NORTH ATLANTIC PLANKTON. 30 



re-set as we started off from Ireland at 4 p.m., and 

 gathering No. 3 represents from that hour till 7 p.m. 

 We were now in the open Atlantic, and the regular work 

 began — gathering No. 4 being the night, from 8 p.m. on 

 August 6th, to 9 a.m. on August 7th ; gathering No. 5, 

 the day August 7th, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and so on 

 (see list below, p. 42). 



During the British Association Meeting at Toronto, I 

 found that Mr. W. Garstang, on his voyage out in the 

 "Laurentian," had made use of a somewhat less complete 

 method of obtaining what may be considered as occasional 

 samples of the surface life, by tying a small net over the 

 tap in the gentlemen's bath, and turning the tap on at 

 particular periods of the day for a couple of hours. 

 Mr. Garstang, at Toronto, considered that this " bath 

 tap " intermittent method might give additional informa- 

 tion in regard to the distribution of organisms, and in 

 showing the first and last appearance of any form. No 

 doubt this ought to be the case to some extent, if a 

 gathering happened to be taken just as the fauna was 

 changing, but if this critical point be missed, then the 

 method fails, and, in any case, the loss sustained by not 

 having the collection a continuous one more than out- 

 weighs any possible advantage in getting earlier informa- 

 tion as to the presence, in the water, of some special 

 organism. 



However, in order to test the intermittent method and 

 compare it with the continuous gatherings, on the return 

 journey, at the end of September, I attached a fifth fine silk 

 net (same mesh as net D above) to the bath room tap (along 

 with an explanatory notice), and kept the water running 

 through it for the greater part of the day, examining the 

 contents of the net at frequent intervals so as to have 

 gatherings of two hours, three hours, or four hours 



