June 6, 1895] 



NA TURE 



125 



the utter necessity of laboratories near the sea-shore. 

 Here we are only in the beginning of a movement, which 

 will go far to increase our knowledge of the conditions of 

 marine life. 



If the establishment of marine laboratories on diflerent 

 parts of the Mediterranean and on both sides of the 

 Atlantic — not to speak of the North Sea and the Baltic — 

 have proved a necessity : if already, both in Japan and 

 in California, the coasts of the Pacific ha\ e been pro- 

 \ided with such scientific outposts, it cannot fail that, 

 by-and-by, Africa, Australia, and the Polynesian Archi- 

 pelago will also have their biological stations. It is a 

 great pleasure to me to be able to state here, that a 

 small beginning is being made at Raluni in Neu 

 I'omniern alias New Britain), the neighbour island 

 of .New Guinea, from whence numerous specimens of 

 Naiiti/iis ppiiipUi!is\\a.\e\a.t.e\yhee\\ procured, ."^n intelli- 

 gent and enthusiastic German planter, Mr. Parkinson, 

 living since many years on that island, visited me a year 

 ago in Naples, and offered spontaneously his help and 

 services to establish a small station on his own land. 

 According to his views, locality and climate will favour 

 such a plan, and as there is every si.\ weeks a steamer of 

 the North (lerman Lloyd from Raluni to .Singapore, and 

 soon perhaps another one to Sydney, the possibilities of a 

 tropical archipelago station are given. The Naples .Station 

 has undertaken to provide the scientific equipment of its 

 infant brother at the Antipodes, and my friend Major [ 

 Alex. Henry Davis, from .Syracuse (New York), who, 

 already helped so much to establish lasting and fruitful I 

 relations between the United States and the Naples 

 Station, has again stepped forward to provide for the 

 first pecuniary wants of the Papua .Station. Let us hope 

 that this small beginning will reap some fruits, and 

 the more so, as Mr. Arthur \Ville\, well known by his 

 work on the development and morphology of the Tuni- 

 cates and .Amphio.xus, has gone there as first pioneer of 

 biology to study the de\elopment of Nautilus poiiipi/iiis. 

 His impressions have been as yet very favourable, and he 

 thinks that the fauna of New Britain will amply repay 

 every sacrifice of Mr. Parkinson and Major IJavis. If the 

 local authorities of New .South \\'ales, or Victoria, or New 

 Zealand, would find it worth their while to help to a 

 laboratory in Port Jackson, or somewhere else in Australia : 

 if in the Cape Colony somebody would do as Mr 

 Parkinson has done — numerous problems thrown open by 

 the work of the Challoigcr \\o\.\\A make progress, and the 

 threads of biological study would draw nearer and nearer 

 to encircle the most distant parts of the oceans. 



But the greatest stroke w ould come, if one nation or an 

 international combination would present biology and 

 oceanography with a steamer, expressly built for purposes 

 of such research as the Chnllengcr performed. In the 

 year 1884, I attempted something of the kind b\ forminga 

 committee of influential men in Ciermany for the purpose 

 of collecting ;^ 15,000 to £20,000, with which to build 

 a yacht large enougli to go round the globe, and serxing as 

 a floating biological laljorator)-. Of course it was not the 

 sum of money wanted for the construction of such a ship 

 which constituted the main difficulty of the scheme, 

 though I failed even in that from reasons which had 

 nothing to do with the scheme itself. The true difficulties 

 lie in the extraordinary ijreat regular expenses iit commis- 

 NO. 1336, VOL. 52] 



sioning such a ship, as every owner of an ocean yacht 

 understands. Of course I was also prepared for that, and 

 ha\e no doubt that my plans would have answered, 

 at least to some extent, but I was compelled to recognise 

 the truth of the old proverb, "qui trop embrasse mal 

 etreint.'" I do not know whether I shall yet be able to 

 return to the attack ; it seems rather unlikely, but it is my 

 firm conviction that this scheme is, if not the only one 

 which will permit us to conquer the battlefield, at any rate 

 the chief means to enlarge our knowledge in oceano- 

 graphy, and will and must therefore be executed in no 

 distant future. 



Such a ship ought not to be continuously crossing the 

 oceans ; on the contrary, its best services would be 

 rendered by giving it the chance to thoroughly investi- 

 gate distant areas for distinct problems. Give such a 

 ship the commission to study in the greatest possible 

 detail, and in a comparative way, life and formation of the 

 coral reefs in the Indian Ocean ; let it be stationary for 

 months together on the most favourable spots for such a 

 study ; prepare a scientific^stafF of specialists for the work, 

 land them where the best opportunities for a transient 

 establishment of a small laboratory is to be got, assist 

 them b\" as man\' hands of the crew as can be spared, 

 help them by the steam-pinnace on board, use the diving 

 dress as well as native divers, and study for hours under 

 water the construction and the destruction of the reef, 

 apply all kinds of dredging and surface-fishing at day 

 and night, have well-trained laboratorj- servants for the 

 preservation alive and in alcohol of such organisms as 

 are required for further study, — in short, do as if a well- 

 appointed laboratory were transported to Polynesia ; 

 and be sure that results will ensue which by no other 

 contri\ances can possibly be obtained, especially if the ship 

 be under no restrictions, and can stay in any one spot as 

 long as may be requisite. 



For it is the great drawback of the usual men-of-war 

 expeditions, that they are only allowed a few days or 

 weeks to remain at the same localitv'. There are so 

 many other objects, to which it is necessary to give full 

 attention, that they are always driven away from the 

 work when the preliminary difficulties arc just overcome. 

 Science must be sovereign on board, the scientific leader 

 must be absolute for determining the course to take and 

 the time to remain. Discipline on board the ship must, 

 of course, be handled by the captain or his officers, but 

 the general dispositions of the work must remain with the 

 scientific leader. That alone already w ould make a great 

 difference in such an expedition from all those antecedent, 

 and though very often the naval captains of expeditions 

 for scientific purposes might well enough be transformed 

 also into scientific leaders, nevertheless they are depen- 

 dent on orders from home, and cannot always understand 

 the importance of cmbryological, physiological, or other 

 specialist work, for which they have to sta\' a month or 

 two longer in the same harbour. 



Again, the scientific staff must be selected with greatest 

 care in regard to technical and personal accomplishments. 

 If the staff is not \ aried enough, and does not include men 

 of different attainments, many opportunities for investi- 

 gation must be lost for want of pre\ ious knowledge on 

 the side of the naturalists on board. On the other hand, 

 nothing is more difficult than to live together for months. 



