100 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



bottoms collected by the oyster dredge at various localities 

 between Morecambe Bay and Bahama Light Vessels and 

 the coasts of Lancashire and Cumberland. Mr. Ray's 

 report deals also with the examination of the contents of 

 the alimentary canals of the fish caught at the time on 

 the same grounds. The geological nature of the sands, 

 muds, &c, forming the bottom deposits are described, and 

 the contained organisms and remains of organisms are 

 identified. The organisms forming the food of the fishes 

 caught are also identified, with the view of correlating 

 these with the organisms found on the different sea- 

 bottoms. The present report is essentially of a prelimi- 

 nary nature, and much further work on the subject 

 remains to be done. We hope to continue the investiga- 

 tion in the future by means of Petersen's "bottom 

 sampler." 



Bacteriological Investigations. 



Dr. Johnstone describes the topography of the mussel 

 grounds in the estuary of the Eibble, and also at 

 Portmadoc, Barmouth, and Aberdovey. He also gives the 

 results of bacteriological analyses, and shows that there is 

 very grave contamination in the mussels at Aberdovey 

 and Barmouth. Similar analyses for Portmadoc and the 

 Ribble Channel are also given. The numbers of sewage 

 bacteria contained in badly-polluted mussels, such as those 

 at Aberdovey, may amount to 20,000, while mussels free 

 from contamination, such as those at Eoosebeck, near 

 Piel, give only about five or six organisms per shell-fish. 

 Dr. Johnstone is going on with further very important 

 work relating to the precise nature of the bacteria found 

 in these shell-fish. 



Mr. Durlacher reports on experiments in the estuaries 



