Copepoda, studying the nature and ways of animals which are probably oi greater economic importance to the world than the wheat plains of Manitoba or the gold of Klondike."
The Annual Report of the Millport Marine Biological Station for 1897 has been issued. As regards the excellence of the position for this young but thriving station, we may quote the words of Sir John Murray, at the opening of the new building in May of last year:—"The station was excellent in many respects, but when all was said it was of very modest pretensions. In respect to accommodation, and to tanks and all appliances which were now necessary for the thorough investigation of the ocean, it did not attempt to compare with many similar institutions in this country, and on the Continent of Europe and in America. Still, it was a place of very great possibilities, and there was one respect in which it was superior to all the stations with which he was acquainted, and that was as regarded its position. Around the islands of Cumbrae they had every variety of sandy beach, of rocky shore, and of muddy bank, each of them with its own peculiar fauna and flora, and the rise and fall of the tide was such that these could be reached with very great facility. The researches of the Rev. Canon Norman, and of Dr. and Mrs. Robertson, had made these shores familiar among naturalists. Within a very few miles of that place, in the direction of Arran, there was a depth of 600 feet, where there were a great many deep-sea animals living quite unlike those found round about the shores. In upper Lochfyne and in Lochgoil there were still the remnants of Arctic fauna and flora, as was long ago pointed out by Mr. Smith, of Jordanhill. In numerous places, where rivers enter into the Clyde seabasin, there was a great variety of animals which lived in the brackish water, and at the mouth of the firth they found quite a different set of conditions. On one occasion the Duke of Argyll found that the shores around Kintyre were lined with a thick bed of organisms, which showed that sometimes the waters of the Gulf Stream were driven into this area. They had thus within easy reach of the Millport Station a great variety of organisms, and of conditions, a charming and attractive combination which was always desired by the inquiring naturalist."
From the Report of the Curator, Mr. Alex. Turbyne, we learn that it is now twelve years since the 'Ark' was beached in Millport by the then Dr. John Murray, F.R.S., of the 'Challenger' Expedition, and until May last she was, to the zoologist and botanist, the only centre of scientific interest in the Clyde district. Still, during that time she proved an incentive to visits of, amongst others, Prof. Haeckel, the late Prof. Schmidt, and Prof. Agassiz; and this goes to prove—if proof were necessary—that the new station was a necessity, and will be a great gain to marine biology.
