The Plymouth laboratory of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

Abstract

In The Times of 31 March 1884, it was announced that a meeting would be held that day in the rooms of the Royal Society for founding a society having for its purpose ‘the establishment and maintenance of a well-equipped laboratory at a suitable point on the English coast, similar to, if not quite so extensive as, Dr Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples’ (M. B. A. 1887 a ). With Professor T. H. Huxley in the chair a gathering of distinguished gentlemen gave reasons why such a laboratory should be built. All stressed what its value would be from the purely scientific viewpoint, and all were agreed that both by fundamental research and by more direct investigations on our food fishes, knowledge of economic import would be gained. The last speaker, Mr George J. Romanes, said that there was one function of the proposed laboratory which had not received the attention it appeared to deserve; he meant the investigation of invertebrate physiology. ‘In the inverte­brate forms of life’, he said, ‘we saw life in its simplest shape, and in the shape which best admitted of observation and experiment, with the view of throwing light upon most of the great questions relating to the processes of life’ (M. B. A. 1887 b ). As a result of this meeting a corporate society, the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, came into being. It was decided that the laboratory should be built at Plymouth where a rich and varied fauna was available. The building, which was opened on 30 June 1888 (M. B. A. 1888), is situated under the walls of Charles II’s Citadel in a commanding position overlooking the waters of Plymouth Sound.