986 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 442. 



but before tbe establishment of tbe present 

 laboratory. There are now several important 

 papers in progress, but these can hardly be 

 mentioned until their publication. 



In the summer of 1902 considerable attention 

 was paid to the plankton, and almost every 

 night showed novelties and interesting forms. 

 Almost all the common types of larvae occurred 

 abundantly — Gyphonautes, Mitraria, Loven's 

 larva, Pilidium, plutei and Bipinnaria, etc. 

 More noticeable, however, was Actinotrocha, 

 the first time the genus has been noticed north 

 of Newport. On several evenings the rare 

 pteropod Spinalis gouldii was abundant, while 

 on others there were numbers of the larvae of 

 a gymnosomatous pteropod (possibly Clione) 

 recalling the oft-copied figures of Pneumoden- 

 non larvffi. Towards the end of the season 

 several specimens of the strange annelid To- , 

 mopteris, some with eggs, were taken, and we 

 obtained several specimens of Arachnactis, the 

 young of the peculiar sea-anemone, Cerian- 

 thus, which, by the way, is not uncommon in 

 the deeper waters of the bay. The locality 

 possibly offers _ a good chance to obtain the 

 development of the Oopelate Tunicata, as 

 specimens of an Appendicularia-lihe form, 

 some with apparently ripe eggs and sperma- 

 tozoa, were abundant. Numerous specimens 

 of chain salpae were brought us by fishermen 

 from the trawling grounds outside. 



The student of elasmobranch embryology 

 will find this a most favorable place for work, 

 for the common dog-fish Acanthias, is abun- 

 dant just outside the islands during most of 

 the summer, and embryos are readily obtained 

 from the first appearance of the blastoderm 

 up to those an inch or two in length. 



On the whole, our experience has been that 

 no spot north of Gape Cod can excel South 

 Harpswell as a location for a station for bio- 

 logical research. The present laboratory, while 

 well adapted for elementary instruction, is, in 

 many respects, inadequate to the demands 

 liable to be made upon it when the richness of 

 the fauna and the charms of the place become 

 better laiown. 



J. S. KiNGSLEY. 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION.* 



The inauguration of the South African 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 took place at Cape Town on April 27. The 

 Cape Times, to which we are indebted for the 

 details of the proceedings, describes the suc- 

 cessful gathering as a British Association 

 meeting in miniature. The new Association 

 enters upon its career with a membership of 

 seven hundred persons from many parts of 

 South Africa. 



The main objects of the organization are 

 the same as those of the parent body. As 

 defined in the Constitution, they are " to give 

 a strong impulse and systematic direction to 

 scientific inquiry; to promote the intercourse 

 of societies and individuals interested in sci- 

 ence in different parts of South Africa; to 

 obtain a more general attention to the objects 

 of pure and applied science, and the removal 

 of any disadvantages of a public kind which 

 may impede its progress." 



The presidential address was delivered by 

 Sir David Gill, K.G.B., the Astronomer Eoyal 

 for South Africa, who explained the nature 

 of the work which it was hoped the new Asso- 

 ciation would accomplish. During the course 

 of his able address Sir David Gill announced 

 that Lord Kelvin had written that, although 

 in 1905 he will be eighty-one years of age, 

 he intends, if he is as well then as he is now, 

 to accompany the British Association on the 

 visit to South Africa. 



The work of the sections began on the sec 

 ond day of the meeting. The presidential ad- 

 dresses in the various sections were delivered 

 by the following men of science : 



Section A, Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematics, 

 Meteorology and Physics, by Prof esor P. D. Hahn ; 

 Section B, Anthropology, Ethnology, Bacteriology, 

 Botany, Geography, Geology, Mineralogy and 

 Zoology, by Dr. R. Marlotti; and Section C, 

 Archeology, Education, Mental Science, Philology, 

 Political Economy, Sociology and Statistics, by 

 Dr. Thomas Muir, C.M.G., F.R.S., Director of 

 Education for Cape Colony. 



Among the papers read during the course of 

 the meetings the following deserve mention. In 

 Section A, on ferments causing ' oasse ' in wine, 

 by Mr. Raymond Dubois; meteorology in South 



* From Nature. 



