JAPANESE ZOOLOGICAL STATION AT MISAKI. 199 



its mtv edge ihf defenders were beheaded after the Back of the castle. 

 And just opposite 1 is the 'Buried Treasure-Beach, ' when' the most val- 

 uable plunder of the castle is supposed to have been stored. And 

 more interesting still are the monuments marking the spots where died 

 by hara-kiri the lord of the castle, Dosun Miura, and his son, after 

 word had been brought them that all hope was lost. The local story 

 is that Dosun Miura retired to this point alter witnessing the death 

 of his son, and fearful lest his own head should he carried across the 

 bay to Odawara by the conquerors, he would trust no one to act as his 

 second in the death ceremony. Seizing his short cue with one hand, 

 he is said to have cut off his own head with the other, and to have 

 thrown it far out in the deep water he fore his body fell, a physiological 

 possibility, by the way, which students of the laboratory do not ques- 

 tion — in the presence of townspeople. So the greatness of the Miura 

 is unimpaired, and every year memorial services are celebrated on the 

 laboratory grounds. At this time portrait-images of Dosun and his 

 son are brought from a neighboring temple and placed on the altar 

 in a prayer-tent near the beach, and wrestling bouts commemorate the 

 siege and the fall of the castle. Perhaps I might end my digression 

 with the note that the present property came into the hands of the im- 

 perial family and has remained unoccupied since the fifteenth century. 

 The major reason for this is said to have been that the point was 

 haunted and many curious stories are told of the reappearance of 

 Dosun Miura and his men on the hilltops among the ancient pines. 

 One recognizes them readily, since, like all Japanese specters, they have 

 no feet. Indeed, I learned through Mr. Alan Owston, of Yokohama, 

 that even a few years ago, when his yacht anchored overnight at 

 Aburatsubo, the point was still so ghost-ridden that the sailors were 

 unwilling to go ashore ! 



As for the zoological station itself : The one-story building is used 

 by the graduate students, and is divided off in alcoves in the usual way. 

 Work places for eight investigators are provided on the north side of 

 the main room. On the south side of the building is the office of the 

 director, and forming the fourth corner of the building is a concreted 

 room containing aquaria and giving ample space for the preparation of 

 larger material. By a covered way one passes from the door of the ad- 

 vanced laboratory into the two-story building, the ground floor of which 

 is used at the present time for general class work. The upper story 

 contains two living rooms fitted in European style, which were gener- 

 ously placed at the writer 's disposal by the authorities of the Zoological 

 Institute. 



The general class work consists of a summer course of about six 

 weeks' duration, which gives its members an opportunity of becoming 

 familiar with the structure of the prominent animal types. The stu- 



