ON THE MARINE ZOOLOGY OF THE IRISH SEA. 467 



subsequently picked up on the shore and returned duly filled in and signed. 

 They come from various parts of the coast of the Irish Sea — Scotland, 

 England, Wales, Isle of Man, and Ireland. Some of the bottles have 

 gone quite a short distance, having evidently been taken straight ashore 

 by the rising tide. Others have been carried an unexpected length, e.g., 

 one (No. 35), set free near the Crosby Light Vessel, oft" Liverpool, at 

 12.30 P.M., on October 1, was picked up at Saltcoats, in Ayrshire, on 

 November 7, having travelled a distance of at least 180 miles ' in thirty- 

 seven days ; another (H. 20) was set free near the Skerries, Anglesey, on 

 October 6, and was picked up, one mile north of Ardrossan, on November 7, 

 having travelled 150 miles in thirty-one days; and bottle No. 1, set free 

 at the Liverpool Bar on September 30, was picked up at Shiskin, Arran, 

 about 165 miles off, on November 12. On the other hand, a bottle 

 (J. F. 34) set free on November 7, at the Ribble Estuary, was picked up 

 on November 1 2 at St. Anne's, having gone only 4 miles. 



It would be premature as yet — until many moi"e dozens or hundreds 

 have been distributed and returned — to draw any very definite conclusions. 

 It is only by the evidence of large numbers that the vitiating effect of 

 exceptional circumstances, such as an unusual gale, can be eliminated. 

 Prevailing winds, on the other hand, such as would usually affect the 

 drift of surface organisms, are amongst the normally acting causes which 

 we are trying to ascertain. We may, however, state, for what they are 

 worth, the following results obtained so far : — (1) Nearly 50 per cent, of 

 the bottles found have been carried across to Ireland, and they are chiefly 

 ones that had been set free in the southern part of the district (between 

 Liverpool and Holyhead) and ofi" the Isle of Man ; (2) the bottles set free 

 along the Lancashire coast and in Morecambe Bay seem chiefly to have 

 been carried to the south and west, to about Mostyn and Douglas ; 

 (3) it is apparently only a few that have been carried out of the district 

 through the North Channel. It is interesting to learn that the Fishery 

 Board for Scotland has also commenced a similar inquiry by the distribu- 

 tion of floating bottles in the Scottish territorial waters. No account of 

 their experiment has yet appeared, but it will be of some importance to 

 compare results with them, say, at the end of the first year's work. 



The Committee apply to be reappointed for one additional year, with 

 a grant of 50^., to enable them to carry on their investigations and draw 

 up a final report. 



The, Zoology of the Sandivich Islands. — Fifth Report of the 

 Committee, consisting of Profes.«or A. Newton ( Chairman), Dr. 

 W. T. Blanford, Dr. S. J. Hickson, Professor C. V. Eiley, Mr. 

 0. Salvin, Dr. P. L. Sclater, Mr. E. A. Smith, and Mr. D. 

 Sharp (Secretary). 



The Committee was appointed in 1890, and has been annually re- 

 appointed. Acting jointly with that appointed by the Royal Society for 

 the same purposes, it decided, as stated in its Report made at Oxford, that 

 Mr. Perkins should return home from the Sandwich Islands. He accord- 



'_ More probably, very much further, as during that time it would certainly be 

 carried backwards and forwards by the tide. 



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