re;port of the president, 1908. 29 



ton" and "Guide to the Alannscript Materials for the History of the United 

 States to 1783, in the British Museum, in Minor London Archives, and in 

 the Libraries of Oxford and Cambridge," by Professor Charles M. Andrews 

 and Miss Frances G. Davenport. The former of these was issued in Febru- 

 ary, 1908, and the latter may be expected to appear before the end of the 

 calendar year. For accounts of other noteworthy works in preparation 

 by the Department attention is invited to the Director's report on pages 

 107-117. 



It is a source of gratification to note and to acknowledge here the courte- 

 sies rendered to the Department by government officials at home and abroad, 

 by officials of local societies, and by individuals engaged in historical re- 

 search. The hearty spirit of cooperation thus manifested is an indication 

 of widespread interest in and approval of the work of the Department. 



The location of the laboratory of this department on one of the Tortugas 



Islands is proving highly advantageous, in spite of its relative inaccessibility 



and in spite of its short seasons free from dangerous 



Ma^hne* Bid °^ stomis ; for these latter drawbacks are more than oflfset 



by the great abundance of life available for research, by 



the immunity of the island from tropical diseases, and by the freedom for 



continuity of work secured by complete isolation. 



Nine associate investigators have availed themselves of the facilities of 

 the laboratory during the past season, and a wide variety of studies has 

 been pursued by them and by the Director. Details of these studies are 

 explained by him in the report of this department on pages 118— 138. 



It should be observed with respect to the work of this laboratory, as well 

 as with respect to that of the two other biological laboratories of the Insti- 

 tution, that it is primarily occupied with the investigation of physical princi- 

 ples rather than with the collection and classification of marine organisms. 

 Thus, among other researches of the department, those of the Director, on 

 the role of concentrated saline solutions in producing the rhythmic pulsa- 

 tions of scyphomedusse, may be cited as a typical illustration of the kind 

 of work in question and of the broader aspects of biological work in general. 



During the winter season of 1907-08, Director Mayer spent several months 

 at the International Zoological Station of Naples in securing supplementary 

 data for his monograph on the Medusae of the World, the first volume 

 of which is now in press as publication No. 109. 



It is of interest to note here that the facilities of the department have 

 been accepted during the year by Dr. W. L. Tower, former Associate of the 

 Institution, who has established vivaria on the grounds of the laboratory 

 for the purpose of extending his remarkable experiments on chrysomelid 

 beetles. Similar facilities also have been extended to Dr. Tower by the 

 Department of Botanical Research, at Tucson, Arizona. 



