1897- BRITISH FRESH- WA TER BIOL OGICAL ST A TION. 1 9 



origin of fresh-water faunas would be made in the course of a few 

 years. As in the case of a station in the Lake District or North 

 Wales, in addition to the more characteristic work determined by the 

 nature of the locality, a considerable number of valuable investi- 

 gations in fresh-water biology of a more general nature could be 

 carried out on the Norfolk Broads, and it is also to be borne in mind 

 when discussing the utility of a fresh-water biological station, that, 

 wherever it is situated, the mere working out of the aquatic fauna 

 and flora of the immediately surrounding district, which is almost 

 essential as a preliminary step to deeper investigations, would be in 

 itself no small gain to science. 



The cost of a fresh-water biological station would depend some- 

 what upon whether it was floating or fixed. A floating station would 

 no doubt be cheaper in the first instance, but a fixed station offers 

 much greater accommodation for workers, and also greater facilities 

 for experimental investigations. The minimum initial cost, however, 

 even of a floating station, could not be much under ;^5oo, and in 

 addition to this it would be absolutely essential to provide for the 

 salary of a trained biologist. If the undertaking is to be in any 

 measure a success, there must be one man at least to live and work 

 continuously at the station. Anything less than this would prevent 

 the continuity of endeavour which alone lifts such a station above the 

 level of an attempt to catalogue the local fauna and flora, an under- 

 taking which, however praiseworthy in itself, is not likely to receive 

 much more than local support. 



Compared v/ith the large sums spent on marine biological 

 stations, the amount required for a fresh-water station, even if 

 provided with a little more than the minimum outfit, is very 

 modest, and it is scarcely necessary to advocate the formation of 

 a special society to carry through the proposal to found such a 

 station. At any rate, it seems clear that in the present state of 

 public opinion on the question of the value of fresh-water fishes as 

 food, such an association could not be formed on the broad basis of 

 the Marine Biological Association ; but the work could probably be 

 accomplished without the aid of a new society. A little co-operation 

 on the part of the many existing Institutions interested in biology, 

 with a local society willing to undertake the work of organisation and 

 supervision, seems to be all that is required. At least, so far as the 

 establishment of a station on the Norfolk Broads is concerned, this 

 method would be sufficient, for there is the proposal of the Norfolk 

 and Norwich Naturalists' Society already in the field, and it would 

 he a great pity if, from want of support, a scheme should be allowed 

 to fall through which, if carried out, would not only add materially to 

 the general stock of scientific knowledge, but would also remove the 

 reproach that the United Kingdom is almost the only country in 

 Europe without a fresh-water biological station. 



Fillebrook Road, Leytonstone. D. J. Scourfield. 



