200 EEPOM— 1881. 



We are therefore much inclined to believe that by a series of deep- Water 

 explorations — by which we mean the dredge and deep-water tow-nets, 

 situated so as to sweep the sea at each successive fifty fathoms of water 

 — very interesting and valuable results would be obtained. It is our 

 strong conviction that many of the specimens recorded from very great 

 depths are inhabitants of mid-water rather than dwellers at the sea- 

 bottom, from whence they are supposed to have been brought. 



Hitherto we have had at our command only fishermen's trawlers and 

 shore-boats ; but to explore the deep water that surrounds the south- 

 western limits of Cornwall and the Scilly Islands would require vessels 

 of larger tonnage and greater power than we have been able to procure 

 with the grant placed at our disposal. 



Among the fish and other animals, numerous specimens of various 

 species have been procured. Those that are the most seldom met with on 

 our coast have been preserved ; and here we would like to record that 

 specimens offish and Crustacea which have been preserved, as recommended 

 by us at the meeting of the British Association at Brighton, and have been 

 so kept for several years, are soft and flexible, and retain much of the 

 colours of living specimens. 



Numerous annelids and zoophytes have also been obtained, but we 

 have not to record any that appear to be new or differ from those that 

 have been reported by us in the lists already published. 



As soon as our specimens are all arranged and tabulated, we hope to 

 forward some to the British Museum, and present the rest to the Museum 

 of the Plymouth Institution. 



Report of the Committee^ consisting of Professor A, C. Ramsay and 

 Professor John Milne {Secretary\ appointed for the ptirpose of 

 investigating the Earthquake Phenomena of Japan. 



The Seismological work which I have been engaged upon since the British 

 Association generously placed the grant of 25Z. in the hands of Andrew 

 Ramsay, Esq., and myself as an assistance towards the investigation of 

 the earthquake phenomena of Japan, has been partly a continuance of 

 experiments and observations commenced four years ago, and jiartly the 

 commencement of experiments more or less new. 



The results of work which has been accomplished has been almost 

 wholly read before the Seismological Society of Japan, and will very 

 shortly appear in its Transactions. 



The work which I have been engaged upon since receiving the grant 

 has been as follows : — 



I. Attemjjis to determine the area from which the shakings so often felt in 



Toldo and Yokohama emanate. 



To do this, instruments intended to record the direction and maximum 

 amplitude of an earthquake were placed at four points, from 10 to 20 

 miles apart, round the upper portions of Yedo Bay. For the shakings 

 of January 7, 22, and 24 of this year, lines drawn parallel to the direction 



