Panama 207 



The Laboratory is now closed, maintained by a skeleton 

 crew in charge of Mr. Zetek. The tropical forest is so in- 

 tolerant of the invasion of its realms by man that all ves- 

 tiges of our occupation would disappear in a short time if 

 we did not keep a crew there. Even our "graveyard" would 

 soon disappear. This consists of stumps of wood prepared 

 with all sorts of materials supposedly or actually useful in 

 protecting the wood against the ravages of termites, the 

 greatest scourge affecting wooden buildings in the tropics. 

 These test sticks, planted in the ground at exactly the same 

 depth, under the same conditions, and carefully watched, 

 are now, after fifteen years of Mr. Zetek's penetrating ob- 

 servation, beginning to produce information of great value. 



I don't know whether I shall ever see Barro Colorado 

 again, but I certainly hope that I may, if only to sail by it 

 through the Canal in the month of March, when the 

 guayacan trees lift their lofty heads above the forest top, 

 each as glittering as a golden dome, while the purple 

 Jacarandas, the pale pink almendros, and the Palo Santo 

 with flowers as crimson as arterial blood make a scene of 

 incomparable splendor. 



