12 MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 



VI. THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT. 



To THE TRUSTEES OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 



Gentlemen: I beg to submit herewith a report of the thirty- 

 sixth session of the Marine Biological Laboratory for the year 

 1923. On account of the completion of our program for building 

 and endowment in January, 1924, it seems desirable to include 

 the events of that month also, so far as they relate to that project. 



i. Attendance. The attendance of students in courses was 

 146 and of investigators 176, making a total of 322 persons, 

 representing 107 institutions. Applications for working places 

 were again considerably greater than our accommodations, 

 especially in the case of places for students in courses. Our 

 policy of instruction has been guided for many years by the de- 

 sire to contribute to the production of investigators. The results 

 might be judged by the extent to which students in the courses 

 of instruction have acquired the spirit of research by their work 

 and contacts at Woods Hole. Unfortunately no quantitative 

 measurements of such a sort can be directly made; however, 

 we have strong reasons to believe from our own experience, as 

 members of the Marine Biological Laboratory and professors in 

 many colleges and universities, that many of our students acquire 

 a better understanding of the spirit, methods and standards of 

 research at Woods Hole, and that their ambition is stimulated. 

 A measureable evidence of the influence of our classes is furnished 

 by the number of former members who have published research 

 work. An examination of this question was made by Dr. 

 Drew, who took the list of all the members of the classes in 

 Inevertebrate Zoology, in Embryology, in Physiology and in 

 Botany between the years 1908 and 1917, and submitted each 

 list to ten investigators to check the names of those known to 

 have published research work. Of the 350 members of the 

 classes in Invertebrate Zoology during this decade, 63, or 18 

 percent, were checked; of the 197 in Embryo ogy, 65, or 33 

 percent, were checked ; of the 93 in Physiology 49, or 53 percent, 

 were checked; of the in in Botany 43, or 39 percent, were 

 checked. It may be of additional interest to note that for the 

 years 1908-1912 (chosen to give an adequate perspective) 12 

 percent of those registered in Invertebrate Zoology have been 



