358 Zoology at the British Association. 
There was, in addition, a record concentration of fishery 
research vessels. 
The presidential address of Dr. E. J. Allen, F.R.S., of 
the Marine Biological Laboratory, Plymouth, was a fine 
addition to the philosophy of Biology, rather than a laboured 
array of systematised facts, but it was the more welcome on 
that score alone. He dealt with much imagination and 
reasoned argument on the most probable sequence of natural 
phenomena that our present-day knowledge. can afford us, and 
applied this to the old problem of zoological progress in the 
sea. The result was a notable addition to our literature on 
this subject. The rest of the papers were of a very high 
character, but it would be impossible to review them even in 
a general sense. 
Nowadays, although the qualitative aspect is never a bit 
neglected, still it almost invariably starts from a curve of some 
data or other. It appears to me that this is an exceedingly 
sound basis as a rule, and some extraordinary and unsuspected 
facts are thus made evident, but the difficulty commences 
when the deductions are to be made. It is here that the food 
for discussion is found, and although the formation of the 
curve is nearly always a non -debatable matter, yet the con- 
clusions therefrom are generally fertile ground indeed for 
argument. This was well exemplified in a joint discussion 
which took place with the Botany Section on ‘ The Present 
Position of Darwinism.’ In the course of this, Dr. J. C. 
Willis, Mr. G. Udny Yule, F.R.S., Mr. C. Tate Regan, F.R.S., 
Prof. W. Johannsen, Mr. I. T. Cunningham, and Dr. H. 
Wager, F.R.S., found ample space to disagree, but a more 
entertaining or educational series of passages it would be 
difficult to find than this subject afforded. The value of 
systematic recording and patient charting of one’s experience 
was exceedingly well brought out at this meeting. Mr. A. 
M. Carr-Saunders, ‘ Problems of Geographical Distribution in 
Spitzbergen ’ ; Prof. A. Meek, ‘The Fate of the Segmentation 
Cavity in the Frog’s Egg ’ ; Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 
‘ Experimental Evidence for the Hereditary Transmission of 
Small Variations such as would be required to initiate a 
Mimetic Resemblance in Butterflies ’ (this is the title only) ; 
Mr. C. Tate Regan, F.R.S., ‘ Some Examples of Adapt at ive 
Evolution in Fishes ’ ; Dr. W. R. G. Atkins, ‘ The Hydrogen 
ion Concentration of Soils and Natural Waters in relation to 
Animal Distribution ’ ; Dr. G. P. Bidder, ‘ The Relation of 
Sponge forms to their Currents ’ ; Mr. J. Gray, ‘The Mechan- 
ism of Ciliary Movements ’ ; Miss K. Carpenter, ‘ Fresh -water 
Fauna and Lead Pollution ’ ; Mr. Julian S. Huxley, ‘ Time 
Relations in Amphibian Metamorphosis ; Dr. F. A. E. 
Crew, ‘ Developmental Inter-sexuality in the Domesticated 
Naturalist 
