10 T. V. HODGSON. 



the water was generally full of ice crystals which, with the jolting of the sledge as 

 it travelled shipwarcls, cut the more delicate specimens to pieces. 



If the flora of McMurdo Sound was poor, the fauna was extremely rich, as the 

 collections described in this and other volumes show. It is to be regretted that the 

 difficulties of the investigation precluded the capture of specimens from greater depths 

 and distances from the ship, so that a more complete comparison of the fauna at 

 different zones could be made. 



APPENDIX. 



Two other matters require attention by those who visit the distant south. One concerns the trawls 

 and nets generally. On the outward voyage of the ' Discovery ' it was found extremely difficult, if not 

 impossible, to keep the nets dry owing to constant leakage into the deck-houses. As this bade fair to 

 continue throughout the voyage, as it actually did, all the nets were tarred in New Zealand as an attempt 

 to preserve them ; it was successful in this respect, but it depreciated their value for work in cold 

 temperatures. They became so hard as to be difficult to manipulate, and also inflicted far more injury on 

 the specimens than they would have done if treated in another way. A thorough soaking in oil is 

 suggested. 



The other matter concerns the work at sea ; as a matter of fact very little was done. An accumulator 

 of some form is almost a necessity, certainly if any extensive work is contemplated. The one provided was 

 the old pattern of india-rubber bands as supplied to H.M.S. ' Challenger.' The instrument was quite 

 useless. The cold weather rendered the rubber bands hard and brittle ; apart from that, the days of the 

 hemp rope are over, and the great weight of steel ropes renders the use of such an accumulator a very 

 cumbrous affair. The only kind that can be used in a Polar climate is one made of steel springs, such 

 as that used by H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco, or by the Norwegian Government on board the 

 ' Michael Bars.' 



