96 REPORTS OF INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



EQUIPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION. 



During the spring the Department purchased Goose Island, one of the Nor- 

 walk Islands, belonging to the town of Westport and lying in Long Island 

 Sound at a distance of 1.75 miles from the mainland, 0.5 mile from the near- 

 est island of the group, Grassy Island. This island has the form of a cres- 

 cent, the two arms of which at low tide partly inclose an admirable harbor 

 whose shore is probably not less than 800 meters long. At high tide a grassy 

 knoll is exposed, 200 meters long by about 30 meters wide at its widest part. 

 This knoll is covered with a rich stony loam at least 1.3 meters deep, protected 

 on all sides by a natural wall of stones, many of them nearly a meter in 

 diameter. The northern part of the harbor has deep water, a bottom without 

 rocks, and is well sheltered. The purchase will afford means of trying cer- 

 tain isolation experiments and of breeding some animals and plants under 

 natural conditions without close confinement. In view of the distance of the 

 island from the mainland and from the nearest island, and its position on the 

 outer edge of the archipelago, it is well situated for the purpose. The prin- 

 cipal difficulty to be anticipated is from trespassers. In the attempt to edu- 

 cate the public two large signs have been erected prohibiting trespassing. 

 During the summer a list of the plants growing on the island was made by 

 Dr. H. S. Conard and Messrs. H. H, York and Collins, and the animals were 

 collected by students at the Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute. 

 Among the animals the brown or Norway rat is very common and easily 

 trapped. A small brown snake {Storeria dekayi), allied to the garter snakes, 

 was found on the island. This snake can live for several hours on sea-water 

 and probably swam from the mainland. No toads were found on the island, 

 which contains no fresh water. 



During the year the following pieces of work were finished by the con- 

 structor, Mr. Frank Allen : The cat-house, retaining-wall around shop, manu- 

 facture of additional cold-frames, stone steps on terrace from laboratory to 

 residence, shed for wood-saw, concrete bridge on service road over ravine. 



The Station launch Eva being too slow, small, and old for our purposes, it 

 was sold and a 34-foot boat, the Beagle, with a 2-cylinder engine was pur- 

 chased at a slightly higher price than that obtained from the sale of the 

 old boat. 



MAINTENANCE. 



The source of our irrigation supply from Mr. Townsend Jones's spring was 

 enlarged and improved, and the bed of the ravine was cobblestoned to prevent 

 wear and conserve water. During the spring shrubbery was placed . along 

 the road to cut off automobile dust, electric connection with the buildings 

 was made by an overhead wire (replacing underground cables), a burglar- 

 alarm system was installed on the poultry plant, and an improved rack made 

 in the shed for holding lumber. 



