590.7(42) 17 



I. 



Wanted, a British Fresh-water Biol ogica l 

 Station/ 



ALTHOUGH there are fresh-water biological stations actively at 

 work in Germany, France, Switzerland, Bohemia, (see Natural 

 Science, vol. v., p. 370., Nov., 1894), Sweden, Finland, and the 

 United States, besides several in contemplation in various other 

 countries, the necessity for the establishment of a fresh-water station 

 in this country has received very little attention. In fact, with the 

 exception of the proposal to found such an institution in Norfolk (see 

 Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, Vol. vi., 

 Part I., p. 108., also Natural Science, Jan., 1896, p. 8.), the very idea 

 of working methodically at the fauna and flora of our inland waters 

 never seems to have been seriously entertained by our biologists. 



There can, however, be no question that from the purely scientific 

 point of view, a knowledge of the life-histories, habits, and inter- 

 relations of fresh-water organisms is of equal importance with similar 

 knowledge concerning marine organisms. It may even be of greater 

 importance in some cases, for there can be little doubt that many of 

 the fundamental biological problems can be answered (if answerable 

 at all by a study of aquatic organisms) more easily by observations 

 upon fresh-water than upon marine forms, because their conditions of 

 existence are less complex. From the practical point of view the 

 claims of fresh-water biology are, it must be admitted, not so great 

 as those of marine biology, but they are by no means inconsiderable, 

 and will tend to become stronger with every increase in the amount 

 of attention paid to fresh-water fishes as food. 



Surely it is time, therefore, now that the more pressing need for 

 British marine biological stations has been largely satisfied, and the 

 anticipations as to their value are being steadily realised, to consider 

 if the careful study of fresh-water biology in this country cannot be 

 helped forward by the establishment of a properly equipped station. 

 Comparatively, no doubt, a greater amount of work can be done upon 

 fresh-water animals and plants without the aid of a special station, 

 than is possible in the case of marine forms, but it is nevertheless true 

 that there remain a long series of problems in fresh-water biology 

 which will never be solved without the continuity of observations 

 practically only to be secured by means of a station definitely 



1 Paper read before Section D of the British Association, September 18, 1896. 



C 



