174 CI*roc. B.N.F.C. 



excursion was to give the members of the Field Club an 

 opportunity of inspecting the work and working methods of 

 the Ulster Fisheries and Biology Association. Since its 

 foundation last March the Association has accomplished a 

 considerable amount of work, and the Field Club members 

 were glad to see so much enthusiasm and capacity for hard 

 work displayed by the new Association. No feeling of rivalry 

 exists between the old and the new organisations; while the 

 advancement of knowledge is the object of both, they are 

 tilling separate fields, and can be mutually helpful to each 

 other. 



When all had assembled at Larne Harbour Station the 

 party was divided into three groups; the first went for a trip 

 up Larne Lough in the Association's steam launch " Mysis," 

 under the care of Mr. W. Rankin, who was in charge of the 

 launch for the day; the second visited the celebrated Larne 

 gravels, under the guidance of the President (Mr. W. J. 

 Fennell, M.R.I. A. I.) ; while the third went straight to the 

 Biological Station of the Association, where the Hon. Director 

 (Professor Gregg Wilson, D.Sc.) explained the various objects 

 of interest arranged on the shelves in the laboratory, as well 

 as the different nets and apparatus in use. The routine work 

 of the place was explained, and it was mentioned that 

 physical and meteorological observations are regularly made, 

 in addition to those on the structure, habits, and distribution 

 of animals. The various kinds of apparatus made use of 

 were demonstrated; and special interest was shown in the 

 incubator that is used in the process of embedding animals or 

 tissues in paraffin as a preliminary to making fine sections of 

 them with a microtome. A large number of living specimens 

 representing different groups of the animal kingdom were 

 exhibited and described. Among these were several little 

 plaice, which had been collected from the shore within the last 

 few days. They measured from five-eighths of an inch to an 

 inch in length, and must only have recently taken to life at the 

 bottom, after a period of drifting about with the surface 

 currents. It was explained that one aim of the workers at 



