Panama 197 



Castle by Frank Chapman, the great ornithologist. My 

 pride in having built the castle is very deep, not only be- 

 cause it provided the setting for Chapman's matchless 

 stories, nor because at least four hundred scientific papers 

 have been based on studies made there, but for an entirely 

 different reason. The building of this Laboratory has made 

 it possible for the teacher of biology with a small salary to 

 have the thrill of Wallace, Bates, and Spruce when they 

 first set foot in the Amazon jungle. 



Our incomparable forest, within a hundred feet of the 

 Laboratory door, is as fine as anything to be seen in Brazil. 

 The great espave trees tower up almost out of gimshot to 

 where their side branches stretch out and interlace with 

 those of other trees, each branch as large as a giant white 

 oak and covered with a garden of ferns, orchids, and 

 bromeliads. Near the spot which I have in mind there is a 

 giant Bombacopsis tree, its trunk supported by natural fly- 

 ing buttresses, making stalls where one could stable ele- 

 phants. 



To see these trees and to walk our carefully marked 

 tiails provide all the illusion of exploration, but with this 

 great difference: we have pure drinking water. By care- 

 fully testing the blood of our employees, we can keep ma- 

 laria off the island so that students can walk our trails at 

 night with a headlight; if one is ill, our launch crosses the 

 Canal in forty minutes to Frijoles Station on the Panama 

 Railroad; there is a hospital car on every train, and less 

 than an hour's ride is Gorgas Hospital at Ancon, as fine 

 as any in the world. Our establishment provides comfort 

 huZ not luxuries. Our food is simple, hence served at a 

 small cost. A high-school teacher of biology who had 



