greatly altered. It is evident that numerous species which need a firm base on which to affix themselves will be encouraged by a stony bottom; while in a Tertiary deposit, formed under identical conditions, except for the absence of stones, they may be entirely missing, having nothing but dead shells to which to attach themselves. 'Notwithstanding this peculiarity of most of the dredgings, a few samples may well be compared with our Older Pliocene (Coralline Crag). I would particularly draw attention to certain localities where material almost entirely of organic origin has been obtained. Of these perhaps the most interesting are some samples full of Cellaria fistulosa (found to the south-east of the Calf Sound, 20 fathoms). They are in many respects strikingly like certain parts of the Coralline Crag. The more ordinary type of Coralline Crag, with its extremely varied polyzoon fauna, we cannot yet match in British seas: it was probably formed, as the mollusca indicate, in a sea several degrees warmer than ours. 'It was hoped that in the course of these dredgings some light might be thrown on the Tertiary strata underlying the bed of the Irish Sea, for in the North Sea the dredge occasionally brings up hauls of Tertiary fossils. This expectation has not yet been realised; but possibly, by dredging in the channels where the submarine scour is greatest, such deposits may yet be reached. It is very important to obtain some knowledge of the Tertiary bed of the Irish Sea, for Irish Pleistocene deposits contain a considerable admixture of extinct forms, which may be derived from Tertiary deposits below the sea-level. The Glacial Drift of Aberdeenshire contains Pliocene Volutes and Astartes, derived from some submarine deposit off the Aberdeenshire coast. The so-called "Middle Glacial Sands" of Norfolk are full of shells which I now believe to be derived from some older deposit, probably beneath the sea.' The important influence of the shore rocks upon the littoral fauna has not been neglected, and lists and observations are accumulating, but that subject is left over for a fuller discussion in the final report next year. OTHER INVESTIGATIONS. Several new lines of investigation have been started during the year, and are still in progress. One of these may be called the larval-attachment inquiry,' and consists in sinking in various parts of the bay an apparatus composed of a rope weighted at one end and buoyed at the other, and having a number of slips of glass, slate, wood, &c., attached at equal distances along its length. These ropes are hauled up and examined periodically, and may be expected when further observations have been taken to give information as to the times and modes of attachment of the larvæ of various species, and also as to the most suitable substances for particular kinds of larvæ to settle down upon. So far glass seems the favourite substance, and a surprisingly large number of algae compared with the animals have appeared. 'DRIFT BOTTLES' AND SURFACE CURRENTS. In connection with the investigation of the surface life, in discussing the appearance and disappearance of swarms of certain Copepoda and Medusa, and in considering the possible influence of the movements of such food matters upon the migrations of fishes, and also in connection with the movements of the fish ova and floating embryos, it occurred to 1895. HH us that it would be worth while to try to ascertain the set of the chief currents, tidal' or otherwise, such as the movement of surface waters caused by prevalent winds. The Prince of Monaco started a few years ago the system of distributing over the North Atlantic large numbers of small floating copper vessels, with the object of finding out where they drifted to. This plan we have adopted, with slight modifications, and in September 1894 we started the distribution of what may be called 'drift bottles' over the Irish Sea. A small, strong, buoyant bottle, measuring 7.5 cm. by 1.8 cm., which seemed well suited for the purpose, and which costs only 78. per gross, was selected. A notice was drawn up, as follows,2 to go in the bottles, and a large number of copies were printed and numbered consecutively. Anyone who finds this is earnestly requested to write the place, and date when found, in the space (on the other side) for the purpose, place the paper in an envelope, and post it to PROFESSOR HERDMAN, A paper was then placed in each bottle, so folded that the number could be readily seen through the glass, the cork was well pressed down, and dipped in melted paraffin. Some hundreds of these bottles have, since September 30, been dropped into the sea in various parts of our area, a record being kept of the locality and time when each was set free. Many have been let off at intervals of a quarter of an hour from the Isle of Man steamer in crossing to Douglas and back, and from our trawler when dredging between Port Erin and Ireland. Some dozens have been let off from Mr. Alfred Holt's steamers in going round to Holyhead and in coming down from Greenock. Mr. Dawson on the Fishery steamer 'John Fell' has distributed a number along the coast in the northern part of the district, and others have been set free at stated intervals during the rise and fall of the tide from the Morecambe Bay Light Vessel, and Lieutenant Sweny has kindly arranged to have a similar periodic distribution from the Liverpool North-west Light Vessel. Altogether, nearly 33 per cent., or about one in three of the papers distributed, have been The tidal currents of the district are already to some extent known, and are marked in the charts and given in books of sailing directions, as Admiral Beechy's Tidal Streams of the Irish Sea; but we desire to ascertain the resultant currents from all influences which would affect the drift of small floating bodies. 2 Afterwards printed stamped postcards were substituted for these papers, and a slightly larger size of bottle was used. subsequently picked up on the shore and returned duly filled in and signed. They come from various parts of the coast of the Irish Sea-Scotland, England, Wales, Isle of Man, and Ireland. Some of the bottles have gone quite a short distance, having evidently been taken straight ashore by the rising tide. Others have been carried an unexpected length, e.g., one (No. 35), set free near the Crosby Light Vessel, off Liverpool, at 12.30 P.M., on October 1, was picked up at Saltcoats, in Ayrshire, on November 7, having travelled a distance of at least 180 miles in thirtyseven days; another (H. 20) was set free near the Skerries, Anglesey, on October 6, and was picked up, one mile north of Ardrossan, on November 7, having travelled 150 miles in thirty-one days; and bottle No. 1, set free at the Liverpool Bar on September 30, was picked up at Shiskin, Arran, about 165 miles off, on November 12. On the other hand, a bottle (J. F. 34) set free on November 7, at the Ribble Estuary, was picked up on November 12 at St. Anne's, having gone only 4 miles. It would be premature as yet-until many more dozens or hundreds have been distributed and returned to draw any very definite conclusions. It is only by the evidence of large numbers that the vitiating effect of exceptional circumstances, such as an unusual gale, can be eliminated. Prevailing winds, on the other hand, such as would usually affect the drift of surface organisms, are amongst the normally acting causes which we are trying to ascertain. We may, however, state, for what they are worth, the following results obtained so far :-(1) Nearly 50 per cent. of the bottles found have been carried across to Ireland, and they are chiefly ones that had been set free in the southern part of the district (between Liverpool and Holyhead) and off the Isle of Man; (2) the bottles set free along the Lancashire coast and in Morecambe Bay seem chiefly to have been carried to the south and west, to about Mostyn and Douglas ; (3) it is apparently only a few that have been carried out of the district through the North Channel. It is interesting to learn that the Fishery Board for Scotland has also commenced a similar inquiry by the distribution of floating bottles in the Scottish territorial waters. No account of their experiment has yet appeared, but it will be of some importance to compare results with them, say, at the end of the first year's work. The Committee apply to be reappointed for one additional year, with a grant of 50%., to enable them to carry on their investigations and draw up a final report. The Zoology of the Sandwich Islands.-Fifth Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor A. NEWTON (Chairman), Dr. W. T. BLANFORD, Dr. S. J. HICKSON, Professor C. V. RILEY, Mr. O. SALVIN, Dr. P. L. SCLATER, Mr. E. A. SMITH, and Mr. D. SHARP (Secretary). THE Committee was appointed in 1890, and has been annually reappointed. Acting jointly with that appointed by the Royal Society for the same purposes, it decided, as stated in its Report made at Oxford, that Mr. Perkins should return home from the Sandwich Islands. He accord More probably, very much further, as during that time it would certainly be carried backwards and forwards by the tide. ingly arrived in England last autumn, and for the next four months was engaged in overhauling the very large collections he had previously made. These proved to be of great importance, and the Committee has gratefully to acknowledge the zeal and perseverance displayed by Mr. Perkins in carrying out its wishes. As was to be expected, close examination made it evident that much still remained to be done to complete the Committee's work of exploration. From the information given by Mr. Perkins, it was clear that, unless the deficiencies be made good without loss of time, this will never be done, the extinction of many members of the still existing Fauna being not only inevitable, but immediate. The Committee, believing that it would be a matter for serious regret if the task, on which so much labour and money have already been expended, were left unfinished, resolved to send Mr. Perkins out again. With this object it applied to the Council of the Royal Society for the sum of 1007., which was granted, in order that he might start without delay, so as to take advantage of the most favourable season of the present year. Mr. Perkins reached Honolulu before the end of March last, and has since been working, chiefly in the islands of Kauai and Hawaii. The Committee has also to report that a proposal has been received from the trustees of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, offering, on certain conditions, to contribute liberally to the expenses of the investigation your Committee is carrying on. Briefly stated, these terms are that the trustees of the Museum in question are to have the third set of the specimens collected by Mr. Perkins. Authority to treat with this Museum was given by the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society, and it is hoped that the British Association will also approve of this course. The Joint Committee has also decided that the first set of the birds collected by Mr. Perkins shall be placed in the British Museum, and the second set in that of the University of Cambridge. Since the last report attention has been directed to working out the collections and furnishing detailed accounts thereof. A report on the Orthoptera is daily expected from Herr Hofrath Brunner von Wattenwyl; Lord Walsingham has commenced the examination of the Micro-Lepidoptera, Mr. E. Meyrick that of the larger Lepidoptera. The Mollusca have been entrusted to Mr. E. R. Sykes, who is working at them with the assistance of Mr. E. A. Smith. The Neuroptera have been sent to Mr. R. McLachlan. Mr. Perkins has published a second paper on the Birds; he also, while he was in this country last winter, made considerable progress in working out the Ilymenoptera. The Rev. F. O. Pickard Cambridge has looked over the Spiders hitherto received, and estimates them at about 200 species, of which it is probable the majority may prove to be new. The extensive series of Coleoptera is being prepared, at the Cambridge University Museum, for examination. The Committee is at present in want of funds to maintain Mr. Perkins in the islands until it receives money on accoun; of the proposed agreement with the trustees of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. It therefore asks for reappointment, with power to avail itself of the assistance of this Museum, and for a grant of 1007. Investigations made at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Associa- I. On a Blood-forming Organ in the Larra of Magelona. By FLORENCE II. On the Nervous System of the Embryonic Lobster. By EDGAR J. III. On the Echinoderm Fauna of Plymouth. By J. C. SUMNER. PAGE 469 470 471 THE Committee were appointed to enable Mr. Edgar J. Allen or other zoologist to investigate the Decapod Crustacea, and Mr. J. J. Lister to work at the Foraminifera at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association. The Committee have received a report from Miss Florence Buchanan, B.Sc., held over from last year on account of ill-health, in addition to Mr. Edgar J. Allen's report, and that of Mr. J. C. Sumner, who occupied the table in January and February 1895. I. On a Blood-forming Organ in the Larva of Magelona. By FLORENCE BUCHANAN, B.Sc. In August of 1893 the British Association kindly allowed me the use of their table at Plymouth for the purpose of studying the development of Magelona. I was unfortunately prevented from working out the material collected there in time to present my report to the last meeting; and even now what new observations I have to record concern the development of the vascular system only, and I must leave the development of the other organs, or systems of organs, to be described later by myself or some other investigator from a more extended series of stages than I at present possess. There is a good deal of individual variation with regard to the time of the first appearance of the vascular system, as there is, indeed, with regard to that of other organs also, in the larva of Magelona. I have seen a well-developed pulsatile dorsal vesicle, the so-called 'heart,' in larvæ with only eight or nine segments, all bearing provisional chætæ, whilst in other larvæ with a good many more segments there has been no trace of such structure, nor of vascular sytem at all. The 'heart,' which is always the first part of the system to make its appearance, and the dorsal and ventral vessels, after it are formed, to begin with, by the accumulation of a transparent fluid between the splanchnic layer of mesoblast and the hypoblast, beginning anteriorly, and thereby causing a pouching of the splanchnic mesoblast in front to form the walls of the 'heart,' which lies mainly in front of the hypoblastic portion of the alimentary canal and over the pharynx, and gradually extending backwards. By the time that the larva has reached the stage in which the body is divided into three regions, and sometimes before the loss of the provisional chata of the middle region, there is seen in the living larva at the posterior end of the dorsal vessel, or of what is going to become the dorsal vessel, and in the middle region of the body, a dark reddishbrown mass. This is seen in sections to consist of a much swollen portion of the splanchnic mesoblast in which there are many nuclei, but no distinct cell boundaries, and completely blocking up the space between it and the hypoblast. In later stages, when the splanchnic mesoblast has |