That fishery is now in progress, Mr. Hornell is attending it, and we hope that it may result not merely in a large revenue from pearls but also in considerable additions to our scientific knowledge of the oysters.
As an incident of our work in Ceylon, it was found necessary to fit up the scientific man's workshop—a small laboratory on the edge of the sea, with experimental tanks, a circulation of sea-water and facilities for microscopic and other work. For several reasons, as was mentioned above, we chose Galle at the southern end of Ceylon, and we have every reason to be satisfied with the choice. With its large bay, its rich fauna and the sheltered collecting ground of the lagoon within the coral reef, it is probably one of the best possible spots for the naturalist's work in eastern tropical seas.
In the interests of science it is to be hoped, then, that the marine laboratory at Galle will soon be established on a permanent basis with a suitable equipment. It ought, moreover, to be of sufficient size to accommodate two or three additional zoologists, such as members of the staff of the museum and of the medical college at Colombo, or scientific visitors from Europe. The work of such men would help in the investigation of the marine fauna and in the elucidation of practical problems, and the laboratory would soon become a credit and an attraction to the colony. Such an institution at Galle would be known throughout the scientific world, and would be visited by many students of science, and it might reasonably be hoped that in time it would perform for the marine biology and the fishing industries of Ceylon very much the same important functions as those fulfilled by the celebrated gardens and laboratory at Peradeniya for the botany and associated economic problems of the land.
