THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



3°9 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



PROFESSOR WHITMAN AND THE 



MARINE BIOLOGICAL 



LABORATORY 



At the annual meeting of the corpo- 

 ration of the Marine Biological Labo- 

 ratory held at Woods Hole in August, 

 resolutions were adopted recording the 

 obligation of the laboratory to the 

 great man who more than any other 

 was responsible for making it what it 

 is, and after the adjournment of the 

 meeting the trustees and members of 

 the corporation visited the quiet grave- 

 yard by the sea where lies the body of 



Charles Otis Whitman. 



Keen 

 In intellect, with force and skill 

 To strive, to fashion, to fulfil, 



Whitman was born to be a leader. 

 In his zoological researches he exhib- 

 ited a patience, a balance, a singleness 

 of purpose, a certain classical quality, 

 which placed him among the few worthy 

 to be named with Charles Darwin. His 

 two principal researches, the one on 

 the embryology and phylogeny of the 

 leaches, the other on the phylogeny, 

 heredity and behavior of pigeons, gave 

 rise to a number of papers, which in 

 content and form may be ranked 

 among the masterpieces produced in 

 this country. But in both cases a 

 great part of his work remains unpub- 

 lished. He was impatient of quick 

 results and sought for fundamental 

 solutions of great problems which per- 

 haps his material was incapable of 

 yielding. There remains, however, a 

 great mass of manuscripts, observa- 

 tions and drawings, together with the 

 unique collection of living pigeons, 

 which will yield a valuable series of 

 publications. 



In spite of the fact, or perhaps on 

 account of the fact, that Whitman 

 devoted himself to his research work 

 with complete devotion, he exercised 



an exceptional influence on zoological 

 l education and organization. He was 

 I professor in the University of Tokyo 

 at the time when that university was 

 being adapted to modern conditions. 

 When Clark University was organized, 

 he was given charge of the work in 

 i oology, and again on the establish- 

 ment of the University of Chicago. 

 The department of zoology there, of 

 which he was head until his death, 

 took high rank among the scientific 

 departments, which in a few years have 

 given Chicago distinction in science, 

 equaled only by Harvard and Columbia. 

 Whitman's varied activities are noted 

 in a resolution passed at the Christmas 

 meeting of the Eastern Branch of the 

 American Society of Zoologists, which 

 reads : 



The Eastern Branch of the American 

 Society of Zoologists records with pro- 

 found regret the death of Professor 

 Charles Otis Whitman on December 6, 

 1910. Professor Whitman was one of ' 

 the founders of this society; he was 

 chairman of the committee that issued 

 the first call for organi2ation of the 

 American Morphological Society, the 

 forerunner of the American Society of 

 Zoologists, and he was president of the 

 society for the first four years, 1891- 

 94. He was organiser of the Journal 

 of Morphology and its editor for many 

 years, and in this capacity also exerted 

 a strong influence on the development 

 of zoological research in America. As 

 director of the Marine Biological Labo- 

 ratory for twenty-one years, he exerted 

 an even more powerful and entirely 

 unique influence in the development of 

 biological science. As an investigator 

 he was painstaking, enthusiastic and 

 thorough, as a thinker on biological 

 problems profound and far-sighted. 

 Devoted to principle, his uncompro- 

 mising personality sometimes made 

 enemies, but the charm of his character 

 made him devoted friends. His influ- 

 ence will long remain as one of the 

 most important forces in the history 

 of zoology in America. 



The Wooes Hole Laboratory was the 



