344 EEPOET— 1892. 



Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. P. L. Sclatee, Professor 

 Eay Lankestee, Professor Cossae Ewaet, Professor M. Fostee, 

 Mr. A. Sedgwick, Professor A. M. Maeshall, and Mr. Peecy 

 Sladen (Secretary), to appoint Mr. Willet to investigate the 

 Morphology of the Ascidians at the Zoological Station at Naples, 

 or, failing this, to appoint some other competent investigator to 

 carry on a definite piece of %vorh at the Zoological Station at 

 Naples approved by the Council. 



Your Committee have the pleasure to report that the table at the Naples 

 Zoological Station hired by the British Association has been continuously 

 occupied since the beginning of October last by Mr. Arthur Willey. 

 Mr. Willey, who is still in Naples and does not expect to complete his 

 work before the middle of August, has furnished a preliminary report 

 upon the investigations he has undertaken whilst occupying the table. 

 The report in question is appended, and is one to be regarded with 

 satisfaction. 



The Committee have received an application for permission to use the 

 table from Mr. Cecil Duncan, who proposes to investigate the efiect of 

 different rays of light upon Algae containing different coloured pigments — 

 a subject of great interest from both the chemical and the biological 

 standpoint. Mr. Duncan proposes to commence work at Naples on 

 August 15. This application has been unanimously approved by your 

 Committee, and they trust that the Association will sanction the payment 

 of the grant of lOOL, as in previous years, for the hire of the table in 

 the Zoological Station at Naples. 



The importance of the work carried on by the Zoological Station at 

 Naples and the admirable organisation of the institution for the purposes 

 of research are now so universally recognised that your Committee feel it 

 would be superfluous to recapitulate the advantages to the Association — 

 and through the Association to all British naturalists — of maintaining the 

 right to participate in this great international undertaking. 



The details extracted from the general report of the Zoological Station, 

 which have been courteously famished by the officers of the Station, 

 afford the most convincing evidence of the progress and success of the 

 institution. The details referred to, which will be found at the end of 

 this report, embrace lists (1) of the naturalists who have occupied tables 

 since the last report ; (2) of the works published during 1891 by natu- 

 ralists who have worked at the Zoological Station ; (3) of the specimens 

 sent out by the Station during the past year. 



The progress of the various publications undertaken by the Station is 

 summarised as follows : — 



1. Of the ' Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel ' the first three 

 monographs mentioned in last year's report — viz., on ' Gammarini,' by 

 Prof. Delia Valle; on ' Balanoglossus,' by Prof. Spengel ; and on ' Pelagic 

 Copepoda,' by Dr. Giesbrecht — will probably be published at the end of 

 the present or the beginning of the next year, the text and plates being 

 now nearly ready. Each monograph will run to about 800 pages of text, 

 with accompanying illustrations. The delay during the past year in the 

 publication of this costly series of monographs has arisen solely from the 



