1894. NATURAL SCIENCE IN JAPAN. 103 



investigations have already proved of great practical value, that the 

 Observatory is open for consultation on all matters pertaining to 

 earthquakes, and that the students of geology and other branches 

 of science attend lectures from the professor and his assistant. 



The Botanic Garden lies in a pleasant part of Tokio, about a 

 mile from the University. It contains over three thousand species 

 of plants, both native and foreign, which, in the main division of the 

 garden, are distributed according to Bentham and Hooker's classifi- 

 cation, as given in their Geneva Plantarum. There are, however, 

 minor divisions, such as a collection of medicinal plants, those plants 

 that grow in shady places, various rare plants in pots, and a green- 

 house with tropical plants. Besides plant-houses in various Japanese 

 styles, there is also a pleasure garden with a building well suited for 

 the social gatherings of scientific and other societies. How much 

 pleasanter it would be for our learned societies to picnic at the 

 Pagoda in Kew Gardens on a summer Sunday, instead of undergoing 

 the boredom of a badly-served dinner in a London restaurant ! From 

 the garden, plants are daily sent to the University for the use of 

 students, and on the other hand the students of Botany and Ento- 

 mology spend a portion of their time in the garden. The Botanic 

 Garden possesses a herbarium of considerable size, though not so 

 complete as that belonging to the Botanic Institute of the Science 

 College, which contains about 4,000 species of Japanese plants. Both 

 the Garden and the Institute are always ready to exchange duplicates 

 with foreign botanists, and the Botanic Garden is also ready to 

 exchange seeds. 



The Marine Biological Station is situated at Misaki, a small 

 fishing-village at the end of the promontory that separates the bay 

 of Sagami from that of Tokio. Opposite the village is an island, 

 forming a sheltered strait over two square miles in extent and about 

 eight fathoms in the deepest place. The laboratory, which was 

 opened in 1887, is on the seashore fronting this strait (Fig. i). The 

 building is of wood, and one story high, except in the middle where 

 it is two stories. The whole sea-front of the ground floor is occupied 

 by the main laboratory (A), which is 48 feet long, 12 feet wide at the 

 two ends and 18 feet in the middle, and is able to accommodate 

 about ten workers. This room is fitted with small aquaria for the 

 use of investigators. At the back of the main laboratory are a store- 

 room (C), a library (E), and a room (B) with a cement floor for sorting 

 out and preserving the specimens as they are brought in from the 

 sea. From a tank outside the building, sea-water is conveyed into 

 this last room and into the main laboratory. The first floor, over the 

 middle of the building, is devoted to sleeping accommodation. 



The situation of Misaki, between two bays and sheltered 

 by the island Jogashima, is extremely favourable to marine life. 

 The strait itself, the neighbouring inlets, and the tide-pools on the 

 ocean side of Jogashima, furnish all kinds of bottom, while further 



