506 
NATURE 
[ Sept. 24, 1885 
eruption, the ejections are shot up very high, being only very 
slightly or not at all influenced in their course by a strong wind. 
Each explosion follows with much rapidity, and corresponds with 
the ‘‘boati” heard all around the west, south, and south-east 
slopes of the mountain. The objections to this method of regis- 
tering the variations in the activity of a voleano are : (a) cloud- 
cap, which may for days cut off the view; (4) after a great 
eruption, resulting in a deep crater, the changes of activity would 
be invisible from the neighbourhood of the mountain ; (c) it is 
only applicable after dark, so that usually only one observation 
a day can be made; (¢@) should lava be flowing from a lateral 
outlet, as is often the case, the level of the fluid in the chimney 
would vary as the outflow took place with greater or less 
rapidity, dependent on its blocking the passage more or less. 
The reporter thinks it desirable to introduce a description of this 
method into the report, so that it may be made use of in the 
case of other suitable volcanoes. 
Report of the Committee, cousisting of Prof. Ray Lankester, 
Mr. P. L. Sclater, Prof. M. Foster, Mr. A. Sedgwick, Prof. A. 
M. Marshall, Prof. A. C. Haddon, Prof. Moseley, and Mr. 
Percy Sladen (Secretary), appointed for the purpose of arranging 
for the occupation of a Table at the Zoological Station at Naples. 
—In the Report read last year at Montreal it was announced 
that a scheme was on foot for the building of a large physiolo- 
gical laboratory in connection with the Zoological Station at 
Naples, and for the purchase of a new sea-going steamer, to be 
equipped as a floating laboratory. Your Committee are now 
able to report that both these projects are steadily advancing 
towards attainment. For the physiological laboratory the 
Municipality of Naples has made a grant of 400 square metres 
of ground, and the Italian Parliament has voted the sum of 
50,000 lire towards the cost of building. In addition to this 
assistance from the Italian Government, a union of the maritime 
provinces of South Italy is about to be formed for the purpose 
of contributing towards the cost of the new laboratory, and of 
maintaining two tables there for the use of natives of the prov- 
inces concerned. The new steamship, which it is hoped will 
shortly be in the possession of the station, will form a further 
addition to the capabilities of the establishment This under- 
taking is in the hands of an influential committee in Germany, 
organised for the purpose of collecting subscriptions, and by 
whom the vessel will be presented to the station. It is intended 
that the steamer should be of 300 to 400 tons burden, with 
engines of I50 to 200 horse-power, and be fitted up in all 
respects as a floating laboratory. With such a vessel it will be 
perfectly practicable to remain weeks or months in any desired 
locality, and distance from home will be no obstacle, as natural- 
ists will live and work on board. Concurrent with these strides 
of the Zoological Station, improvements in the general manage- 
ment, in methods of work, and in instruments of research are 
constantly being made. The general efficiency of the establish- 
ment is so well known that it will suffice to say that the whole 
organisation of the station is in a state of active and prosperous 
vitality. The best evidence of this is furnished by the accom- 
panying lists :—(1) of the naturalists who have occupied tables 
during the past year, and (2) of the publications resulting from 
work carried out at the station. 
The General Collections.—Additions have been again received 
from Capt. Chierchia, who has, since the last Report, sent two 
collections of specimens from the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 
Other collections have been likewise received from Lieut. Cer- 
cone, Lieut. Orsini, and Lieut. Colombo, from the Atlantic, the 
Red Sea, and the Mediterranean respectively. Some of the 
material previously obtained by Capt. Chierchia has already 
been utilised by Count Béla Haller in a paper on the molluscan 
kidney, recently published ; and the same author is at present 
preparing a monograph on the Patella. In like manner the 
Pteropoda have been investigated by Dr. Boas, of Copenhagen, 
whose monogiaph upon the subject is now in the press. Since 
the last Report the British Association table has been occupied 
by Mr. Wm. E. Hoyle, who, although limited in time, was 
enabled to prosecute researches on the embryology of the 
Cephalopoda, and to collect material from which important 
results may be expected. The report forwarded by Mr. Hoyle 
is appended :— 
Report on the Occupation of the Table, by Mr. William E. 
Hoyle.—I reached Naples on April 6, 1885, and left on the 28th 
of the same month. In so short a time it was obviously im- 
possible to make anything of the nature of a complete inyesti- 
gation in a subject of such magnitude and difficulty as the 
embryology of the Cephalopoda; it seemed, herefore, that the 
opportunities afforded me could best be utilised by collecting 
material for subsequent examination. Of this I had an abund- 
ant and immediate supply, thanks to the kindly forethought of 
your secretary, who had given notice to the authorities of the 
station of the nature of the work I had undertaken, so that they 
had a quantity of ova ready for my use. The greater part of 
my time was spent in extracting embryos from the egg and pre- 
serving them in various fluids, and a fairly complete series of 
developmental stages of Zoljgo and a good many embryos of 
Sefia were thus obtained. When the young Cephalopods have 
reached a stage at which the rudiments of the arms are clearly 
visible, it is moderately easy, after a little practice, to extricate 
them by making an incision into the egg-membrane with a fine 
scalpel ; but previously to this period they so nearly occupy the 
whole interior of the egg that it is almost impossible to obtain 
them uninjured. A quantity of such eggs I preserved whole by 
a method suggested to me by Dr. Jatta, who is at work upon a 
monograph of the Cephalopoda of the Bay of Naples. The 
strings of eggs are placed whole in weak solution of chromic 
acid (about 0°25 per cent.) for a few hours, and then in distilled 
water for twenty-four hours, after which they are preserved in 
alcohol. The embryos can then be extracted much more readily 
than when fresh. Some time was devoted to examining and 
drawing the embryos in the fresh condition, and in watching the 
process of segmentation in oligo and Sefia. I observed the 
presence of the ‘* Richtungsblaschen” in the former, which, so 
far as I am aware, has only been noted in a Russian memoir on 
the development of Sefiola by Ussow. A number of blasto- 
derms in process of segmentation were preserved according to a 
method proposed by Ussow, for the knowledge of which I am 
indebted to Dr. Edward Meyer, who kindly translated it for me 
from the original. The egg, without removal of the membranes, 
is placed in 2 per cent. solution of chromic acid for two minutes, 
and then in distilled water, to which a little acetic acid (one 
drop to a watchglassful) has been added, fortwo minutes longer. 
If an incision be now made into the egg-membrane the yolk 
flows away and the blastoderm remains ; if any yolk still cling 
to it, it may be removed by pouring away the water and adding 
more. The blastoderms thus prepared show, when appropriately 
stained, fine karyokinetic figures, of which I hope shortly to 
publish an account. The reduction of the collected embryos to 
serial sections and their examination will of course occupy some 
time, but I hope in a few months to prepare some account of 
the results obtained from them. 
Report of the Committee, consisting of Prof. Huxley, Mr. 
Sclater, Mr. Howard Saunders, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, and Prof: 
Moseley (Secretary), appointed for the purpose of promoting the 
Establishment of Marine Biological Stations on thé Coast of the 
United Kingdom.—The Committee has received the sum granted 
(150/.) from the Treasurer of the Association, and has paid it to 
the funds of the Marine Biological Association of the United 
Kingdom, as the most direct means of promoting the speedy 
establishment of a marine laboratory in a most favourable situa- 
tion on the British coast—namely, Plymouth. An excellent site 
for a laboratory has been granted to the Marine Biological Asso- 
ciation by Government, at Plymouth, A sum of 8000/. has been 
raised by subscriptions and donations, the Government has 
promised to aid the working of the laboratory by an annual 
subsidy, and there is every prospect of success. It is probable 
that the building of the laboratory will commence in November. 
Report of the Committee, consisting of the Rev. Canon Tristram, 
the Rev. F. Lawrence, and Mr. Famis Glaisher (Secrelary), 
appointed for the purpose of promoting the Survey of Palestine.— 
The Survey of Eastern Palestine has been carried on during the 
last year privately by Herr G. Schumacher, C.E., assisted by 
Mr. Laurence Oliphant, who has also furnished the Committee 
with valuable notes of personal exploration in the district now 
called Junlau—the ancient Gaulanitis. The portion surveyed by 
Herr Schumacher consists of about 200 square miles, and covers 
an area previously quite unknown. The map, which is now in 
the hands of the Committee, is accompanied by voluminous 
memoirs and a great number of sketches, drawings, and plans of 
ruins figured for the first time, which it is proposed to publish, 
with the memoirs, in October. The map of the Wady Arabah 
has been laid down in the Society’s sheets; the geological 
memoirs ccmpiled by Prof. Hule after his expedition of 1883-84 
are nearly ready, and will be issued before the end of the year ; 
and the Society has been enabled to secure Mr. Chichester Hart’s 
