THE rnoURESS OF SCIENCE. 



479 



during tlio sniiinier season and hy tlic 

 seaside or sonic inland water. Thus 

 can the needed material be obtained at 

 the right time, and the collecting and 

 exploring unite in tlic best possible 

 manner study wilh healthful recreation. 

 The general spirit of the laboratories 

 is excellent; research is carried forward 

 side by side with instruction, so that 

 the dividing line is almost obliterated; 

 there is a friendly spirit of cooperation 

 and rivalry; things are known at first 

 hand rather than darkly through books 

 and lectures; the standard of living 

 is simple; the follies and worse not 

 uncommon in the colleges are lacking 

 to a noticeable degree. 



The Marine Biological Laboratory at 

 Woods Hole may be regarded as the 

 lineal descendant of Agassiz's school at 

 Penikese, of which it has well main- 

 tained the traditions. The equipment 

 has always been modest, as is shown by 

 the accompanying photograph of the 

 buildings, and perhaps this has not 

 been a serious disadvantage. It is, 

 however, hoped that sooner or later 

 a fireproof building, which may be kept 

 open in winter as in summer, will be 

 erected. There are each year at Woods 

 Hole between fifty and one hundred in- 

 vestigators carrying on original re- 

 search, and about an equal number of 

 students, many of whom become investi- 

 gators. The Carnegie Institution has 

 wisely decided not to acquire the labo- 

 ratory, but is supporting it by contrib- 

 uting $10,000 for twenty tables, and 

 the laboratory is thus on a secure 

 financial basis without loss of the in- 

 dependence and spirit of cooperation 

 which have accomjJlished so much in 

 the past. While the Woods Hole labo- 

 ratory remains our chief center of 

 biological research, rivaled only by 

 Naples, other laboratories have been 

 established along the Atlantic and 

 Pacific coasts, at the Bahamas and on 

 inland waters. Expeditions and camps 

 of a temporary character should be 

 mentioned in connection with the sum- 

 mer schools of natural history; prac- 



tically all the geologists of the country 

 are now in the field, and in many cases 

 the parties consist of expert investiga- 

 tors accompanied liy those who assist 

 and learn. 



The summer schools of the univer- 

 sities have not yet found their per- 

 manent basis, but there is no question 

 as to the direction of their development 

 and of the importance of the move- 

 ment. A summer school once estab- 

 lished is seldom abandoned and nearly 

 always shows an increase in size and 

 an improvement in quality from year 

 to year. There ai'e this summer over 

 a thousand students at Harvard and at 

 Columbia, and nearly twice as many 

 at Tennessee. The students are largely 

 teachers, but there are others of ma- 

 ture age, who wish to imjirove them- 

 selves. Then there are some regular 

 students of the institutions — on the 

 one hand, those so much interested in 

 their work that they do not wish to 

 lose the summer and, on the other hand, 

 a few who need to ' make up conditions.' 

 The instructing staff is also hetero- 

 geneous, there being usually some 

 eminent lecturers and a good many 

 young assistants. Chicago set the ex- 

 ample of continuing its terms through 

 the year, though in attempting to ad- 

 just its summer quarter to the needs 

 of teachers, it has abandoned its orig- 

 inal plan. We expect to see the uni- 

 versity year ultimately divided into 

 four quarters, with perhaps two weeks' 

 vacation between each. The work of 

 the summer term will be as ' regular ' 

 as any other, but as there will be fewer 

 students an opportunity will be af- 

 forded to provide a special summer 

 school for teachers. There are over 

 300,000 teachers in the country. It 

 would be well if all schools would pay 

 them a certain salary and in addition 

 provide for their attendance at a sum- 

 mer school. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 

 We regret to record the death of 

 Professor W. C. Knight, professor of 



