of the smaller building, which was
finished in 1887, contains the rooms in which the animals are delivered,
sorted and preserved, and the fishing tackle kept, together with the
workshop of the engineer; on the first and second floors are workrooms,
amongst others the botanical laboratory; on the third floor are
store-rooms. In the basement of both buildings, which is continued
underneath the court, there are sea-water cisterns and filters, engines
and store-rooms. The materials for study which the station offers to the
biologist are specimens of marine animals and plants which abound in the
western part of the Mediterranean, and especially in the Gulf of Naples.
To obtain these, two screw-steamers and several rowing boats are
required, which are moored in the harbour of Mergellina, situated close
by. The larger steamer, 'Johannes Muller' (15 m. long, 2-1/2 m. wide, 1
m. draught), which can steam eight to ten English miles per hour, is
provided with a steam dredge working to a depth of eighty fathoms. From
the small steamer, 'Frank Balfour,' and the rowing boats, the fishing is
done by means of tow-nets. Besides these there are fishermen and others
who daily supply living material for study. The plankton (small floating
animals) is distributed in the morning, other animals as required. The
animals brought in by the fishermen are at once distributed amongst the
biologists, whereas the material brought up by the dredges is placed in
flat revolving wooden vessels, so as to give the smaller animals time to
come out of their hiding-places. The students who work in the station
have the first claim on specimens of plants and animals; but specimens
are also supplied to museums, laboratories and schools, and to
individuals engaged in original research elsewhere. Up to the present
time about 4000 such parcels have been despatched, and not infrequently
live specimens of animals are sent to distant places. This side of the
work has been of very great value to science. The principal appliances
for study with which the station provides the biologist are workrooms
furnished with the apparatus and chemicals necessary for anatomical
research and physiological experiments and tanks. Every student receives
a tank for his own special use. The large tanks of the principal
aquarium are also at his disposal for purposes of observation and
experiment if necessary.

"The water in the tanks is kept fresh by continual circulation, and is
thus cha