84 re:ports of investigations and projects. 



secured will be used in cooperation with Dr. Livingston in a comparative 

 study of the evaporation coefficients in different habitats and different parts 

 of the country. The increased work with poultry made it necessary to pur- 

 chase an additional incubator and four new brooders, thus bringing our total 

 capacity at one time to 2,000 eggs in incubators and about 1,000 chicks in 

 brooders. With this equipment it is possible to rear 3,000 chicks in a season. 

 The new vivaria received each a complete outfit of hose, pots, and imple- 

 ments. At the beginning of the year a telephone was put into the adminis- 

 tration office, connecting it with the outside world. 



MAINTENANCE. 



The residence, stable, and roof of the laboratory were painted, and the 

 grounds and buildings kept in order as usual. Owing to excessive rains in 

 the spring and violent electric storms in the autumn, our underground elec- 

 tric cables supplying light and power have not worked satisfactorily and we 

 have been to some expense for repairs. 



MINOR EVENTS IN THE DEPARTMENT. 



In December, 1906, the meetings of convocation week were participated 

 in by the staff of the Station, and a joint meeting of botanists and zoologists 

 was held to discuss topics in evolution. At the same time a section on experi- 

 mental evolution, under the chairmanship of the Director of this Department, 

 was opened at the exhibition of the New York Academy of Science. 



In February, 1907, most of the resident staff of the Station attended the 

 meeting of the American Breeders' Association at Columbus, Ohio, and took 

 an active part in its proceedings. The Director of this Department was 

 elected secretary of the animal section of the association. 



The Seventh International Zoological Congress held meetings in Boston 

 in August, 1907. For the first time a section of heredity was organized. All 

 but one of the members of the staff read papers in this section. On August 

 28 the Congress visited the Station at Cold Spring Harbor and the biological 

 laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



During the past summer the Station was used by Hofrath Professor Dr. 

 Ludwig von Graf, Director of the Zoological Laboratory, University of Graz, 

 and President-elect of the Eighth International Congress. We also received 

 a visit from Mr. William Bateson, of Cambridge University, England, who 

 gave a series of lectures on heredity at the Biological Laboratory and held 

 conferences with members of the Station staff. 



