144 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
by the same gear as in the case of the water-bottle. The 
net after being hauled is washed on the outside by means 
of the hose, and the contents of the bucket are run through 
a small piece of silk of the same mesh as that employed 
in the construction of the net itself. This silk filter is 
sprung on to the end of a short brass collar, two and a half 
inches in diameter, and the same in depth, by means of a 
strong rubber band. The catch remains on the silk and 
partly on the sides of the brass collar. The silk is then 
unfastened and either placed at once in the bottle of 
preservative or it 1s held up by one corner and the catch 
is washed off by a stream of preservative from a wash 
bottle; and the small quantity of plankton adhering to 
the sides of the collar is likewise washed off. All bottles 
employed are marked by a number painted on the outside, 
and this number is entered on the form recording the 
condition under which the catch was made. Possibility 
of confusion of the catches, and the necessity of writing 
labels which are apt to come off, are thus obviated. It 
has been found to be a bad plan to insert a numbered 
paper label in the bottle containing the catch, as some of 
the finer plankton organisms are sure to adhere to the 
paper. ‘The preservative fluid always used is 24 per cent. 
commercial formalin in sea water. 
The “ Scherbrutnetz”’ is worked from the same gear 
as in the case of the vertical nets. It is found that the 
wire rope referred to above is strong enough to haul these 
nets. ‘The rope passes round the metre-wheel as before 
and over a snatch block at the single davit head, and then 
over a block on the after trawling davit on the port side. 
The height of this davit head above the surface of the 
water is known; the length of wire run out is also 
recorded on the metre-wheel. A messenger is fastened 
to the end of a metre tape-line and allowed to slide down 
