ON THE LABORATORY OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 363 



the larva fixes itself in the usual way by the three adhering papilla, the 

 whole anterior portion of the body becomes drawn in or introverted, and 

 the body of the larva presents an autero-posteriorly flattened appearance 

 with a cup- shaped depression in front, round which the tentacles project 

 and attach themselves by their free extremities to the surface to which 

 the larva has fixed itself, which may be a rock or another Ascidian of 

 the same species. I have referred to these tentacle-like processes in the 

 paper quoted above, and have there figured a larva with a dozen ten- 

 tacles. They have nothing to do with budding either actually or primi- 

 tively in any Ascidian. 



I also made some experiments on the larvae of Styela grossularia, in 

 which I succeeded in very sensibly hastening the change of form (i.e., 

 flattening of the body of the larva) which takes place during the meta- 

 morphosis, by cutting oS" the tails of the larvte. I should say that the 

 actual fixation of the larva is not an indispensable preliminary to the 

 commencement of the metamorphosis, the most obvious accompaniments 

 of which are the abovementioned flattening of the body and the absorp- 

 tion of the tail of the larva. By keeping a series of normal larvae in one 

 dish, and a series of larv« with docked tails in another dish at the same 

 time, I was able to compare the rate of change of shape in the two cases, 

 and the difference was most striking. 



The work which I commenced at the laboratory of the Marine 

 Biological Association at Plymouth was continued at the Zoological 

 Station at Naples, where I also had the privilege of occupying the table 

 of the British Association, and the results of my work there will be given 

 in another report. 



The Committee venture to hope that the Association will again place 

 in their hands a grant of 30^., or of any smaller sum, to enable them to 

 continue to nominate workers at the Plymouth Laboratory. They believe 

 that the utility of the grant is becoming more widely appreciated, and 

 they feel that the grant has been well and usefully employed. Tliey 

 desire to point out that, even if they should not be reappointed, the 

 Association should make some permanent provision for nominating a 

 worker for one month in every year ; a privilege which belongs to the 

 Association, free of charge, by virtue of its position as a Governor of the 

 Marine Biolosrical Association. 



Sixth Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor M. Foster 

 {Chairman), Professor F. 0. Bower {Secretary), Professor 

 I. Bayley Balfour, Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Dr. H. Trimen, 

 Professor Marshall Ward, Mr. W. Carruthers, Professor 

 M, M. Hartog, and Mr. W. Gtardiner, for taking steps to 

 establish a Botanical Laboratory at Peradeniya, Ceylon. 



The Committee report that, no grant having been asked for at the meet- 

 ing at Cardiff, no accounts have to be rendered. 



Professor J. Bretland Farmer has in the course of the year returned, 

 after spending five months in Ceylon, and has brought back with him 



