i§4 



and for the issue to scientific persons or bodies of such 

 material as they may occasionally require, a proper 

 domicile is necessary, since " Fisheries " alone can fill 

 this demand which is daily growing. 



lo. Advantages to '' Fisheries ^ — {a) Economy in 

 the provision of a fitting domicile at minimum cost. I 

 presume that addition of an upper storey to the aquarium 

 building will not only be much less costly than the 

 erection of a separate building, but will add materially to 

 its architectural appearance ; hence economy in cost. 

 But for investigation purposes " Fisheries " would require 

 the provision of live tanks for its numerous experiments 

 (e.g.), in the feeding and breeding of fish, the treatment 

 of shell fish not only for pearl breeding but for shell 

 industries, etc.), and in the aquarium these will already 

 be provided on a large scale, hence a second and very 

 great economy. This latter consideration is bound up 

 with {b), viz., the immense advantages to Fisheries oi a 

 splendid series of live tanks for observation and experi- 

 ment, and with (f), viz., the ability to prepare sets of 

 specimens for educational and scientific work by the 

 Fisheries staff working in the laboratory which is the 

 essential part of the proposed Fisheries office. A fourth 

 advantage (^d) is that many chemical and physical 

 analyses and experiments could be conducted there for 

 which, at present, I have absolutely no provision, and 

 which are of the first importance, such, for instance, as 

 laboratory experiments in the refining, bleaching, and 

 decolorizing of fish-oil by chemical and physical methods, 

 the valuation of fish guano by the ascertainment of its 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid contents, the examination 

 of samples of fish treated with various amounts of pre- 

 servatives, in view to ascertain the amount actually 

 absorbed or remaining, a matter of the very first neces- 

 sity, and many other researches which I need not 

 detail ; these could all be dealt with by an Indian 

 Assistant or Sub-Assistant at slight expense in a small 

 laboratory fitted ad hoc. A fifth advantage (e) would be 

 the provision of accommodation for the growing scientific 

 library of the department in an accessible and con- 

 venient place, coupled with a small technical museum 

 as I have seen both in Japan and in Washington, both 

 beine for the consultation and education of the staff 

 and of students. 



