1898.] PLAJfKTOS OP THE FAEBOB CHA_!f?fEL, 585 



observation of Sars ^ : — '• A much smaller form, scarcely exceeding 

 5 mm. in length, but otherwise wholly agreeing with the typical 

 species, I have met with in less depth [than iOO fathoms] and 

 occasionally even near the surface of the sea." Edwards, in the 

 paper already cited, speaks of their being " cast on shore during gales 

 from the Xorth in most enormous and incalculable numbers," and 

 of " a ridge or wall of these animals extending more than a hundred 

 feet in length, and varymg from 1 to 2 inches in height and 

 breadth, which had been washed up by the sea." He evidently 

 considered them to live normally out at sea, and to come inshore 

 occasionally " in search of food perhaps." 



There are of course other forms, such as Nyctiphanes norvegica, 

 which are known to inhabit the upper strata when young, and to 

 descend normally to greater depths when adult. Other forms again 

 are known to appear in the North Sea only at times when a strong 

 set of southerly current brings down an Arctic or sub-Arctic 

 Fauna ^. 



I have discussed the distribution of this form at some length 

 because it seems to me to illustrate our utter ignorance of the normal 

 habitat and occasional appearance of some " British ' species, — 

 conditions which are fundamental factors in the distribution aud 

 bionomics of marine organisms, and which can only be elucidated 

 by patient observation and detailed records all round the coast-line. 



Parathemisio abyssorum may be fairly regarded as a member of the 

 Mesoplankton in the Faeroe Channel : it occurred in seven out of 

 thirteen deep-water hauls ; and in one out of three hauls which began 

 at or over 300 fathoms and finished at the surface ; it occurred in 

 only one out of twenty-five hauls between 100 and fathoms, and 

 then at midnight and very abundantly (15 d). It is also apparently 

 a cold-water form by preference, as it did not occur in either of the 

 deep hauls in the " warm area " (19 a, 480 to 350 fms. ; 19 h, 480 

 to fathoms). 



November 15, 1898. 

 W. T. Blaitfobd, Esq., F.E.S., V.P., in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following reports on the additions made 

 to the Society's Menagerie during the months of June, July, 

 August, September, and October, 1898 : — 



The total number of registered additions to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie during the month of June was 147, of which 60 were by 

 presentation, 16 by birth, 36 by purchase, 2 were received in 

 exchange and 33 on deposit. The total number of departures during 

 the same period, by death and removals, was 109. 



1 G. O. Sars : Crustacea of Norway, vol. i. p. 11. 



^ C. Chun : Beziehungen zwischen den arktischen and antarktischen Plankton. 

 Stuttgart, 1897, 8vo. 



Pboc. Zool. Soc— 1898, No. XL. 40 



