SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 173 



July 22nd to November 5th, and includes the special work 

 on the s.y. " Madge." 



It may be argued that the plankton near the land is 

 more susceptible to sudden changes than that of the open 

 sea ; that winds, currents and other agencies have great 

 effect on local distribution ; that the further one 

 proceeds away from land influences the results will be 

 found to be more equal. Against this it may be stated 

 that regions where winds and currents have no effect are 

 difficult to find, and one has to make the best of his 

 opportunities. My own experience, from a long dealing 

 with plankton from many regions, is that one very rarely 

 finds exactly the same kinds of organisms or the same 

 relative abundance in collections taken on the same day. 



A recent expedition with the Hensen net across the 

 Irish Sea, from Piel Gas Buoy to the Isle of Man, gave 

 very interesting results. On November 13th, starting 

 from Piel Gas Buoy and proceeding in a north-westerly 

 direction to the Isle of Man, four hauls were made. The 

 first haul was taken six miles from the gas buoy, the 

 second fifteen miles, the third twenty-four miles, and the 

 fourth forty-two miles off the buoy. Each of the three 

 last hauls was made nine miles away from the preceding 

 one. The net was lowered to a depth of ten fathoms at 

 each station and then drawn .slowly to the surface. The 

 water everywhere was found to be teeming with Diatoms. 

 The first haul contained a great abundance of Cluetocerox 

 (four species) and Uliizosolenia. In the second haul 

 Coscinodiscus was the chief constituent. The third haul 

 contained an abundance of Eiicampia and KTiizosolenia. 

 The fourth haul was very similar to the first. Copepoda 

 were comparatively scarce throughout the traverse, and 

 consisted mainly of Paracalamis and Oithona. The first 

 haul contained one Calanus and six Temora. Temora was 



