79 



Experiments were made in England by an engineer- 

 ing firm, skilled in similar matters, in the cutting of the 

 chank shell by machine tools, but with poor results ; 

 being porcellaneous in character and of peculiar corpus- 

 cular structure which results in brittleness in the sections 

 if roughly sawn, it cannot be dealt with by ordinary 

 shell-cuttino- machine tools, such as are used in makino- 

 buttons, etc., from nacreous shells, but apparently 

 requires either the slow rhythmic motions of a heavy 

 but finely toothed tool worked by the delicate human 

 hand, or a wheel similar to a lapidary's slitting wheel, 

 charo'ed with a first-class cuttino- material such as 

 diamond dust or possibly carborundum.^ 



i8. A very important matter, viz., that of net-making 

 by hand- worked looms was specially investigated by Mr. 

 Govindan who of his own initiative examined the matter 

 in Scotland, Ireland, and Cornwall ; on obtaining sanction 

 for the purchase of a machine an order was placed in 

 Bridport, and Mr. Govindan spent a month (partly while 

 on privilege leave) in mastering the setting up and 

 workino- of the machine. This is intended for instruc- 

 tional purposes on the west coast where nets, as Mr. 

 Govindan had found, cannot be made fast enouofh to 

 supply the demand ; a single machine will do as much 

 work as a villao-e of fishermen, and better work. The 

 Cornish method of curing pilchards together with that 

 of expressing the oil and packing the fish in barrels, and 

 of making the barrels, was closely studied on the spot, 

 and the question of the provision of fresh fish by refrigera- 

 tion was not only closely examined (as in Henderson's 

 experimental factory ; see supra, paragraph i8) but the 

 manufacturers of refrigerating machinery were inter- 

 viewed. Mr. Govindan is submitting a special report 

 on his tour of duty and his personal share in numerous 

 investigations. 



The project for a marine aquarium and marine 

 biological station advanced to the production of 

 architect's plans in the preparation of which Mr. 

 Hornell's expert assistance was sought and given. Apart 

 altogether from the need for purely scientific research, 



* Later enquiries were made in July 1914 at the Impeiial Institute, London. 

 The Director, Dr Wyndhani Dunstan, f.r.s., was good enough to take u]i 

 the matter, and from samples of machine cut sections which he has obtained, it 

 seems that success is now probable with machines of no great cost. 



