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in numbers so well. And though the catch during the last two 
seasons has shown a large decrease, we would not yet be justified 
in saying that the herring fishing is being seriously affected. 
We are indebted to Major Brown, who owns the shell-fish farm 
at Biulle Hay, for collections received per Mr. King, (<*) of oysters, 
including a series of shells representing the extinct oyster of that 
region, and examples of various varieties of the valuable bivalve — 
some of these are still living in one of the tanks; (6) of mussels at 
different stages of growth, and showing the result of different 
conditions in influencing the growth. This latter collection 1 hope, 
on a subsequent occasion, to make the basis of a communication on 
the important bait question. 
We have to thank Mr. -I. Douglas, Beadnell, Chathill, for two 
“berried hen’’ lobsters, received on the 23rd August — one recently 
spawned, the other nearly hatched out. After and during the 
process of batching the latter got rather weak, and died during the 
night of the 2(5th-27th. The former is still alive in our large tank. 
Mr. R. Howse, M.A., the curator of the Hancock Museum, 
worked for some time in the laboratory during September. He 
kindly named our collection of mollusca, and is to prepare a report 
on that group from our collection. I hope that Dr. Brady will 
report on the group which has made his name so well known in the 
zoological world. The Alder scholar of the College, Mr. Young, is 
to devote some of his time to general collecting and work. 
We are thus making an examination of the ground close at 
hand, and by means of the fishery officer’s visits to Shields we 
obtain material from off-shore grounds, and often from considerable 
distances. We have, indeed, excellent opportunities for making a 
collection, but a display cannot be expected until we have suitable 
jars to contain the specimens. 
I take this opportunity of pointing out — 1 hope I shall not be 
misunderstood in my desire to make the laboratory more and more 
complete— that far more necessary even than specimen jars, are 
books — books of reference. It is strange, considering the large 
share which has been, and is still, taken by this district in the 
study of natural history, the paucity of really good literature on the 
subject in all our Newcastle libraries. That part of the College 
library, for instance, with the exception of the Challenger Reports, 
might with much truth be declared to be non-existent. But what 
we want here is not a biological library — the College is the place 
for that — but such monographs and books as refer to marine work. 
