534 



NA TURE 



lApri/ 2>, 1884 



its boats, fishermen, working-rooms, &c., being open to 

 the use of all naturalists under regulitions hereafter to be 

 determined." 



Sir John Lubbock, as President of the Linnean Society 

 and a trustee of the British Museum, in seconding this 

 motion said he thought they owed their thanks to Prof. 

 Lankester for the efforts he had made to found the 

 proposed society. 



Dr. Giinther supported the resolution, which was 

 passed. 



Sir Joseph Hooker moved : — That this meeting 

 does hereby agree to constitute itself such a society 

 under the title of " The Society for the Biological 

 Investigation of the Coasts of the United Kingdom." 

 He dilated upon the importance of such a society to 

 the interests of botanical science. The motion was 

 seconded by Prof Moseley, who appropriately called 

 attention to the fact that most, if not all, life upon this 

 planet was littoral in origin, and afterwards spread on 

 the one hand to the deep sea and on the other to the 

 land. 



On the motion of Sir William Bowman, F.R.S., it was 

 resolved that gentlemen whose names follow be requested 

 to act as a provisional council and report to an adjourned 

 meeting to be held on Friday, May 30, as to the constitu- 

 tion and organisation of the society and other matters, 

 and in the meantime have power to admit suitable persons 

 to the membership of the society ; further, that Prof. 

 Lankester be asked to act as secretary and Mr. Frank 

 Crisp as treasurer ad interim. Those named were the 

 Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Dalhousie, Lord Arthur 

 Russell, the Lord Mayor, the Prime Warden of the Fish- 

 mongers' Company, the President of the Royal Society, 

 the Presidents of the Linnean, Zoological, and Royal 

 Microscopical Societies ; Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S. ; 

 Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., Mr. Frank Crisp, Mr. Thomas 

 Christy, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S. , Prof. Flower, Mr. 

 John Evans (treasurer of the Royal Society), Dr. Albert 

 Giinther, F.R.S., Sir Joseph Hooker, Prof. Michael 

 Foster (secretary of the Royal Society), Prof. Ray Lan- 

 kester, F.R.S., Prof. M. Marshall, Prof. Moseley, F.R.S , 

 Mr. John Murray, F.R.S. E., the Rev Dr. Norman, Mr. 

 George J. Romanes, F.R.S., Prof. Burdon Sanderson, 

 F.R.S., Dr. Sclater, Mr. Adam Sedgwick, Mr. Percy 

 Sladen, Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., and Mr. Charles 

 Stewart, F.L.S. 



Mr. G. J. Romanes, in seconding the motion, took oc- 

 casion to observe that in his opinion one of the most 

 important functions of the society when formed would 

 be that of conducting researches upon invertebrate'physio- 

 logy. He was sure he would be but carrying with him 

 the assent of all physiologists when he said that it is to 

 the invertebrate forms of life that we must novp look for 

 the elucidation of many of the most fundamental pro- 

 blems connected with life-processes. It is in the Inver- 

 tebrata that we meet with life in its least compounded 

 state, and therefore in the state best suited to observation 

 and experiment directed towards the solution of these 

 fundamental problems. The sea is the great magazine 

 of invertebrate life, and if the rich stores of material 

 therein presented have been hitherto almost entirely 

 neglected by physiologists, the explanation may be found 

 in the fact that physiological research can only be con- 

 ducted in well-equipped laboratories, which have been of 

 but comparatively recent institution upon the sea-coasts 

 of Europe and .America. 



Prof. Ray Lankester then moved a vote of thanks to the 

 President of the Royal Society for taking the chair, and 

 said it had been estimated that from 6000/. to 10,000/. 

 would be required to start the project. He invited 

 immediate subscriptions, payable ad interim to the 

 treasurer, Mr. Frank Crisp, 6, (.ild Jewry, E.C. Sir 

 Joseph Fayrer seconded the motion, and the President 

 having briefly replied, the proceedings terminated. 



NOTES 



I N the death of the youngest and one of the most accomplished 

 of the Quetii's sons the cause of education has sustained a loss. 

 The Duke of Albany knew well what science meant, and on 

 several occasions publicly expressed his sense of its value in 

 respect of the nation's welfare, and the necessity for its intro- 

 duction into our systems of education. There can be no doubt 

 that had he lived he would have rendered service to the best 

 interests of the country. It is so rarely that princes have 

 the tastes and leanings of the late Royal Duke that we could ill 

 afford to lose him. 



The organising committee of Section F (Economic Science 

 and Statistics) have arranged the following programme of subjects 

 for discus■^ion at the Montreal meeting of the British Association. 

 The subjects will be distributed over the four or five days which 

 will probably be at the disposal of the Section. Group 1. Popu- 

 lation : (l) Emigration ; (2) Census results; (3) Distribution of 

 wealth and condition of the poor. Group II. Land : (4) Agri- 

 culture ; (5) Land daws ; (6) Forestry. Group III. Trade : (7) 

 Manufactures, shipping, and foreign markets; (8) Internal com- 

 munication by land and water. Group IV. Finance : (9) 

 Monetary system ; (10) Public debts (Governmental and Muni- 

 cipal). Writers have been engaged for most of the subjects in 

 the above programm ,. 



We regret to announce the death, at the age of sixty-seven 

 years, of Mr. Nicolas Triibner, the well-known publisher, who 

 has done so much to place within the rca.-h of the English p.iblic 

 Fome of the best v/orks in German philosophy, science, and 

 learning. He will be missed by a wide circle of friei.ds, among 

 whom are many men of science, English and f:)reign. 



The Prince of Wales has formally urged upon the Corporation 

 and the Livery Companies to lend still further aid to the City 

 and Guilds of London Technical Institute, which is greatly in 

 need of funds ; and the Corporation proposes t ) vote a further 

 sum of 1000/. provided the Livery Companies subscribe the rest 

 of the 20,000/. needed by the Institute. 



As u-ual there was some pleasant talk at the Civil Engineers' 

 dinner last week ; Prof. Huxley in replying to the toast of 

 "Science," said there was one educational aspect which was 

 extremely instructive and important, and that was the insensible 

 and ahnost unconscious education in science which was carried 

 on upon the masj es of the people by the great work of engineers 

 and mechanician-. The work of the engineer and all who were 

 applying the teachings of science was surrounding the population 

 with the symbols of scientific faith. 



Mr. W. Saville Kent, F.L.S. , F.Z.S., has been appointed 

 Inspector of Fisheries to the Government of Tasmania, and 

 proceeds shortly to the scene of his new duties. The more ex- 

 tensive introduction and distribution of the Salmonid^e already 

 acclimatised in Tasmauian waters, and the resuscitation by arti- 

 ficial culture of the once prolific but now greatly depleted oyster 

 fisheries, are among the special subjects that will engage the 

 attention of the newly appointed Inspector. A systematic in- 

 vestigation of the marine fauna, with the view of turning to 

 profitable account those edible, indigenous forms which are as 

 yet but little utilised for economic purposes, will likewise be 

 initiated. It is to be hoped that the Colonial Government will 

 recognise the fitness of the opportunity that now presents itself 

 of establishing in this_ quarter of the antipodes a well-equipped 

 if small marine observatory for the artificial cultivation and 

 scientific observation of the habits and developmental pheno- 

 mena of the many interesting types peculiar to this region, and 

 of which, as yet, biologists possess little or no knowledge. Mr. 



