icle; but for general marine histology Bles' fluid is
useful, being simple to prepare and not necessitating the removal of the
specimen to another fluid. It is composed of 70% alcohol 90 parts,
glacial acetic acid 7 parts, 4% formaldehyde 7 parts.

The scientific value of a dredging depends mainly upon two things, the
care with which the objects procured are preserved and labelled for
future identification and reference, and the accuracy with which all the
circumstances of the dredging--the position, the depth, the nature of
the ground, the date, the bottom-temperature, &c.--are recorded. In the
British Marine Biological Association's work in the North Sea, a
separate sheet of a printed book with carbon paper and duplicate sheets
(which remain always on the ship) is used for the record of the
particulars of each haul; depth, gear, &c., being filled into spaces
indicated in the form. This use of previously prepared forms has been
found to be a great saving of time and avoids risk of omission. Whether
labelled externally or not, all bottles should contain parchment or good
paper labels written with a soft pencil. These cannot be lost. The more
fully details of reference number of station, gear, date, &c., are given
the better, as should a mistake be made in one particular it can
frequently be traced and rectified by means of the rest.

_Growth of Scope of Operations._--At the Birmingham meeting of the
British Association in 1839 an important committee was appointed "for
researches with the dredge with a view to the investigation of the
marine zoology of Great Britain, the illustration of the geographical
distribution of marine animals, and the more accurate determination of
the fossils of the Pliocene period." Of this committee Edward Forbes was
the ruling spirit, and under the genial influence of his contagious
enthusiasm great progress was made during the next decade in the
knowledge of the fauna of the British seas, and many wonderfully
pleasant days were spent by the original committee and by many others
who from year to year were "added to their number." Every annual report
of the British Association contains communications from the English, the
Scottish, or the Irish branches of the committee; and in 1850 Edward
Forbes submitted its first general report on British marine zoology.
This report, as might have been anticipated from the eminent
qualifications of the reporter, was of the highest value; and, taken
along w