The biological stations of Europe / by Charles Atwood Kofoid.

  • Kofoid, Charles A. (Charles Atwood), 1865-1947.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The biological stations of Europe / by Charles Atwood Kofoid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in that decade in biological stations, and especially the example of the Sebastopol station, led the biologists of St. Petersburg to interest themselves in one upon the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Under the leadership of Prof. N. P. Wagner, and after years of agitation, a station was finally opened in 1881 on the island of Solovetsky in the White Sea near Archangel, on the premises of the ancient monastery of Solovetsky,- largely through the aid of the archimandrite Melete of that institution, who reconstructed a building for the use of the enterprise. The station became the arctic Mecca for students and investi- gators in zoology from the University of St. Petersburg and was opened in the summer of each year (with few exceptions). Its sup- port came in part from the ministry of public instruction and in part from the treasury of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of St. Peters- burg, which includes in its membership the supporters and patrons of the enterprise. In 1899 the station was moved to Alexandrovsk, on the Murman coast, and a special building constructed. In 1904 Dr. S. Averinzev was appointed as the first resident director, and the station was from that time kept open throughout the year. In 1908, after four years of strenuous effort in which the station was enlarged and equipped and a preliminary survey made of the local fauna, he retired from the post and was succeeded by Doctor Kluge. In 1904 the station received for the first time a substantial grant from the Government (15,000 rubles) for building and equipment and an annual stipend of 8,500 rubles for maintenance. The affairs of the station are in the hands of a commission of eight persons, members of the Royal Society of Naturalists of St. Peters- burg, the chairman of the commission, Professor Schirnkewitsch, being the director of the station. The station has been devoted from its inception to research, no formal instruction and no direct connection with fisheries investiga- tions having been established. The station is open throughout the year, but the arctic winter and the polar night which continues for two months at the latitude of the station (69° 13' north) make work impracticable during the colder months. The favorable season is from April to September. The station is open without charge to all competent investigators, who should apply to the commission through the director for the permission to occupy a table at the station. Chemicals (except more expensive reagents), glassware, material for investigation, as far as it is available, a separate cubical equipped for investigations, and a furnished sleeping room are provided for investigators at the station. Microscopes are not furnished, but the station offers the use of a Sar-