INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
; ON 
REACTIONS OF MARINE ORGANISMS IN RELATION TO 
LIGHT AND PHOSPHORESCENCE. 
By BENJAMIN MOORE, M.A., D.Sc., Johnston Professor of Bio- 
Chemistry, University of Liverpool; President of the Society, 
The observations recorded in this address were chiefly conducted upon 
organisms taken by means of a fine sill tow-net in Port Hrin Bay during 
the spring and summer of 1908. In addition certain observations are 
added upon the reaction to light of young larvae of the plaice 
(Pleuronectes platessa) taken from the Hatchery of the Station. 
The experiments on the action of light were made in April, and the 
attempt in September to investigate the action of light upon the phos- 
phorescent organisms then present in the Bay, based on the supposition 
that organisms which themselves emitted hght might possibly show 
interesting variations in reaction to incident light from without, led to 
the accidental discovery of the diurnal periodicity in the phosphorescence 
of these organisms, which furnishes the subject of the second section of 
this address. 
The two sets of experiments on the variations in relation to light, 
and upon the diurnal periodicity in phosphorescence, are really distinct, 
and will be described in two separate sections. 
A.— VARIATIONS IN THE Reactions oF OrGAnisMs'(CHIEFLY NAUPLII OF 
Bauanus) to DayLicut anp ArtirictaL Licut 
Since the very existence of all living organisms, either directly or 
indirectly is dependent upon the energy of light, and the transformation 
of this into other types of energy, it is not surprising that reactions to 
light are amongst the most fundamental and most widely spread 
1. All the tow-nettings used in Section B were taken in Port Hrin Bay and were surface 
tow-nettings, some of those used in Section A were kindly taken for me outside the Bay by 
Prof. Herdman, 
