Since the Report on the subject of the Artificial Culture of Sponges was published, some further information of importance relating to the subject has been courteously supplied by the Acting Commissioner of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. This information is in the form of a letter to the United States Commission from Mr. Ralph M. Monroe, of Cocoanut Grove, Biscayne Bay, Florida, to whom the Acting Commissioner refers as “an intelligent and energetic man, whose statements, we think, can be given entire credence” wherein this gentleman gives a detailed account of some experiments conducted by himself at Biscayne Bay, during the years 1889, 1890 and 1891.

Before the Parliamentary Committee, which conducted an inquiry in 1893, the trawling industry of Lowestoft, as represented by Mr. J. W. Hame, strongly opposed any restrictions being enforced as to the size of fish landed. One of the reasons given was that restriction was unnecessary, because small fish, especially plaice, were not landed at that port. Mr. Hame told the Committee that the day before he gave his evidence, namely, on May 10th, he turned out two boxes of plaice caught towards the Dutch coast, perhaps from 30 to 40 miles off that coast. He said that one box contained 110 fish, the smallest 12 in. long, and the other contained 90 fish, the smallest 13 in. long. These statements are quite at variance with my observations made at Lowestoft, during September and October this year, and I cannot help thinking that Mr. Hame was mistaken as to the grounds from which the fish came, or else was not sufficiently accurate in his numbers and measurements. The facts show that, on the one hand, a size-limit of 8 in. for plaice, as proposed by the Parliamentary Committee, would make no appreciable difference to the deep-sea trawling industry at Lowestoft, and, on the other hand, that higher limits, such as that which was proposed by Mr. Holt for the protection of the German grounds, would affect that port very seriously.

The antero-lateral margins of the carapace in many of the crabs of our own and of foreign coasts are beset with a row of teeth or spines, which vary in character and number in different species and genera. In the Oxyrhyncha (Spider-crabs) the whole surface of the carapace is generally studded with spines and stiff hairs of a peculiar character, but there is no general restriction of these processes of the carapace to the antero-lateral margins of the body. These crabs, moreover, do not adopt burrowing habits. Their armature of spines, tubercles, and hairs is employed, as is well known, for protective purposes: in some cases possibly as an actual defence against attack, in others (i.e., Eurynome aspera) as a means of protective resemblance to their surroundings; but in the great majority as mere pegs and hooks for the fixation of foreign bodies, such as algae, hydroids, polyzoa, and ascidians, for purposes of concealment and disguise.

In the Catometopa (Land-crabs, etc.) the carapace is usually smooth over its whole surface. These animals often burrow in sand, but for the most part their burrows are permanent subterranean tunnels and chambers.

In the Cyclometopa, however—the group which includes most of our commoner British crabs—the back of the carapace is generally smooth, while the antero-lateral margins are in most forms conspicuously serrated. Most of these animals inhabit sandy or gravelly areas, and show a marked propensity towards burrowing habits. Their burrows are never permanent channels or tunnels in the sand, but are mere temporary excavations, the sand, mud, or gravel being in actual contact with their bodies when imbedded.

Amongst the numerous subjects which have occupied the attention of the fishery authorities of the United States, that of the great decline in the productiveness of the lobster fishing industry has received much consideration, and several competent naturalists have, in consequence, devoted themselves to a scientific study of the habits and life-history of the American species. This species (Homarus Americanus) is so nearly allied to the European lobster (Homarus vulgaris), that the results arrived at for it, with regard to such questions as the time of year at which spawning takes place, the length of time during which the eggs are carried by the female attached to the under side of the abdomen, and the time of year at which the eggs are hatched, might be expected to apply, to some extent at least, to the latter. That this is so, appears to be abundantly proved by Dr. Ehrenbaum's study of the lobsters which frequent the shores of Heligoland, and certain observations which I have been able to make on lobsters taken in the neighbourhood of Plymouth during the last two years, in the course of my work on the nervous system of the embryo, also tend to confirm this view.

In Vol. III., No. 3, p. 208, of this Journal, a summary was given of certain observations made in the Plymouth Laboratory on the nerveelements of the embryonic lobster. A more detailed description of these elements, with figures, appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, vol. 36, 1894. The observations have since been extended, and the following summary of the additional results may not be without interest.

There can be no question of the importance of the subjects treated of in this paper; and the results are certainly such as to attract attention. This fact makes it all the more disappointing that the author's method is not calculated to inspire confidence in the accuracy of his conclusions. Before attempting to justify this statement, we may give a brief account of the paper as it stands.

After giving an extensive bibliography, the author passes on in his second chapter to a statement of the method of the investigation, and of the notation by which he finds it necessary to state his results. In the next chapter a table is given showing the extent of variation of particular characters in the species considered, and the degree in which the variations of these same characters in both forms may coincide. The influence of sex and age, and the character and development of the scales, is next treated of, and the following chapter is devoted to a statement of the differences which obtain between the different “local forms” in the North Sea and the Baltic. The rest of the paper is taken up with a consideration of the relations between the local forms and the species, an account of Pleuronectes pseudoflesus, certain morphological and biological observations, and a summary of results. We may now consider the more important parts of this paper in detail,

The method of investigation consisted in examining “a large number” of specimens of each species in respect of no less than thirty-six characters.

The crab whose habits I now describe has not previously been recorded as an inhabitant of British seas. I found two specimens, both male, imbedded in a patch of coarse shell sand on the south side of Drake's Island at low water, spring tides: one on August 11th, 1896, and the other on the following day.

Amongst a great number of crabs collected in Plymouth Sound for my studies of the central nervous system, one specimen was found with a very interesting abnormality. The thorax of the crab—a female—is normal. The length of the carapace is 47 mm., the breadth 64 mm. The claws and legs are in the right positions, and of normal proportions, with the exception of the fourth leg on the left side, which is smaller than usual. In my opinion, this leg was broken some time before the crab came in, and was not yet quite regenerated. The first four segments of the abdomen are also normal. Each has a couple of pedes spurii. To the fifth segment, which in the crab is always legless, a large leg is fastened on the left side. (Fig. 1.)

In order to endeavour to co-ordinate the work of the many naturalists who make use of the tow-net round the coasts of the British Isles during the year, the following circular has been issued. The list of organisms, upon the presence or absence of which information is desired, contains only such as can be quite easily recognised. The scheme must be regarded as more or less experimental for this year, with a view to finding out what can be done in this direction.

The following notes are based upon observations made during April and the first half of May, 1895. Although the Plumularidœ were the special objects of study, a number of facts concerning other forms were noticed, which, together with the discussion of certain matters brought out in the special study of the Plumularidœ, were considered by the Director to be of sufficient interest for publication in this Journal. It will be understood that no general discussion of the hydroids at Plymouth is attempted, nor is it my purpose to give a list of the hydroid forms of that exceedingly rich field, no species being mentioned unless some new fact has been observed concerning it.

As I was able to announce in a postscript to my Report in the last number of the Journal, the Association has secured a small steam fishing yacht, which has already proved exceedingly useful in carrying on the work of the Laboratory. Towards the £600 which was paid for the vessel, a little over £500 has now been subscribed. It is important that the remainder of the sum should be forthcoming, so that it may not be necessary to draw upon our small reserve fund for this purpose.

About a year subsequent to the appearance of my paper on the Grimsby Trawl Fishery my attention was directed to certain arithmetical errors in the table on pp. 406 and 407 (pp. 70 and 71 of the Reprint). These errors are in truth, considerable, though fortunately not of a nature to affect the arguments brought forward in the text, as will appear to such of my readers as may be at pains to compare the revised edition with the original.

The material from which the present list of Parasitic Copepoda has been compiled was obtained in part by the examination of fish at the Marine Biological Association's Laboratory, but to a still greater extent by daily and diligent search at certain fishmongers' in the town. The following are the most important works consulted:—

The number of workers who have occupied tables at the Laboratory during the winter months has not been large. It becomes increasingly evident that the amount of work which can be carried on during this period of the year must depend upon the number of naturalists who can be employed by the Association to undertake general or special investigations. At the present moment our funds will only permit of the employment of one such naturalist, who is engaged in fishery investigations. My own time is so much occupied with administrative and other duties, that comparatively little of it can be devoted to scientific research. It may be worth while to point out once more that whilst the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries is allowed an annual sum of £35,000 for salaries alone, a considerable portion of which is devoted to the payment of naturalists engaged in research, the total income of the Marine Biological Association amounts to only about £2000 a year.