6i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Zoological Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. 



"University of Pennsylvania, shown in 

 the accompanying illustration, is the 

 largest and best equipped building in 

 this country, if not in the world, de- 

 voted wholly to zoology. 



The architecture is of early English 

 Renaissance, with walls of red brick in 

 a variety of shades trimmed with Indi- 

 ana limestone. The front facade, 

 facing the north, is 216 feet in length; 

 the south wing connects with the vi- 

 varium erected in 1900. The form of 

 the building and the large windows 

 give ample light to all rooms. Excel- 

 lent as are the architectural effects they 

 have in all cases been adjusted to the 

 needs of the scientific work. The unit 

 system of construction has been fol- 

 lowed, so that rooms are of standard 

 size and partitions can be readily added 

 or removed. 



The large lecture room seats 327 stu- 

 dents and the smaller sixty, while the 

 laboratories may also be used for lec- 

 tures. Ample space is provided for the 

 library and for a synoptical museum, 

 but duplication of the exhibition mu- 

 seums of the Academv of Natural Sci- 



ences was wisely avoided. The elemen- 

 tary work is confined to the first floor, 

 with four laboratories for general zool- 

 ogy, leaving the two upper floors for 

 advanced work and research. The base- 

 ment contains rooms for breeding, con- 

 stant temperature, photography and 

 other purposes, the heat and light being 

 supplied from a central station. 



The United States would make un- 

 paralleled contributions to the advance- 

 ment of science if these follow in pro- 

 portion to the material equipment of its 

 universities and government bureaus. 

 But men are more important than their 

 tools. It happens that of the great 

 universities of the Atlantic seaboard 

 the two — Harvard and Columbia — 

 which lead all others in their zoological 

 work are the only ones not having new 

 laboratories. They will doubtless soon 

 have them, but how much their investi- 

 gations will be aided by the building, 

 equipment and care of new laboratories 

 is an open question. At Pennsylvania 

 there is only one full professor of zool- 

 ogy. The interest on the cost of the 

 building and grounds and the charge 



