided upon, but both Torquay 

 and Weymouth have been suggested as presenting the 

 desired combination. Everything depends on the amount 

 of pecuniary support which the Society will be able to 

 obtain. A great work maybe done if sufficient funds are 

 forthcoming ; a smaller work will be accomplished with 

 smaller funds, and carried on in the firm expectation of 

 gaining increased means of activity as results are pro- 

 duced justifying the enterprise. 



But as a matter of fact, no tentative method of procedure 

 is needed. It is quite certain, from the experience obtained 

 in other countries, that a properly provided observatory — 

 with good working-rooms, large and small tanks, sea- 

 water pump, a steam launch and well-trained fishermen 

 and permanent staff — can turn out results which are 

 numerous and valuable in proportion to the completeness 

 of the arrangements and the experience of the permanent 

 staff France was the first country to start such marine 

 laboratories or observatories. At present there are 

 several in operation on the French coast — viz. at Roscoffj 

 at Concarneau, at Villefranche, and near Cette. Italy 

 boasts of the great international laboratory founded and 

 carried on with wonderful perseverance and success by 

 Dr. Dohrn at Naples. An idea of the cost of a really 

 first-rate institution of the kind may be gathered from the 

 fact that the palatial building in the Villa Nazionale at 

 Naples with its fittings and fishing-boats represents a 

 capital of 20,000/., whilst the annual expenditure is over 

 4000/. Austria has such a laboratory at Trieste, maintained 

 by the Imperial Government. Among the most successful 

 of such laboratories have been those established on the 

 eastern coast of the United States. That at Beaufort, 

 directed by the Johns Hopkins University, has furnished 

 an extraordinary amount of interesting results through 

 the activity of Mr. Brooks and the young naturalists of 

 the United States who make use of it. That erected by 

 Prof. Alexander Agassiz at Newport (Maine) is no less 

 satisfactory as an evidence of the utility of such institu- 

 tions. Since the foundation of these laboratories (within 

 the past decade) our knowledge of marine organisms has 

 increased at an enormous rate : without them we should 

 have gone on in the casual, uncertain way which neces- 

 sarily arose from the fact that every naturalist, before the 

 foundation of these laboratories, had to establish his own 

 little workshop for the summer and to make a fresh 

 start in an unexplored locality, or in one explored only by 

 the efforts of himself alone. 



The meeting on March 31 promises to be one of great 

 influence. Prof. Huxley, P. R.S., is to preside. Prof 

 Flower, Prof. Moseley, Prof. Milnes Marshall, Sir Lyon 

 Playfair, Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P. (one of the Commission 

 on Trawling), Prof. Michael Foster, Prof Ray Lankester, 

 Dr. Albert Giinther, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Mr. Gwyn 

 Jeffreys, Dr. P. L. Sclater, Mr. Frank Crisp, Sir John 



