SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT of the LIVERPOOL MARINE BIOLOGY COMMITTEE, and their BIOLOGICAL STATION at PORT ERIN.

By Professor W. A. HERDMAN, D.Sc., F.R.S.

 [note text dating from 1892 this refers to original station at Port Erin - the current Station is on the other side of the Bay]

INTRODUCTION.

As this, although a continuation of the series of Annual Reports dealing largely with the Biological Station on Puffin Island, is also in a sense the opening of a new record, it may help some of those whose sympathy we wish to enlist in the new locality where we have come to work if a brief explanation is given of the object of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee and of the reason why they have a Station at the Isle of Man.

Biology is the science of living things, and deals with all plants and all animals including man. Used in its proper wide sense Biology includes not only Botany and Zoology, or Natural History, but also Embryology, Palæontology, Anatomy, Physiology and Anthropology. Marine Biology deals with the development, life-history, structure, actions, and relationships of the animals and plants which live in the sea, and also with any general theoretical questions upon which these animals and plants throw any light.

Some of the reasons why marine biology is a favourite subject of investigation, and is so often spoken of apart from other biological studies, are, that animals are much more numerous and more varied in the sea, and especially round the coasts, than upon land or in fresh waters, and represent a larger number of the more important groups; moreover these marine forms have given rise in the past to the land and fresh water animals, and also to those of the deep sea—they are the parent community from which migrating swarms have been given off ; it is amongst these marine animals round coasts that there has been the greatest over-crowding and the most severe struggle for existence, and it is there probably that, under the stress of competition, important new habits and structures have been evolved and modified. Many of the great biological discoveries and generalizations have been made from the study of marine animals, and many of the problems which still await solution, some of them theoretical questions of the greatest general interest, will probably have to be worked out in the abundant and varied material which presents itself to the marine biologist. Then again the sea is so large, and so comparatively unknown that there is much more chance of coining upon interesting new forms of life there than elsewhere. Finally it should not be forgotten that we are a maritime nation, that we most of us take kindly to the sea, and that we naturally regard it as a duty to thoroughly explore our coast lines, to examine the sea bottom lying off our shores and make known the conditions of existence and the various kinds of plants and animals living within the British Area. Probably these reasons sufficiently account for marine biology having flourished for the last century in this country and for the fact that there have always been amongst British Naturalists, enthusiastic investigators of the sea bottom by means of the dredge and the trawl.

I shall merely add that although Aristotle collected marine animals on the shores of Asia Minor more than 2000 years ago, and it is over a century since the Danish Naturalist O. F. Muller invented a dredge for scientific purposes, while our own Edward Forbes, most closely associated by birth, training, and in his after work with the Isle of Man, started his pioneer explorations round our coasts quite sixty years ago, yet there is still abundance of work left—an apparently inexhaustible field lies before the skilled observer. In all groups of marine animals investigations of all kinds, faunistic, anatomical, embryological, are urgently needed. Even in the collecting and naming of specimens from our most frequented hunting grounds much remains to be done. To take a recent instance as an example —a couple of weeks ago when Mr. Thompson and I went for a day’s dredging to Port Erin, as we were approaching land we took two last hauls of the small mud dredge close to the shore, the one within a few yards of the biological station the other just along the base of the breakwater, and the contents of the net when examined yielded numerous interesting Cumacea, Amphipoda and Copepoda, three of which latter (Stenhelia denticulata, Laophonte spinosa and Ameira attenuata) are new to science, while several others are rare and interesting forms.

So much for the general question of marine investigation:

Biological Stations are a comparatively recent development which were unknown to the older naturalists. Any plan by which actual work on or close to the sea, so that the animals may be examined alive and in their natural surroundings, can be combined with the conveniences and exact methods of a laboratory is obviously a great advantage, and that is precisely what a biological station offers. It is a sea-side laboratory where the observer can conveniently apply the refinements of modern apparatus and reagents to the work of the field-naturalist. Different Stations may specialize in various directions, but an institution like our Biological Station at Port Erin has I consider at least two important functions which it can perform :—(1) It can supply material and afford opportunities for their investigations to the Committee and to other specialists and so be a means of adding to knowledge, and (2) it will enable advanced science students and young graduates from our Colleges to become acquainted with marine animals in the living state, and in various stages of development, and will stimulate them to, and give them opportunities of commencing, research work.

The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee was instituted in 1885 for the purpose of investigating scientifically the Fauna and Flora of Liverpool Bay and the neighbouring parts of the Irish Sea, an area usually referred to for short as the L.M.B.C. district. The Committee established a small biological station on Puffin Island off the North coast of Anglesey, in 1887 ; and for the last five years this station has been kept up, and constant dredging and other exploring expeditions have been carried on, as the result of which three illustrated volumes of reports have already been published ("Fauna of Liverpool Bay," vols. I—-III.). The Puffin Island establishment has been very useful to the Committee, and well worth the small annual expenditure required for its modest outfit. It has been used by some students of the local Colleges who wished to gain a general knowledge of the common marine animals and plants in a living state, and by a considerable number of specialists who went there to make observations, or who had the material for their investigations collected there and sent to them.

It has been felt however by the Committee for some time that a station which was more readily accessible from Liverpool, and with hotel or lodging accommodation on the spot, would enable their specialists to do more work, and be of more use to students and investigators generally. Also it was becoming evident that after five years work on the shores of the small island the greater number of the plants and animals had been collected and examined, and that a change to a new locality with a rich fauna and a more extended and varied line of coast would yield increased material for faunistic work ; and, consequently, in the last annual report (December, 1891) it was suggested that the time had arrived when time Biological Station then on Puffin Island might with advantage be transferred to some new and less inaccessible spot. Hoylake or West Kirby in Cheshire and Port Erin in the Isle of Man were both mentioned as suitable, and a free expression of opinion from local biologists was invited, with the result that it soon became evident to the Committed that our workers almost unanimously voted for the south end of the Isle of Man.

On communicating with the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society through their energetic Secretary Mr. P. M. C. Kermode, of Ramsey, we were gratified to find that they welcomed our project, and passed the following resolution at their meeting on February 25th

"On the strong recommendation of the General Committee, it was unanimously resolved that Professor Herdman be invited to establish a Marine Biological Laboratory in the island, and that this Society should afford all the assistance in its power to an undertaking which would be of so great an advantage to it and to time whole island, and would consider it an honour to co-operate with the L.M.B.C. in their excellent work " (see YN LIOAR MANNINAGH, vol. I., no. 11, p. 368.)

As it was felt to be highly desirable that the laboratory should be open and ready for work as early as possible in summer, Mr. Thompson and I went over on a mission to Port Erin and Port St. Mary early in March for the purpose of finding out what places were available at that end of the island. After examining various existing buildings at Port St. Mary, Perwick Bay, and other places, we fixed upon a most suitable site at Port Erin, and were fortunately able to arrange with the owner, Mr. Thomas Clague of the Bellevue Hotel, that a biological station of three rooms should be erected, of which the Committee would take a lease. The Committee desire to express their appreciation of the public spirit and enterprise which Mr. Clague has shown, the readiness with which he has met their views, and the trouble he has taken to see the whole work satisfactorily carried out.

After returning to Liverpool I prepared detailed plans of the proposed biological station which, after being sanctioned by the executive of the Committee, were transmitted to the builder. The work was commenced on April 20th, and finished in every detail, including the internal fittings and varnishing of the woodwork, a couple of days before the opening on June 4th. A short description of the station and its surroundings may be appropriately placed on record here.

PORT ERIN AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Port Erin is at the SW. end of the Isle of Man and occupies a fairly central position in the Irish Sea, being about 30 miles from Ireland, 33 from Scotland, 40 from Wales, and 45 or so from England. The bay faces nearly due West, and is in most winds a good natural harbour with sand at the end and bounded by precipitous cliffs both to North and South. From its position and the shape of the land, Port Erin has within a distance of a couple of miles in three directions—to Fleswick Bay, to the Calf Island, and to Port St. Mary—a long and varied coast line with a number of small bays, furnishing good collecting ground and shallow water dredging. Two of these bays, Port Erin and Port St. Mary, have harbours with sailing boats, and face in nearly opposite directions, so that in most winds one or other is sheltered and has a quiet sea.

The rich fauna around the Calf Island and off Spanish Head (see map, Pl. I.) is within easy reach ; while at a distance of three to four miles from the biological station are depths of 20 to 30 fathoms, and at 14 miles 60 to 70 fathoms. Although Port Erin is a considerable distance from Liverpool, still it is reached by a regular service of swift steamers and convenient trains, so that there is no great uncertainty or delay in the journey. The 11.30 am. steamer from Liverpool to Douglas generally catches the 3.50 train in summer and the 5.30 in winter, arriving at Port Erin in each case an hour later.

The plan of Port Erin bay (P1. II.) shows the position and surroundings of the Biological Station. (See also view, P1. III.) It is on the beach at one corner of the bay, near where the sand and rocks meet, and at the foot of the cliff upon which the Bellevue Hotel stands. It is connected with the highroad by means of a broad zig-zag gravel walk and concrete steps, and is only about one third of a mile from the railway station. It is just at the bottom of the hotel grounds, and arrangements have been made with Mr. Clague by which those working at the Biological Station can live comfortably and economically at a fixed tariff at the hotel.

Fig 4 Liverpool Marine Biological Station at Port Erin

The sea comes to within a few yards of the windows of the Station, and the bay immediately in front is sheltered, pure sea water with a varied bottom suitable for small boat dredging and tow-netting ; while the rocky coast, extending out towards Bradda Head, has many creeks and good shore pools containing an abundant stock of interesting animals belonging to various invertebrate groups.

The Biological Station is a substantially built, three roomed house, measuring a little over 30 feet by 20 feet, and standing on a solid stone and concrete platform, which raises it about 10 feet above high tide. It has windows looking out in three directions, north, south, and west. Time front door (see P1. IV.) leads into a short passage from which open to right and left two small rooms (6 and 7) which are used as the Director’s room and library and the Secretary’s office, and will also be available for the use of any members of the committee or any special investigators who from the nature of their work require a separate room where they can have privacy and can set up delicate apparatus or leave their specimens in safety. The secretary’s office is also now being made light-tight, and fitted with screens to the window so that it can be used as a photographic dark room.

Opposite the entrance is the door into the main laboratory, which measures about 22 ft. by 20 ft., and has windows on both sides. In front of the windows run strong fixed work-tables which will accommodate half a dozen students with ease, ten at a pinch. So the greatest number who can work in the station at one time when crowded is a dozen, while half a dozen fill it comfortably. At the two ends of the main laboratory are fire-place, sink, tables, closed cupboard, and abundance of shelving ; while along the centre of the room runs a strong table for small aquaria, and vessels containing animals. A door in one corner opens into a useful small yard between the house and the cliff, in which the concrete fresh water cistern supplying the laboratory sink is placed, and where dredges and other implements can be stored. The Committee purposely did not arrange for any larger fixed aquaria or tanks in the laboratory as they desired to have the experience of a summer’s work before deciding whether any such were necessary, and if so where they should be placed. It is now generally agreed that the station is so near to the sea, and pure water is so easily obtained when required, that it does not seem worth while to introduce pipes and a pump ; while all the space in the laboratory is so useful that we can ill afford to occupy any of it with fixed tanks. There is, however, a small plot of ground alongside, on the western side of the steps leading to the beach, and just opposite the front door of the station, which might be used for time erection of a small aquarium and tank house. There is also, on the beach close to, a large rock pool placed in such a position between two reefs and the shore above that by the erection of three comparatively small concrete walls of no great height, and lying in a sheltered position, a pool having a length of about 40 feet and a breadth of from 12 to 18 feet and about 6 feet deep in the centre could readily be formed (see P1. V.). Such a pool as this, into which the sea could be admitted or not as required at each tide through a sluice in one of the walls, would be of great service for keeping larger animals in, and might be made use of for spawning fish if the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee decide to establish a small fish-hatchery alongside our biological station.

THE INAUGURATION OF THE STATION.

Towards the end of May when the building was nearly completed, it was decided by the Committee that it was due as well to their supporters in Liverpool as to the inhabitants of the Isle of Man, amongst whom they were going to work, that the institution should be formally inaugurated. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor was approached on the matter, and he kindly consented to open the biological station on Saturday, June 4th, while the Lord Bishop, the Manx Attorney General, and a number of members of the House of Keys and other representative men in the Island were good enough to promise to attend the ceremony and take part in the luncheon at the Bellevue Hotel which was to follow. A circular drawing attention to the completion of the station and giving an outline of the proposed arrangements at the opening was issued privately to naturalists and their friends in the neighbourhood, and as a response a party of over 30, consisting of members of the committee, a few other scientific men, and some of the subscribers to the funds, crossed over from Liverpool for the occasion.

The Liverpool Salvage Association, with their unfailing kindness, had been good enough to promise to lend their useful steamer the " Hyæna" for four or five days at that time, but as she was called off on duty at the last moment, they sent instead the steamer " Mallard " (under the command of Captain Batchelor of the Salvage Association), on the Friday afternoon, across to Port Erin, where she remained till Monday. Dredging trips in the neighbourhood took place on three of the days, and on the Saturday evening tow-netting with submarine electric lights was carried on after dark in the bay.

Most of the Liverpool party arrived at Port Erin on the Friday afternoon for the purpose of completing the preparations for the opening, such as hanging diagrams and charts on the walls of the laboratory and unpacking the vessels and instruments. During the following fore-noon all were busily engaged in collecting specimens. A party went out dredging towards the Calf Island in the "Mallard," others worked from a small boat in the bay, while others searched the shore pools in the immediate neighbourhood. The specimens were brought alive to the laboratory and arranged in the aquaria and dishes and under microscopes in order that the visitors in the after-noon might see the place as far as possible in working order and gain an intelligent idea of the objects and methods of marine biological investigation. The following account of the more public functions of the day, the opening ceremony and the luncheon, is extracted, with some abbreviation, from the daily papers.*

" His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, Spencer Walpole, Esq. , LL. D., and the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, Dr. Straton, were met at the Port Erin Railway Station shortly before 1 o’clock by the following members of the L.M.B.C., Prof. Herdman (Director), Mr. I. C. Thompson (Hon. Sec.), Sir James Poole, Mr. J. Vicars (Mayor of Bootle), Mr. A. O. Walker, Mr. A. Leicester, Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson, and a number of other naturalists including Mr. A. W. Moore, President, and Mr. P. M. C. Kermode, Secretary of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society. The Governor was accompanied by Miss Walpole ; and Sir James Gell, Mr. J. S. Gell, Dr. Walters, and a number of other gentlemen and ladies from various parts of the island soon joined the party which then proceeded to the Bellevue Hotel, the road to which and down to the Biological Station on the shore was lined with flags and other decorations.

The little station at the foot of the cliff was soon reached, and on the permanent platform outside the laboratory there assembled a considerable company. In addition to his Excellency, the Bishop, Professor Herdrnan, and Mr. Thompson, the company included Sir James Poole (ex-Mayor of Liverpool), the Mayor of Bootle, Professor Weiss (Manchester), Professor Denny (Sheffield), Messrs. A. O. Walker (Colwyn Bay), P. F. Kendall (Manchester), Arnold Watson, R. Ascroft, N. Caine, R. J. Harvey Gibson, J. Lomas, A. Leicester (Liverpool), the Attorney-General of the Island (Sir James Cell), Mr. James Gell (High Bailiff, Castletown), the Rev. F. B. Walters (principal of King William’s College), Dr. Clague (surgeon to his Excellency’s household), the Revs. E. Ferrier, MA. , A. Newton, B. Brown, C. H. Leece, H. T. E. Barlow (principal of the Bishop Wilson Theological School, Bishop’s Court), aid A. Kermode (vicar of Onchan), Messrs. W. A. Stevenson, H.K., W. Quine, H K., W. B. Stevenson, A. W. Moore, H.K., P. M. C. Kermode. (secretary of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society), F. Gaskell (Liverpool), A. R. Dwerryhouse, A. F. Drimergue, M. Lamart, W.S. Henderson, S. R. Christopher, Capt. Nowell, R. Garside, W. Shimmin, C. T. C. Callow, Capt. Batchelor, H. Williams, R. Craig, W. R. Wareing. J. Coventry, Dr. Hanitsch, Dr Ellis, Professor Stevenson, G. H. Quayle, J. C. Crellin, HR., H. Kelly, J. Clague, C. Squires, T. Clague, T. Costain, E. Allen, J. McArd, R. Moore, W. Davidson, Aylmer Ogden, &c., &c., and a number of ladies.

Professor Herdman then, on behalf of the L. M .B. C. , addressed the Governor, and having made brief reference to the object of their biological investigations, asked him to accept the volumes already published on the "Farina and Flora of Liverpool Bay, " and having also presented His Excellency and the Bishop, each with a specially bound copy of the collected annual reports upon the former station at Puffin Island, requested the Governor to declare the station open for scientific work.

The GOVERNOR said —Professor Herdman, my lord, ladies, and gentlemen, — I have, in the first instance, to express to you, sir, and to your Committee, my thanks for presenting me with these volumes, the contents of which I am sure I shall read with interest and advantage ; they will remind us, at any rate, that yon, who have come here today, have done much to promote that cause of biological science to which this station is to be devoted. In your station at Puffin Island, on the coast of Anglesey, as I know from reading your reports, you have done much to illustrate this science. You have moved now from the Mona of Tacitus to the Mona of Cæsar—(hear, hear, and applause,)—and having exhausted, as I believe you have done, the fauna of the Menai Straits, you have come to this Island, where the population has for centuries had a deep stake in the harvest of the sea, and where I believe you will find that our fauna is enriched by those warm currents that find their way hither from-the vast Atlantic Ocean. Some of you may possibly imagine that work of this character is only of minor importance—that it is not a great matter to make some addition to the long catalogue of our Algae, or to add a new variety to our lists of the Annelids ; but then I may remind you that most of the great inventions and discoveries of the world have been almost accidentally found by men, like yourselves labouring only in the cause of truth, and that every advance in our knowledge adds to the power of mankind, and raises him a little higher from the brute, a little nearer towards the angel. It is, then, both our duty and our interest to welcome—as on behalf of the people of this Island I do venture to welcome--you here who are working in the cause of truth, and I may say that whatever may be your own labours, or whatever revelations you may have in store for us, we may be at least certain that as a result of your discoveries truth will prevail ; for it is as true now as it was in the days of Darius—if I may quote one of the noblest passages in the realm of literature, which has unfortunately been excluded from our Bibles—that truth is strongest. " As for the truth, it endureth and is always strong, it liveth and conquereth for evermore. " (Hear, hear). I have great pleasure in declaring this biological station open. (Loud applause).

The Governor then opened the door of the building, and the party entered and made a minute inspection of the premises, and its biological treasures and apparatus, and after recording their names in the visitors’ book, an adjournment was made to the Bellevue Hotel, for luncheon, which was served up in excellent style by Mr. Clague. Professor Herdman presided, and was supported right and left by his Excellency and the Bishop. Mr. Thompson was the chairman vis-a-vie. The Menu was as follows

SYSTEMA EPULARUM.
" Infusio " (sive Jus)—Cauda bovina.
Pisces—Gadus morrhua (Ostrea edulis).
Ayes—Callus bankivus, var. domest. (tost.—decoq.)
Mammalia—Bos taurus, var. monensis.
Ovis aries (Capparis spinosa)
Do., juv.
Crustacea—Homarus vulgaris (Lactuca scariola, var.)
Amorphozoa—Puddings, Custards.
Plantæ—Fruit-tarts.
Incertæ sedis—Jellies, Blancmange.
Varia—Desert, Nicotiana tabacum, Caffea Arabica.

The toast list was as follows :—‘ ‘ The Queen, " proposed by the chairman,(Professor Herdrnan) ; " His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor. " proposed by the chairman. responded to by His Excellency ; " The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, " proposed by Sir James Poole, responded to by the Bishop; " The Legislature of the Isle of Man," proposed by Mr. A. O. Walker, J.P., responded to by Mr. W. A. Stevenson, H,K. ; " The Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society," proposed by the Mayor of Bootle, responded to by Mr. A. W. Moore, president, and Mr. P. M. C. Kermode, hon. secretary; "The Liverpool Marine-Biology Committee, " proposed by the Lieutenant Governor, responded to by Professor Herdman, chairman, and Mr. Thompson, hon. sec. ;"The Manx Fisheries. " proposed by Mr. R. L. Ascroft, of the Lancashire Sea-fisheries, responded to by Mr. K. Garside ; " The Liverpool Salvage Association and other Visitors," proposed by Mr. K. J. Harvey Gibson, responded to by Captain Batchelor, and Professor Weiss.

In proposing the health of the Lieutenant-Governor, Professor Herdman pointed out that they welcomed and honoured his Excellency, not only as the representative of the Queen in the island, but also as a biologist, and alluded to Mr. Spencer Walpole’s former connection with Huxley and Buckland, as one of H. M. Inspectors of Fisheries. He considered it a particularly happy conjunction of circumstances, that they should have happened to establish that marine biological station on a spot which had been rendered classic ground by the labours of that pioneer of British Marine Biology, Professor Edward Forbes, at a time when by rare good fortune the governor of the island is himself a biologist, (applause). It was exactly sixty years since Forbes, then a student at Edinburgh University, returned in summer to his home in the Isle of Man to commence his work on British Marine Biology (applause). He hoped the coincidence was a happy augury, and that as Edward Forbes had started marine investigation on this spot just 60 years ago, to that day Spencer Walpole had opened an institution which would do much to advance the study of marine biology in the Isle of Man.

His Excellency said —Mr. Chairman, my lord, and gentlemen, I assure you, sir, I thank you very heartily for the much too flattering terms in which you have commended my name to this gathering, and I thank you all very heartily for the kindly way in which you have received it. I believe that it is a function of the Governor of the Isle of Man to he, in some respects, a "Jack of all trades," and I hope sometimes that it is not consequent upon that function that lie should be "master of none." (Laughter ). You have rightly reminded me that I have had in former days to deal with other subjects connected with your own, and I still continue to take a deep interest in them ; but if I were at all disposed to be puffed up by the kindness of your greeting to day, perhaps I should find the best antidote to any feelings of pride in pondering over those specimens which we have lately been examining in your laboratory, for, I suppose that in the presence of biologists I may assume that they are the nearest living representatives of our own immediate ancestors (laughter), and I sometimes think that though we hear nowadays that we are living in the best of all possible times, yet a good deal is to be said in favour of that simple and primitive form of existence which those specimens remind us is still surviving in the sea. (Hear, hear, and laughter). I am quite sure in those days, for example, that the art of government was a good deal simpler, whilst the Socialists of that time had established a perfect Communism ; and though they had no ideas of property, they were free from all those difficulties to which property unfortunately gives rise. ( Laughter and applause). They must, nevertheless, have succeeded in establishing a fixity of tenure. (Re-newed laughter and applause). Perhaps, in view of the heated atmosphere of this room, it might also have been some satisfaction to reflect, that in those days there were not the ordeals of public luncheons, or, at any rate, if there were public luncheons, the fare was a good deal more frugal, and a good deal more wholesome than that which we have partaken of today. (Laughter and aplause). In fact, Mr. Chairman, I have often thought myself that there was a great deal to be said for that view which Miss Kendall has so admirably expressed in "The Lay of the Trilobite." I should think that every biologist ought to be acquainted with that poem. One of the inferior members of the human family was walking across a mountain, I may remind you, when he came upon au ancient Trilobite, upon his rocky bed, and the Trilobite, if I may quote the lines, addressed him in some such words as these. He reminded him

"How all your faiths are ghosts and dreams, how in the silent sea
Your ancestors were monotremes, whatever these may be.
You’ve politics to make you fight, and utter exclamations
You’ve cannon, too, and dynamite, to civilise the nations.
The side that makes the loudest din is surest to be right
And Oh ! a pretty fix you’re in, remarked the Trilobite.*

* "Dreams to Sell," by May Kendall ; London, 1887, p. 8, slightly altered.

And if you recollect, the man, being somewhat of a philosopher, takes off his hat to the Trilobite and walks away, and as he goes away, utters some such words as these :—

"I wish our brains were not so good,
I wish our skulls were thicker,
I wish that Evolution could have stopped a little quicker
For, Oh ! it was a happy plight, of liberty and ease,
To be a simple Trilobite in the Silurian seas. " (Loud applause).

Sir James Poole gave "The health of the Bishop of Sodor and Man, " and the Bishop, in reply, said in the course of an interesting speech, that the Scientist and the theologian should go hand in hand (applause. ) He welcomed the Biological Committee to the island , in the name of religion, and of the Church of England, and lie hoped that ere long he would have the pleasure of Welcoming the Members to Bishop’s Court, as he now welcomed the cause they represented

Mr. A. O. Walker, J.P., proposed " The Legislature of the Isle of Man," which was responded to by Mr. W. A. Stevenson, H.K.

The Mayor of Bootle, (Mr. J. Vicars,) proposed " The Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society," Mr. A. W. Moore, President, and M Kermode, Secretary, acknowledged the toast. The former expressed the hope that the investigations of the biologists might result in bringing back the herring, which had deserted the island.

His Excellency, in giving " Success to the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee," said : I have ventured once to-day, already, to say something as the virtue of research for truth for truth’s sake, but I do not know that such research need hinder you also from research into those practical objects with which the inhabitants of the Isle of Man and of the whole British Islands are so closely identified. Mr. Moore has alluded to the disappearance of the herring from these shores. I think that was an exaggerated form of words, I ate one of them for breakfast this morning. (Laughter). But there is no subject to which Marine Biologists could better devote themselves than to trace the causes which govern the migration of the herrings, considering how those migrations do govern the prosperity of the fishermen. (Hear, hear). I need hardly remind you that there is no fish which produces so much wealth to the United Kingdom as the herring, while in this Island the herring assumes an absolutely national importance. We have towns in this Island built out of the profits of the herring fishery. We have large numbers of the population dependent on the herring fishery ; and so strong is the connection between the herring and the Island, that actually to this day, when we swear in a new judge, we always require him to administer justice as evenly as the backbone of the herring lies in the fish—(laughter)—a symbol which I may say parenthetically, was, I imagine, drawn by a fisherman and not by a scientist, because there is some little doubt about whether the backbone does lie evenly in the body of the herring. (Laughter and applause).

Now there is this that is remarkable about the herring. If you go to any portion of the United Kingdom, or this Island, you will always hear complaints that the herring are disappearing, and if you examine any statistics connected with the herring fishery, you will find that taking ten years by ten years, the prodigious capture of the herring has gone on steadily increasing ( Laughter). Facts, therefore, are rather opposed to theory in this case, an in fact I know of nothing more instructive than to open the herring, or when you are munching the hard roe, to try and count the number of eggs (laughter). 1 think for one when you have failed in that attempt, as you will fail, you will find a new proof that the old fiat is as true as when it was first pronounced, "let the waters bring forth abundantly the many creatures tha have life." But if it is not true that the herring is decreasing, it is true that there are variations in the migration of the herring, which are seriously affecting the fishermen. (Hear, hear). If you ask the fishermen, you will gather the most fanciful reasons for these migrations. I recollect once being seriously told by a fisherman, who complained that the herring had disappeared from a portion of the coast, that we should find the reason for its disappearance in—I think it is the third verse of the fourth chapter of Hosea. (Laughter). I thought that man at any rate, in an age of doubt, had the capacity of belief. (Renew’ed laughter). But there is no subject to which I could better draw your practical attention than to expound to us the reasons for the migration of the herring, and to point out to the fishermen the conditions, whether of temperature, of weather, or of food with which they should be acquainted, and which should direct them where to go to reap that great harvest of the sea, which, depend upon it, is supplied us as bountifully now as ever. In directing this subject to your notice, I feel that I am leaving it in worthy hands, and that the researches that Professor Herdman and you have made in the past, afford confident assurance of what you may do in the future. (Applause). In coupling this toast with Professor Herdman’s name, I hope you will allow me to congratulate him upon the notice which I read in the Times of yesterday, that the Royal Society has admitted him into that charmed circle which has so many attractions for men of science. (Loud applause). Without more words, for trains wait for no man, after a certain time, even in the Isle of Man (laughter) I give you the " Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, " coupled with the names of Professor Herdman, and Mr. Thompson.

Professor Herdman, in reply to the toast, said : Your Excellency, my Lord Bishop, and Gentlemen,—As Chairman of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, whose success and continued prosperity you have so kindly toasted. I beg to thank your Excellency, and you all, gentlemen, for your kind words and your good wishes. and to tell you how grateful we are, as a Committee, for the honour you have done us, and for this inspiriting encourage-ment, and how we hope by our work in the future, to show that we have profited by your support to-day, and have been stirred up to fresh efforts by your appreciation of our work in the past (applause).

It is now just seven years since this committee was established. It originated in a meeting in March, 1885, held in University College, Liverpool, at which were present the representatives of the colleges, museums, and scientific societies of several neighbouring towns. I pointed out on that occasion how much good work might be done by a number of specialists working together in marine biology, and laid before the meeting the proposal that we should form ourselves into a committee for the purpose of investigating thoroughly th fauna and flora of the neighbouring seas. As the sea shores in the neighbourhood of Liverpool are unfortunately not so Prolific of life and interesting to the naturalist, as your beautiful coast here, most of our work during the last six years, has had to be done from steamboats on dredging expeditions. Fortunately, we have had the sympathy and welcome support of some of the Liverpool Merchants and Ship owners, who have kindly helped us lby providing on various occasions, steam-tugs for our dredging trips. We have more than once been favoured in this way by our good friend Sir James Poole, whom we are delighted to have again with us to-day. (Applause).

We have also been aided most materially in our movement by the Liverpool Salvage Association, who have lent us in successive years at this time their useful and sturdy old gunboat the " Hyæna," whose graceful form you have seen more than once in Port Erin Bay (applause). I do not know whether you are all aware what a celebrated craft she is. Do you know that she was built for the Crimea, nearly forty years ago, along with a batch— perhaps one ought to call them a "litter, "—of other mammalia, the "Porcupine, " the "Jackal," and others ? Do you know that she was General Gordon’s own gunboat during the a war in China, when he pursued the rebels up the shallow rivers, and ran the "Hyaena " ashore on the mud banks in order to blow up their forts ? And now, in her peaceful old age, she is lent by her present owners to certain enthusiastic biologists, who haul in dredges and other strange instruments over her low rounded stern, and send thier electric lights in nets down to the bottom of the sea, for the purpose of capturing new and rare animals, and they succeed too, for is not one of their interesting new animals named Jonesiella Hyaenæ, in honour of the old gunboat

As a result of our successive expeditions in the Hyæna, and in other ways, our Committee has been enabled to achieve a very considerable measure of success. We have published a number of lengthy reports upon the various groups of animals in our district, and, lastly, we have established and kept up for five years, a small marine biology station on Puffin Island. The Puffin Island establishment has been of very great service to us, but during the last year or so we have, I think, all felt that the time had arrived when it would be an advantage to move our centre of operations to some less inaccessible spot in a new part of the area. Naturally our choice was determined by the rich marine fauna around this southern end of the Isle of Man, and that brngs us down to the present time, and to the little laboratory which has been opened for work today. I must not conclude, however, without refering gratetully on the part of the committee to our host of the Bellevue, our landlord of the biological station, Mr. Clague, for his helpful assistance and energetic support. Remember it was only on March 6th, that Mr. Thompson and I came over here to inspect and to decide whether Port Erin, Port St. Mary, or Castletown would be best suited for our purposes. We were happily directed to Mr. Clague, and it is mainly due to his energetic action that the station has been so speedily completed (Applause). I thank you all, on behalf of the Committee, for your kind wishes, and for the support you are giviing to us in our work. (Applause).

Mr. I. C. Thompsom said—The biological aspect of the work of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee has been so well put before us by Professor Herdman that I need only appear before you as that obnoxious individual, the practical man, and make a few remarks as to our proposed arrangements for workers at the laboratory rather in the way of the argumentum ad pocketum. Hitherto the work of the committee has been mainly supported by subscriptions and donations from our philanthropic friends interested in the work done, but not themselves actual workers, and we trust for an increased continuance of this most valued source of income. But we anticipate that the beautiful and very accessible Marine Laboratory to-day opened by his Excellency will attract a large number of working naturalists and students both belonging to the Isle of Man and from various parts of England who may frequently come for a few days or weeks at a time. It is proposed that all such should have the use of the station as workers for a payment of 10s. per week, and it is further proposed that all annual subscribers of one guinea and upwards shall have free access to the station and the use of a working table at any time provided it be unoccupied—a record of all work done being kept.

A month ago I visited the palatial marine station at Naples, and there saw English and foreign students at work. Now, there is no doubt a great advantage in studying the marine fauna of other districts, and a visit to Naples will repay any one ; but we happily know that Mona’s Isle offers most unusual advantages for this work as was amply shown by Edward Forbes, and later by the work of our own committee, amid I doubt if anywhere in the United Kingdom we can now find a richer hunting ground, or a laboratory with such beautiful surroundings as at the Port Erin Biological Station. I sincerely thank your Excellency, and you gentlemen, for the hearty way in which you have proposed and honoured this toast, and I trust that we may have many other happy reunions between our Manx and English naturalists. (Applause).

The toast of " the Manx Fisheries " was proposed by Mr. R. L. Ascroft, of the Lancashire Sea Fisheries Committee, and responded to by Mr. R. Garside who gave some interesting details in regard to the Isle of Man Fisheries and the Manx fishing fleet now working off the south coast of Ireland. "The Liverpool Salvage Association and other Visitors " was proposed by Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson, and responded to by Captain Batchelor of the Salvage Association and by Professor Weiss of Owens College, Manchester.

The proceedings throughout were of a very imispiriting nature, and in the evening the party went on board the "Mallard " for a dredging expedition in the bay, when tow-netting, both surface and bottom was conducted by mneans of the electric light."

* See " Isle of Man Times," &c., for June 11th, Liverpool " Daily Post" and " Mercury " for June 6th, and " Nature " for June16th, 1892,

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Fig 10. W.A.H. and R.H. on the rocks at Puffin Island.