SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 79 



REPORT ON THE PERIODIC CRUISES. 

 By W. Riddell, M.A. 



From various causes the work at sea has been very much 

 interrupted during the past year. Owing to the steamer being 

 laid up for survey and repairs, there were no cruises in January, 

 March and August. Work at sea was finally suspended for 

 the present at the end of September, when the steamer was 

 taken over by the Admiralty. 



Thus there have only been two quarterly scientific cruises, 

 in February and May, and four monthly cruises, in April, 

 June, July, and September. This means that for Station 

 14 there are only two plankton samples, and only six at each 

 of the other three stations. Or, from another point of view, 

 in the first part of the year, to the end of July, the quarterly 

 cruises are complete, and of the monthly cruises two, January 

 and March, were missed ; while in the second part, since the 

 outbreak of war, both quarterly and monthly cruises (with 

 the exception of September) have had to be abandoned. 



Surface samples have been taken from the steamer when 

 employed on her ordinary duties, but these also represent 

 little more than six months' actual collecting, and there are 

 many gaps in the series. 



Under these circumstances, and as I have been unable 

 to find anything in the samples which calls for special mention, 

 I do not propose to make any report upon the collections at 

 present. When scientific work at sea is resumed under normal 

 conditions, these samples will probably be found to be of 

 importance as preserving some continuity in the series of 

 observations, and will be utilised, as far as possible, in a future 

 report. 



