92 



FBEE-SWIMMING COPEPODA from the WEST 

 COAST of IKELAND. 



By Isaac C. Thompson, F.L.S. 



[Read January 10th, 1896.] 



A number of small bottles (eighteen bottles in all) 

 containing tow-net material haA^e been recently handed to 

 me for examination and identification by my friend Mr. 

 Edward T. Browne, B.A., of London, he having collected 

 them off Valencia on the West of Ireland during the 

 summer and autumn of 1895. 



They represent the results of sixteen separate days 

 collecting, the dates being April 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 

 18, 27, 29, May 5, 8, 14, 27, June 27, July 8, Sept. 6, 

 and Oct. 16, and these corresponding to gatherings Nos. 



1 to 18 consecutively (see Table I., at end). 



Mr. Browne writes "I did not preserve every tow- 

 netting taken, or keep the whole, but only a sample of 

 it." The sizes of the bottles varied from 2 drms. up to 



2 oz., the preservative material used being in most cases 

 a 5 % solution of formalin, the merits of which I shall 

 have occasion to refer to later on. It is to be regretted 

 that " only a sample " of the haul was retained, as 

 experience has often demonstrated that although the 

 mass of a tow-netting may contain mainly one or a very 

 few species, rarer species may occur isolated throughout 

 it, and the very last dip sometimes contains an unexpected 

 prize. So that although the process is slow and tedious, 

 it is always advisable to examine as much as possible, and 

 the careful observer will generally find himself rewarded 

 by so doing. 



