2 E. NOERIS WOLFENDEN. 



results of any one expedition cannot properly be appreciated without reference to the 

 others. 



The 'Belgica' collections were made S. and S.E. of Peter I. Island, between 69° 48' 

 and 71° 18' S., and 81° 19' and 92° 22' W., between April 21st and December 6th, 1898, 

 by means of nets lowered through holes in the pack-ice to a depth of 0-500 

 metres. 



The ' Discovery ' collections were made by lowering and raising a vertically 

 actuated net through holes cut in the ice, while the ship was in Winter Quarters.* 



The ' Gauss ' collections were made from the South of Kcrguelen to the winter 

 station in Gauss Bay, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land, and were of very extensive character, 

 and as the collections were further made throughout the Atlantic traverse of the ship, 

 they aiford an opportunity for the comparison of the purely Antarctic fauna with that 

 of the Southern Ocean. 



In considering the question of the distribution of the Copepoda of the southern- 

 most area of the Atlantic (the Antarctic region) it is convenient to consider the results 

 of these expeditions together, since any conclusions drawn from the results of the 

 ' Discovery ' alone would be incomplete and even misleading. Th-e ' Belgica ' collections 

 have been reported upon by Dr. Giesbrecht (" Resultats du Voyage du S.Y. ' Belgica ' 

 en 1897-1898-1899"; Rapports Scientifiques, 1902), and the 'Gauss' collections are still 

 under examination, and I only now refer to the results of my examination of that 

 collection in so far as they assist the elucidation of the ' Discovery ' results. 



From the results of the three expeditions ('North American,' 'Challenger' and 

 ' Vettor Pisani ') which, previously to the ' Belgica,' had collected in the Southern 

 Ocean as far south as the pack-ice, Giesbrecht accepts seventeen species as 

 correct, after rejecting a number of species as "ungeniigend beschriebenen und nicht 

 zuverlassig genug bestimmten "),f viz., Aetidius armatus (50° S.), Calanus finmarchichus 

 (52°), Calanus patagoniensis (47°), C. propinquus (64° 37'), simillimus (52°), Centropages 

 hrachiatus (52°), Clausocalanus arcuicornis (53°), Clytemnestra scutellata (46°), 

 Drepanopus forcipatus (53°), D. pectinatus (49° 16'), Metridia boeckii (45°), 



* Mr. Hodgson has supplied me with the following. — Ed. 



" ToW-NETTING IN WiNTER QuABTEKS. 



" After the surface of the sea was frozen over there was no means of dragging a tow-net through the 

 water, and as the current seemed sufficiently strong to hold the net out, it was attached to a line about a fathom 

 above a heavy sinker, 28 lbs., and lowered to a depth of ten fathoms, except in special instances or during the 

 summer. This depth was decided on, it having been found that the formation of ice crystals on the nets could be 

 avoided. These crystals formed on the lines down to 5-8 fathoms, according to the season. The nets remained 

 down for twenty-four hours, sometimes longer if the holes could not be visited on account of the weather, or 

 opened on account of some difficulty with the ice. The mouth of the net was always in an approximately vertical 

 position, this was secured by the attachment of the line direct to the ring of the net and the sinker to the other 

 side of the ring." 



t The rejected species are, Acartia denticornis (52°), Candacia curia (50°) and truncata (64° 37'), Eucalanus 

 attenuatus (47° 25'), Euchceta ma/rina (47° 25'), Ealoptilus aculeatus (46° 46'), Heterorrhahdus spinifrona (50°) 

 Lucicutia flavicornis (47° 25'), Pleuromamma ahdominaU (65° 42'), Copilia styUfera (66° 29'). — Giesbrecht, 

 ' Belgica ' report, p. 5. 



