A MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 449 



NOTES FROM A MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 



By Prof. WILLIAM S. WINDLE. 



FOR the past fifteen years it has been customary for the mem- 

 bers of the Biological Department of the Johns Hopkins 

 University to devote the summer vacations to pursuing their 

 studies on the seashore. " The Johns Hopkins Marine Labora- 

 tory," as the organization is called, is under the direction of Prof. 

 W. K. Brooks, and has been confined to no permanent location, 

 but has been moved from place to place as the wishes of those in- 

 terested demanded. Many seasons were spent in studying animal 

 forms found in waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For a few years 

 the laboratory was stationed at Beaufort, N. C. Then Green 

 Turtle and Biminy Islands of the Bahamas were chosen as sta- 

 tions for biological research. Finally, the organization went so far 

 south as the island of Jamaica. The site of the present marine 

 laboratory is Port Henderson, Jamaica, where it was located two 

 years ago. To secure best results in research upon embryonic 

 forms, our party set out early for the sea. With full equipment 

 for the laboratory we boarded the steamer Ryvingen and sailed 

 down the Chesapeake Bay en route for the West Indies. The 

 voyage was uneventful for the most part. After the lighthouses 

 and white sandy hills of the Eastern Shore had disappeared be- 

 neath the horizon, we continued our course steadily to the south- 

 east, with little to entertain us but occasional schools of flying 

 fish and the flock of " Mother Carey's chickens " which followed 

 our boat all the way. Large jellyfish and ctenophores floated by 

 occasionally. On the fourth day out we passed Watling's Island, 

 or San Salvador, and other smaller islands of the Bahamas. Next 

 day we rounded the eastern coast of Cuba, and by using the cap- 

 tain's field glass could easily determine the characteristic features 

 of the island. Its mountains appear quite high and rugged in the 

 interior, and they slope rapidly by foothills and broad terraces 

 down to the sea. The shores of Cuba afl^orded us our first glimpse 

 of cocoanut palms, banana and sugar-cane plantations. It was a 

 beautifully clear and starry night when we sailed into Windward 

 Passage. The gray mountains of Cuba outlined against the 

 northern horizon were slowly fading from view, when the cres- 

 cent moon arose out of the waves in the east. The north star 

 hung low, and in the south the Southern Cross appeared to us for 

 the first time. With such new and charming surroundings we 

 spent the evening very delightfully on deck. Not the least inter- 

 esting was the phosphorescence in the waves and spray. Each 

 crested wave, as it receded from the bow, seemed alive with hosts 

 of glowing fireflies. It was a grand sight to watch the turbulent, 



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