98 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



I m., 70 and 50 cm. nets bent on frames ready for use, and above these racks are bins 

 for the storage of new nets. On the starboard side forward is a small bench with a port 

 above, and aft of it are tiers of large bins for line, trawl twine, and general plankton net 

 and trawling gear. On the port bulkheads are racks holding spares of small plankton 

 buckets and strong fittings for the stowage of the heaviest release gears. 



One member of the ship's company is rated as net man with the rank of a petty officer. 

 The nets and the heavier scientific gear stored in the after hold, which is used entirely 

 for scientific stores, are under his charge. He uses the net room both as a store and as 

 a workroom for the assembling and repairing of nets. 



SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT 



The scientific equipment and methods used in the 'Discovery II' are in general 

 similar to those described in vol. i of the Discovery Reports, but certain new departures 

 have been made which should be described here. 



DECK GEAR 



The main winch, light deck machines and wire sounding gear are similar to those 

 used in the 'Discovery' but with many detailed improvements resulting from ex- 

 perience. The positions of the machines, however, have in most cases been altered. The 

 present arrangements are shown in Plate IV. It will be noted that the main winch (Plate 

 XI, fig. 2) is now placed aft, a position which gives the best possible leads for the wire 

 ropes and allows the winch man a clear view of the operations on the poop deck. 



Two pedestal fairleads are installed abaft the main winch, one opposite the main and 

 one opposite the auxiliary drum. Each has two Tyne metal sheaves running in roller 

 bearings. Farther aft, on each side of the forward corners of the skylight to the petty 

 officers' quarters, are two recording sheaves, i| m. in circumference, mounted on steel 

 pedestals (Plate XII, fig. 2). These sheaves are also of Tyne metal, running in special roller 

 bearings, and operate dials recording in metres the length of warp paid out. There are 

 two stern fairleads, one on each side of the poop (Plate XII, fig. i), fitted with one large 

 horizontal and two smaller vertical rollers. The warp from either drum of the main 

 winch can be led to either fairlead, but in practice it has been found more convenient 

 to use that on the port side. 



A large floodlight is fitted to the top of the samson post to facilitate the working of nets 

 from the poop at night, and the surface of the water aft is illuminated by a small light in 

 the stern rail which is carefully recessed to prevent its being fouled by nets or trawls. 



Davits, accumulators and recording dials of an entirely new type designed by Dr 

 Kemp are used in conjunction with the deck machines (Figs. 3, 4; Plates X, XI). The 

 davits for vertical plankton nets and water bottles consist each of a tubular steel post 

 (15 ft. 6 in. high for the nets and Ekman type water bottles and 12 ft. for the Nansen- 

 Pettersen water bottle) placed opposite the reel of wire. A horizontal derrick arm, 5 ft. 



