In conclusion I can only say that I hope to be able to revisit Plymouth before long.

The present state of our knowledge of the Zoology and Botany of the West India Islands, and on taking steps to investigate ascertained deficiencies in the Fauna and Flora.-Eighth Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. P. L. SCLATER (Chairman), Mr. GEORGE MURRAY (Secretary), Mr. W. CARRUTHERS, Dr. A. C. L. G. GÜNTHER, Dr. D. SHARP, Mr. F. DUCANE GODMAN, and Professor A. NEWTON.

THIS Committee was appointed in 1887, and it has been reappointed each year until the present time.

The Committee have made no fresh collections during the past year, but have continued the work of dealing with those already made; and the following papers have been published, or are complete and ready for publication:

1. Additional notes on Mr. Elliott's Hepaticæ, by Antony Gepp, M.A. (Journal of Botany).

2. On some small collections of Odonata (Dragonflies) from the West Indies, by W. F. Kirby, F.L.S. (Annals and Magazine of Natural History).

3. On the Longicorn Coleoptera of the West India Islands, by C. J. Gahan, M.A. (Transactions Entomological Society).

4. Report on the Hemiptera of the families Anthocorida and Ceratocombida, by Professor Uhler (Zoological Society).

5. Report on the Hemiptera Heteroptera of the island of Grenada, by Professor Uhler (Zoological Society).

6. Report on the Hemiptera Homoptera of St. Vincent, by Professor Uhler (Zoological Society).

The examination of the following collections has been undertaken:— Diatomaceous earths, by Mr. E. Grove.

The Scolytidæ, by Mr. W. F. H. Blandford.

The Diptera of Grenada, by Professor Williston.

The Lepidoptera Heterocera, by Messrs. Butler and Hampson.
The land and fresh-water shells, by Mr. E. A. Smith.
The Elateridæ and Heteromera, by Mr. Champion.
The Phytophaga and Lamellicornia, by Mr. Gahan.
The Buprestidæ, by Captain Kerremans.

The Committee recommend their reappointment, without a grant, to continue the working out of the collections, the following to be members-Dr. Sclater (Chairman), Dr. Günther, Dr. Sharp, Mr. Godman, Mr. Carruthers, Mr. G. F. Hampson, and Mr. George Murray (Secretary).

Index Generum et Specierum Animalium.-Report of a Committee, consisting of Sir W. H. FLOWER (Chairman), Mr. P. L. SCLATER, Dr. H. WOODWARD, and Mr. W. L. SCLATER (Secretary), appointed for superintending the Compilation of an Index Generum et Specierum Animalium.

THE Committee have received from Mr. C. Davies Sherborn the following report of work done since the last meeting of the Association.

Report of Work done from July 1, 1894, to June 30, 1895.

Considerable progress has been made in recording during the past year, no less than 480 books and pamphlets having been searched page by page. The chief works dealt with were the French dictionaries of the early part of the century; and when it is mentioned that one of these (Dictionnaire des Sciences naturelles') runs to sixty volumes of 500 pages each, some idea of the labour expended will be arrived at.

The determination of exact date of publication has been proceeded with, the chief results comprising

'Sowerby's Recent and Fossil Shells.'
'Shaw's Naturalist's Miscellany.'

'Moore's Lepidoptera Indica.'

Remembering the generous gift of the Association last year, the compiler does not ask for a grant on this occasion, but merely for the reappointment of the Committee.

Migration of Birds.-Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor A. NEWTON (Chairman), Mr. JOHN CORDEAUX (Secretary), Mr. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, Mr. WM. EAGLE CLARKE, Mr. R. M. BARRINGTON, and the Rev. E. PONSONBY KNUBLEY, appointed to make a Digest of the Observations on the Migration of Birds at Lighthouses and Light-vessels.

THE Committee have to report that one of their number, Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke, has, after very great labour, completed the tabulation, on 2,500 prepared sheets, of the schedules sent in during nine years from the lighthouses and light-vessels on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, not a single entry in the original schedules having been omitted. These tabulated sheets have reference to the various birds observed on migration under the separate headings of species, locality, and date.

There now remains the real and most important part of the work— the results arrived at by the nine years' observation-and in order to complete this it is necessary again to consult the vast pile of original schedules with reference to several important headings having connection with meteorological conditions and direction of flight.

Your Committee trust that the final report will be ready for presenta tion at the next meeting of the Association in 1896, and respectfully ask for their reappointment.

Occupation of a Table at the Zoological Station at Naples.-Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. P. L. SCLATER, Professor E. RAY LANKESTER, Professor J. CoSSAR EWART, Professor M. FOSTER. Professor S. J. HICKSON, Mr. A. SEDGWICK, and Mr. PERCY SLADEN (Secretary).

APPENDIX

I.-The Maturation and Fecundation of the Ora of certain Echinoderms
and Tunicates. By M. D. Hill.

II.-List of Naturalists who have worked at the Zoological Station from
July 1, 1894, to June 30, 1895

III.-List of Papers which were published in 1894 by Naturalists who

have occupied Tables in the Zoological Station

PAGE

475

477

478

THE Table in the Naples Zoological Station hired by the British Association has been occupied during the past year, under the sanction of your Committee, by Mr. M. D. Hill, who has continued his investigations on the maturation and fecundation of the ova of certain Echinoderms and Tunicates, and has arrived at several interesting and original conclusions, which are briefly sketched out in the appended report of his work which Mr. Hill has furnished.

Your Committee would draw attention to the concluding remarks in Mr. Hill's report respecting the advantages attending the occupation of a table at Naples apart from the exceptional facilities for special and predetermined investigations; and your Committee consider that this furnishes an argument which is alone more than sufficient to justify the continuance of the grant.

Your Committee trust that the General Committee will sanction the payment of the grant of 1007., as in previous years, for the hire of the Table in the Zoological Station at Naples.

The efficiency of the Station in promoting research is now so universally recognised that a recapitulation is unnecessary; and it is an eloquent fact that notwithstanding the rapid multiplication of biological laboratories throughout Europe and America, the number of naturalists who avail themselves of the Naples institution averages between fifty and sixty annually.

Perhaps the most far-reaching move yet undertaken by the Zoological Station consists in the establishment of a small Zoological Station on New Britain (also known as Neu Pommern), an island adjacent to New Guinea. Mr. Parkinson, a planter, who had lived there for some years, recently called upon Dr. Dohrn in Naples, and expressed his willingness to erect a small building on his estate suitable for a laboratory, if the Naples Station would provide all the necessary apparatus. This generous offer was accepted, and the requisite equipment was duly despatched from Germany and Naples last September.

At the same time Mr. Arthur Willey, whose name is well known for his work on Tunicates and Amphioxus, and who has previously occupied

the British Association Table, announced his intention of going to New Britain for the purpose of studying the anatomy and embryology of Nautilus pompilius, and kindly offered to assist in the erection and management of the new laboratory.

Dr. Dohrn laid great stress on the necessity of instructing native fishermen for the service of the new Station in order to save European naturalists as much as possible all bodily exertion connected with their scientific pursuits, and to enable them to concentrate full energy on their mental work. With this object in view Mr. Parkinson has sent two young Papuans to Naples, and they are now being instructed by Signor Salvatore Lobianco in the various and well-known arts of the Zoological Station. From the latest accounts received from Naples this novel experiment of transforming two Papuans into biological fishermen offers every prospect of success.

This new Colonial Station will remain under the control of the Naples Station, and Dr. Dohrn hopes soon to make known such regulations and conditions as may enable competent naturalists to work there profitably and successfully.

The progress of the various publications undertaken by the Station is summarised as follows:

:

1. Of the 'Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel,' the monograph by Dr. W. Müller on 'Ostracoda' (404 pp., 40 plates), has been published. Monographs by Dr. Bürger on Nemertinea' and by Dr. Jatta on 'Cephalopoda' are in the press.

2. Of the Mittheilungen aus der Zoologischen Station zu Neapel,' vol. xi., parts iii. and iv., with 11 plates, have been published.

3. Of the Zoologischer Jahresbericht,' the whole 'Bericht' for 1893 has been published.

4. A new and thoroughly revised German edition of the Guide to the Aquarium' has been published.

The details extracted from the general report of the Zoological Station, which have been courteously furnished by the officers, will be found at the end of this report. They embrace lists (1) of the naturalists who have occupied tables since the last report, and (2) of the works published during 1894 by naturalists who have worked at the Zoological Station.

The preserved specimens sent out by the station during the year ending June 1895 comprised 180 consignments, amounting to about 14,900 fr., as against 194 consignments amounting to 17,687-70 fr. in the preceding year.

I. Report on the Occupation of the Table. By Mr. M. D. HILL.

I occupied the Table of the British Association from October 1, 1894, to February 20, 1895.

I investigated the maturation and fecundation of the ova of certain Echinoderms and Tunicates in order to clear up, if possible, certain debated points, more especially as regards the origin and behaviour of the centrosome. When I began to work, Fol's account of the 'Quadrille des Centres' had been accepted unchallenged, and so gratifying were his results from a theoretical standpoint, that several text-books had reproduced his figures as being true representations of what actually

occurs. Since sending in an account of my work to await publication, two memoirs have appeared dealing with the same subject. The authors have arrived at practically the same results, and as they all agree very closely, it is unnecessary to recapitulate mine at any length. It will be sufficient to state that according to all three accounts there is nothing resembling a 'quadrille'; the centrosomes and astrospheres owe their origin to the 'body' of the spermatozoon; and there is no trace of an egg-centre or egg astrosphere. In the finer details, however, our accounts differ somewhat, and I venture to think that Messrs. Wilson & Matthews have entirely, and Professor Boveri partly, overlooked the true centrosome. The two former authors describe the astrosphere as containing no centrosome proper, but in its place a network closely resembling an ordinary nuclear reticulum. This condition is maintained throughout. Boveri, on the other hand, finds a minute deeply-staining centrosome shortly after the sperm head has penetrated into the ovum. In the later stages this centrosome swells up into a large hollow vesicle. I agree with Boveri in his first statement, but believe that later on he has missed the true centrosome, and has figured and described as a vesicle the 'heller Hof,' for I find at this stage a deeply-staining sharply-defined centrosome in the midst of a clear 'heller Hof.' My attention was chiefly confined to Sphaerechinus granularis, and it may be, though it seems highly improbable, that a different process may take place in different species.

In the tunicates Phallusia mamillata and Ciona intestinalis I found much the same relations as in the Echinoderms as regards the origin and behaviour of the centrosome, and for this investigation the Ascidian ovum proved a very favourable object to study. I have been able to trace carefully the maturation and fertilisation in Phallusia, and have coupled my results in one paper with those I obtained from studying the Echinoderms. I was also able, though with rather less certainty, to make out the number and mode of division of the chromosomes during maturation. The nucleus of the ovocyte I. (to use Boveri's well-known nomenclature) contains eight chromosomes. From their subsequent behaviour I see no reason to suppose that they form two 'Vierer Gruppen,' but look upon them as of equal independent value. The eight chromosomes divide by transverse division into sixteen for each polar body, eight therefore remaining in the nucleus of the ovum (female pro-nucleus). There is therefore, here at any rate, no 'reducing' or 'equalling' division. Owing to the very small size and close approximation together of the chromosomes, this part of the work was attended with considerable difficulty.

The sperm head breaks up into eight chromosomes, and the first segmentation spindle therefore contains sixteen, the normal number for the species.

It would be out of place to discuss here the bearing these results may have on points of general cytology, or on those theories of heredity which have been based on observations of like phenomena in other forms, above all, in Ascaris megalocephala.

Before closing this report, however, I should like to emphasise once more the great advantages which an occupation of a Table at the Naples

Boveri, 'Ueber das Verhalten der Centrosomen bei der Befruchtung des SeeigelEies,' Verhandl. des Phys.-med. Gesell. zu Würzburg, Bd. xxix., 1895. Wilson and Matthews, Maturation, Fertilization, and Polarity in the Echinoderm Egg. Journ. of Morphol., vol. x., No. 1.