Report of the meeting held in the rooms of the Royal Society, on March 31st, 1884, for the purpose of forming a society for the biological investigation of the coasts of the United Kingdom.

  • Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the meeting held in the rooms of the Royal Society, on March 31st, 1884, for the purpose of forming a society for the biological investigation of the coasts of the United Kingdom. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    would be required. It was not a zoological station alone, but a biological one, wliieli it was proposed to establish, and, therefore, for the interests of botany as well as of zoology. A good deal of technical knowledge of dredging, etc., would be required. All those qualifications could in no way be better combined than on such a basis as was promised by the council of a representative society, to which men of various qualifications would be elected. Before he came to that meeting he did not feel quite sure whether the proposal would meet with such general approval as had been the case. He had now no doubt about the success of the movement. It was much better to establish these labora- tories by means of a Society than by the isolated enterprise of a few individuals. In the absence of the Lord Mayor, who had expressed his intention of being present, but was detained by a meeting in the City, Sir Joseph Hooker, K.C.S.L, F.R.S., moved— That this meeting does hereby agree to constitute itself such a Society under the title of ' The Society for the Biological Investigation of the Coasts of the United Kingdom.' This was, he said, an efibrt which would have the hearty appreciation and strong sup- port of the scientific bodies of the country. It was an important fact that the British coast was the richest area in the world for seaweeds. There was no country in the world which had con- tributed so much to the knowledge of algae as England. He thought there were no scientific bodies who would not take the liveliest interest in the efforts of the new Society, and that its foundation was full of promise for the future of Biology. Professor Moseley, F.E.S., observed that it was only by means of a regular station, at which systematic work could be carried out continuously, that any progress could be made in the investiga- tion of the conditions of our coast. The work already done had been done in an unconnected way. The difficulty of investigating some of our commonest animals would be understood when he mentioned that a scientific friend of his for many years had wished to work out the development of the common limpet, of