I 



THE DISCOVERY INVESTIGATIONS, OBJECTS, 

 EQUIPMENT AND METHODS 



PART II. THE SHIPS, THEIR EQUIPMENT AND THE 

 METHODS USED IN RESEARCH 



By Stanley Kemp, Sc.d., and A. C. Hardy, m.a. 

 (Plates VII-XVII, text-figures 1-33) 



N the Reports of most expeditions which have engaged in marine biological research 



such matters as scientific equipment and methods, if discussed at all, are dealt with 

 very briefly. Yet there are reasons why these subjects should be treated in some detail: 

 first because a description of methods, of nets and apparatus and of the way in which 

 they were handled, will often be useful in the interpretation of results, and, secondly, 

 because the experience gained by one expedition is likely to prove of service to another. 

 In modern oceanographical work a technique of some elaboration is required, and if 

 work is to run smoothly and without waste of time every detail of procedure must be 

 thought out in advance. Mistakes are easily made and may be costly, and difficulties 

 of many kinds must be overcome, especially if investigations in deep water are to be 

 undertaken. 



In this paper the equipment of the 'Discovery' and 'William Scoresby' is described 

 at some length, with notes on the arrangement and fittings of the ships' laboratories 

 and an account of the methods employed in hydrology and in the collection and pre- 

 servation of zoological material. In various directions, but more particularly with 

 biological gear, we have tried to make some improvement on established methods, and 

 these attempts — not all of them successful — are discussed in their proper place. A large 

 part of the biological work was concerned with plankton, and plankton methods and 

 apparatus are in consequence treated in greater detail. 



It is necessary in the first place to give some description of the vessels employed in 

 the investigations, and for the following account of their arrangement and accommoda- 

 tion, together with the plans on Plates VIII and IX, we are indebted to Mr A. Harker 

 of Messrs Flannery, Baggallay and Johnson, Ltd., Consulting Naval Architects to the 

 Crown Agents for the Colonies. 



THE ROYAL RESEARCH SHIP 'DISCOVERY' 



CONSTRUCTION AND ORIGINAL DESIGN 



The ' Discovery ' was constructed by the Dundee Shipbuilding Company for the 



National Antarctic expedition of 190 1-3, and was intended essentially for Antarctic 



exploration and polar research. The vessel was designed by Sir W. E. Smith, late Chief 



Constructor at the Admiralty, and was built under his direction and with the assist- 



151 '-^ 



