106 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



fathoms is about sixty-five seconds. The net is then got 

 on board and the ship continues her course to the next 

 station. As soon as the net conies on board, the contents 

 of the metal bucket, provided with a tap at the end of it, 

 are run off through a fine silk filter of the same texture 

 as the net. The tap is then shut and the outside of the 

 net Avell washed down with the ship's hosepipe. In this 

 washing of the net, the bucket is again filled with the 

 water that passes through the silk, and any organism 

 adhering to the inside of the net after the first straining 

 are taken into the bucket with the washings. The 

 contents of the bucket are again j)assed through the silk 

 filter and the whole catch and silk of the filter are at once 

 transferred to 3 per cent, formalin in sea water and 

 labelled. The samples are afterwards carefully examined 

 ashore. For an explanation of the methods now adopted 

 in the investigation of our plankton samples, see the 

 joint report on the plankton taken off the Isle of Man by 

 Professor Herdman and myself. 



The first point to be noted, is that the amount of life 

 in the sea during the early months of the year is very 

 small, from May on to September there is a great increase 

 in bulk, and then towards the end of the year it falls 

 away. The nine hauls taken in the first quarter of the 

 year gave nineteen cubic centimetres of organisms, while 

 the three hauls taken in September caught eighty cubic 

 centimetres altogether. 



Next, taking the organisms in order, we find that in 

 January, Diatoms were scarce and only represented by two 

 species. In February a considerable increase in numbers 

 was found and thirteen species were present along our 

 line of observation. A further increase was found in 

 March and twenty species were noted. Diatoms further 

 increased in May and the species represented reached a 



