ON THE ZOOLOGICAL STATION AT NAPLES. 237 
I. Report on the Occupation of the Table by Mr. J. T. Cunningham. 
I arrived at Naples on Sunday, November 5, 1882. The Committee 
of the British Association had, in accordance with my request, kindly 
given me permission to occupy their table for six months. Everything 
was ready for me to commence work at once, and during the whole of my 
stay I had more and more cause to admire the perfection of the working 
arrangements of the station and the courtesy and care with which the 
staff provided for the wants of the numerous zoologists at work in the 
laboratory. 
I went to Naples with the intention of working out certain points in 
the anatomy of the Mollusca, and if possible of obtaining some light on 
their phylogenetic history by a study of their organogeny. These 
matters occupied the greater part of my time, although I of course 
availed myself of the unique opportunities of the station for the study of 
marine forms in general, and of many cases of development. For 
example, I studied the artificial fertilisation and subsequent development 
of species of Echinoidea, and spent many hours over the Radiolaria, 
Medusee, Siphonophora, and numerous larval forms which occur in 
bewildering profusion in the product of the surface-collecting, known in 
the station as ‘ Auftrieb.’ 
I also took up to a certain extent the anatomy of the Gephyreans and 
of the Siphonostomata, in order to compare the former with the forms 
most nearly approaching them among the Chetopoda. In the anatomy 
of Siphonostoma and of Stylarioides I found there were several interest- 
ing points for investigation, and I was sorry that I could not make my 
researches on them more complete. 
One of the points in molluscan anatomy which I succeeded in working 
out was the relation of the renal organs to the pericardium in Patella: I 
found that each renal organ had an independent opening into the peri- 
cardial cavity. LIalso studied the form, relations, and histology of the 
kidney (triangular gland) in the genus Aplysia, and prepared a descrip- 
tion of the organ for the ‘ Mittheilungen’ of the station. 
For the development of the organs in Mollusca I took nearly all the 
material I could get, including the ova of the Cephalopoda. I found it 
extremely difficult to obtain satisfactory preparations which would clear 
up the doubtful points in the organogeny either of the Cephalopoda or 
the Gasteropoda, which were the two groups I chiefly studied. Up to 
the time I left Naples I had not obtained any definite results. 
I gave up the table a few days before the end of April 1883; it is 
with much pleasure that I thank the Committee for the privilege they 
granted me; the period of my occupation of the table was most agree- 
able and profitable to me. 
I must also express here my deep indebtedness to the kindness and 
friendly support which I received from Dr. Dohrn and all the other 
members of the staff of the station. I was permitted to accompany 
collecting expeditions and to become familiar with the whole organisation 
and working of the laboratory and aquarium. The station is an immense 
advantage to zoology in general and to all European zoologists, and the 
Association deserves the gratitude of English biologists for holding a 
table in its laboratory. : 
