3 o8 



TWENTY-FOURTH REPORT. 



year following and submitted to the Board of Trustees, or Execu- 

 tive Committee, for consideration. 



7. Staff. The Assistant Director and operating staff on annual 

 appointments receive their livelihood from the Laboratory; the 

 salaries should be ample in order to secure the best men. 



The scientific staff on the research side serves without salary; 

 salaries of instructors are calculated to pay expenses of travel and 

 living for the duration of the course. 



There is no permanent scientific staff. The establishment of 

 such a staff would tend to endanger the principle of freedom of 

 development for all branches of biology by favoring a few. It 

 would also set the Laboratory in competition with universities and 

 research institutions for men and weaken the spirit of cooperation 

 of such institutions. It would favor a few individuals at the ex- 

 pense of the many. 



8. The Supply Department serves primarily to obtain and dis- 

 tribute living materials for research within the institution; class 

 supplies are also furnished. This service is furnished without 

 additional fee to investigators and students. This is an essential 

 part of the organization. It saves the time of the investigators 

 and through intelligent collecting depletion of the grounds is safe- 

 guarded. 



The major part of the work of the Supply Department is, how- 

 ever, to furnish biological supplies to institutions. It is the policy 

 to develop this business as far as possible. The main advantages 

 are: (i) The profits from sales are an important item of income. 

 (2) The business is continuous throughout the year, and the Labo- 

 ratory is thus enabled to keep together a permanent skilled staff 

 of collectors. (3) A real service is rendered to biological educa- 

 tion and research by providing a source of standardized and reliable 

 material of many kinds. (4) This service constitutes an impor- 

 tant item of good-will. 



9. The Department of Chemical Supplies. In general, it is the 

 function of this department to furnish all standard apparatus and 

 supplies ordinarily used in the work of investigation at the Labo- 

 ratory with no additional charge. Exceptions are noted in the 

 printed rules of the department. Microscopes, microtomes, and 



