Thomson. — Portobello Marine Fish-hatchery. 539 



The roof of the whole building is of white-pine, covered with 

 ruberoid. 



The engine and pump house, situated on the same embank- 

 ment, is built of corrugated iron. The pump, a 4 in. centrifugal, 

 is driven by a 2| - brake - horse - power Hornsby - Ackroyd oil- 

 engine, and is capable of throwing 8,000 gallons of water per 

 hour into the supply-tank, and also, by means of 4 in. earthen- 

 ware pipes and wooden chutes, into any of the three ponds. 



A four-roomed cottage with outhouses, placed on the top of 

 the promontory point, and surrounded with a stake fence, com- 

 pletes the buildings of the station. Provision is made whereby 

 any resident biologist, research student, or interested visitor can 

 obtain board and lodging at a moderate rate. Application for 

 this privilege has to be made to the Board. 



A rain-gauge, supplied by the Meteorological Department, is 

 placed in a suitable locality near the cottage, and daily readings 

 are taken at the same time as the temperature records are made. 



III. Scientific. 



The scientific work done at a station like that at Portobello 

 can only be of a very modest character as long as it depends 

 entirely upon voluntary effort. Research on the development 

 of almost any form of the local fauna requires much time as well 

 as the requisite skill and knowledge. As an adjunct to the 

 local University the station may ultimately prove of consider- 

 able advantage to the biological department, but until research 

 scholarships are instituted this opening is not likely to be made 

 much use of. 



From the date of his appointment as curator, Mr. T. An- 

 derton has made observations on the fauna of the neighbouring 

 sea, and on the spawning of certain fishes. He has also re- 

 corded the hatching- out of these forms, and reared them for 

 a longer or shorter time, preserving specimens at various stages, 

 and making drawings of many of them. The same has been 

 done with regard to certain species of Crustacea. These records 

 are given under the different species referred to later on. He 

 has also kept records of the temperature of the air, the water 

 of the ponds, and of the bay outside the hatchery since the 

 1st January of this year. Since the 1st March of the present 

 year he has kept a register of the rainfall, the Meteorological 

 Office in Wellington having forwarded a rain-gauge to the sta- 

 tion. These returns are appended to this report. Working 

 as he does at present, single-handed, the curator has been quite 

 unable to overtake the question of the salinity of the water — 

 a thing which it is very desirable to ascertain. 



