MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION 227 



Owing to the difficulty of procuring supplies regularly, it is necessary to find space 

 for sufficient food and other consumable stores to last over considerable periods. There 

 must also be room for large quantities of scientific stores and miscellaneous articles, 

 such as rope, canvas, benzine, timber, nets, boats' equipment, etc. As already men- 

 tioned, the original store shed was found to be insufficient. 



Some difficulty was experienced in finding a suitable place to store provisions. These 

 were at first kept in the roof space, but as many of the hot water pipes were led under 

 the roof the heat was found to have an injurious efi'ect on some of the tinned articles, 

 and all the provisions were removed to a temporary shed outside. This was found more 

 satisfactory, though some bottled provisions were broken by frost during the winter. 

 Provisions are now kept in the new shed by the jetty. 



Articles for which the greatest amount of storage accommodation is required are 

 those which belong to the scientific equipment, especially as it is often necessary to 

 keep at the Biological Station sufficient boxes of preserving bottles, drums of spirit, 

 spare nets, etc., to form a reserve supply for the ships. The main part of the roof space 

 was occupied by boxes of specimen bottles ; the drums of preserving spirit, which 

 it was unsafe to keep in the house, were stored in one compartment of the fuel shed 

 together with benzine, paraffin, etc. Another part of the same shed was kept for such 

 gear as nets, dredges, coils of rope and boats' equipment, and the third compartment 

 for coal and coke. As the last provided insufficient accommodation, it was sometimes 

 necessary to stock bags of fuel on the ground outside. This is an unsatisfactory 

 procedure as the bags become frozen together in winter and extremely difficult to 

 handle. 



In regard to supplies of food it was at first considered advisable that the Biological 

 Station should be equipped with a quantity sufficient to render it entirely independent 

 of local resources. Facilities were, however, arranged for the purchase of fresh meat 

 and vegetables from the whaling companies and the Falkland Islands. It has been 

 found that a full supply of preserved food is unnecessary at South Georgia, for fresh 

 meat and vegetables can be readily obtained from several sources during the summer. 

 Salt meat was hardly used at all, being replaced by whale meat, frozen beef from the 

 whaling station and mutton from the Falkland Islands. An unlimited supply of whale 

 meat is of course available throughout the season, and, if cut from a fresh carcass and 

 hung for some days, is very palatable. Chickens can be kept at South Georgia with 

 little trouble, and fish are often easily caught in large numbers, though they are not to 

 be depended on. In winter these supplies are necessarily much restricted, but can be 

 supplemented if an occasional sea-leopard is killed. The flesh of this seal is dark and 

 coarse, but the liver, brain and tongue can be recommended. 



It remains now to consider some points in connection with the scientific equipment 

 and methods of work at the Biological Station. The work is divided into three cate- 

 gories: (i) investigations on whales brought in to the whaling station, (2) the chemical 

 analysis of water samples collected by the ships, (3) general work on the fauna of 

 South Georgia. 



