IV 



Preface. 



^. ..1 cr.fion near fhristiania, in Southern Norway, receiving 



Ui,uu.v...... ..- ;a Professor Hjorth as to the proper methods of the 



c«i»tur« anil preservation of marine Invertebrata, Ahjx, &c. His 

 death in Octul«r. 180'.». was a great loss to the expedition, as it was 

 to Science pinerally. for, either from want of knowledge or want of 

 care on the part of the survivors, his collections suffered consider- 

 tWy, csiwcially in the case of the Invertebrata, as will be seen from 

 the' n?iK)rts of the various specialists who have described them. 

 The Seals, of which there was a large series, were sent home in 

 brine, but the tubs in which they were packed were not labelled in 

 any way, and only a few specimens had leaden tickets attached to 

 them. Tljese had unfortunately become so corroded from immersion 

 in the brine as to be, in nearly every case, undecipherable, and no 

 Iwt of the collection of Seals was forthcoming. The memoir on the 

 White Seal, which Mr. Hanson prepared, and which would un- 

 tloubletlly have added much to our knowledge of this animal, was, 

 I am informed, lost by some mischance on the voyage home. It is, 

 therefore, to be regretted that the work will have to be done again 

 by the naturalists on board the 'Discovery' and other expeditions 

 which may visit " Antarctica " in the future. 



Sir George Newnes has presented to the National Museum the 



first wt of all the specimens collected, and by his directions I have 



distributed the duplicates to various Museums and Public Institu- 



tionn in (Jreat Britain and abroad, so that many of these have been 



enriclujd by his generosity. There weie very few duplicate bird- 



»kiii», but the collection of eggs, mostly preserved by Mr. Hugh 



Kvan.H, was a fine one. A good many duplicate fishes remained, and 



th<'8c have been given to Museum.? where they were likely to be 



uoefu\ for sttidy. Of the Invertebrata there were not many to 



c The second set has been sent to Professor Collett for the 



< ilia Mu.seuni, in acknowledgment of tlie assistance rendered 



by biui in promoting the objects of the expedition, and in considera- 



of the nntionality of the commander. 



of prei»aring for publication the various memoirs on the 



•< of Vertebrata was assigned by me to Dr. Bowdler 



'li.- Invertebrata have been edited by Professor 



I. 



