SEA-FISHEEIES LABORATORY. 105 



beds of the district periodically, and bring back material 

 consisting of shell-fish, of various sizes, and samples of 

 the sea-bottom and sea-water, from which when fully 

 examined in the laboratory a report can be drawn up on 

 the condition of the beds. Section III., dealing with this 

 investigation and giving lists of the organisms found on 

 the beds has been drawn up by Mr. Scott. This can only 

 be regarded as a first instalment of our report on the 

 shell-fish beds, and the work will be continued during the 

 present year. It need scarcely be pointed out that the 

 branch laboratory on Piel Island will be of material 

 assistance to us in examining the beds of the northern 

 part of the district. Mr. Scott in the course of his 

 examination of the mud from these mussel beds and of 

 deposits from other parts of our district — notably the 

 neighbourhood of Port Erin — has come upon a number of 

 minute animals, chiefly Copepoda, not hitherto recognised 

 as living in our district and some of them new to Science. 

 These are described by Mr. Scott in Section IV. and are 

 figured in Plates I. to V. 



Section V. contains a preliminary account of the inves- 

 tigations now being carried on, partly in the Liverpool 

 laboratory and partly at Port Erin, by Professor Boyce 

 and myself, upon the conditions under which Oysters live 

 healthily, and upon the supposed connection between 

 oysters and disease — especially typhoid fever. It may 

 be noted that in addition to the enquiry into the subject 

 of the great " Oyster and Typhoid " scare, we have made 

 many observations upon the different kinds of oysters 

 grown or laid down in our neighbourhood, and the effect 

 upon them of different kinds of water. 



During last summer, I gave a Course of Free Lectures 

 under the auspices of the Sea-Eisheries Committee and 

 in accordance with the regulations of the University 



