{465}
CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
A SCOTTISH MARINE STATION.
BY MEAD AND STREAM.
THE LARGEST STATUES IN THE WORLD, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
A GREENROOM ROMANCE.
HUMOROUS DEFINITIONS.
THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.
OCCASIONAL NOTES.
EVENING ON THE LAKE.
No. 30.—Vol. I.
Price 1½d.
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1884.
A SCOTTISH MARINE STATION.
The ocean has been watched and studied for agesin innumerable aspects—it has been looked atfrom points of view wide asunder as the poles—ithas been sung of by poets, and fished in byfishermen, and sailed over by sailors for thousandsof years; but it is still a region of mysteryand wonder. There are very many things aboutthe sea which are quite unknown to this day;in fact, the science of marine phenomena isyet in its early youth, only emerging from itsinfancy. The study of the physical, chemical,and biological conditions of the sea has alwaysbeen surrounded by a sort of halo of romance,a scientific glamour that almost led men tobelieve that such research was like fishing—valuableresults might be looked for in returnfor little labour, if the proper opportunity couldbe found. But the opportunity only occurredat wide intervals, and then the happy few whowere fortunate enough to form the scientificstaff of such expeditions as that of the Challengerwere regarded with unmixed envy by themany who were eager to do similar work ifthey could get the chance.
The wonders discovered by the chief scientificcruises of recent years have greatly increasedthe interest of the public in the scienceof the sea, and this public interest has quitelately assumed a tangible form in the foundationof the Scottish Marine Station for ScientificResearch at Granton, near Edinburgh. To understandthe importance and value of this Station,one must know something of the difficultiespresented to any one who wishes to solvesome special problem connected with the lifewhich swarms in the waters around our coasts.He must rely on the help of fishermen forcollecting specimens; and if he cannot goto the expense of hiring a boat and crew,he requires to content himself with any selectionof their ‘rubbish’ which they may bepleased to make. Should he wish to examineany locality minutely, he must purchase a dredgeand tow-nets, leads and lines, and bottlesand boxes to contain the specimens whichmay be obtai