62(5 A MAKINE UNIVERSITY. 



address of his cuvight the eye of a New York mercliant, Mr. John 

 Anderson. Our first seaside laboratory was established on the little 

 island of Penikese, off the coast of Massachusetts, and for one mem- 

 orable season a orouj) of men who have since exerted a profound 

 influence upon natural history worked under this inspiring master. 

 All have become leaders, but notal)ly A. Agassiz, Brooks, Jordan, 

 Lyman, Mayer, Morse, Putnam, Whitman, and Wilder. "Study 

 nature, not books" and other mottoes embodying Agassiz's Socratic 

 theor}^ of teaching zoology adorned the walls of this plain pine 

 building, and have fortunately been preserved to perpetuate their 

 influence at Woods Hole. After a second season, following the death 

 of Agassiz in December, 1873, this laboratory, somewhat too isolated, 

 as it proved, was abandoned. All the credit for reviving the work 

 belongs to Boston, especially to a number of ladies, Avho, in financial 

 cooperation with Professor Hj^att and the Boston Societ}' of Natural 

 History, founded a new laboratory at Annisquam, wdiich in 1888 was 

 finally transplanted to Woods Hole. With Prof. C. O. Whitman, 

 one of the distinguished pupils of Agassiz, as its director, and with 

 the Penikese mottoes upon its walls, we may thus consider Woods 

 Hole as the offspring of the Anderson school. Prof. Charles L. 

 Minot, of Harvard, and Mr. Edward G. Gardiner, of Boston, have 

 been active in its support. But the administration has gradually 

 become thoroughly national in character, including representatives of 

 all the larger Eastern and Western universities. 



Almost midway between the island of Marthas A^ineyard and the 

 mainland, and separating Buzzards Ba}^ from Vineyard Sound, is the 

 long chain of the Elizabeth Islands, wdiich are strung out from 

 the southwestern extremity of Cape Cod. W^oods Hole is situated at 

 the apex of this extremity and just at the beginning of the chain. Of 

 all points along the coast this is the best adapted physically for a sea- 

 shore laboratory. About ten years after the abandonment of Penikese, 

 Spencer F. Baird selected this spot after having investigated almost 

 every available point on the Atlantic coast Here he succeeded in 

 establishing the splendid station of the United States Fish Conuuission, 

 with its fleet of vessels and extensive laboratory facilities, designed 

 for the investigation and artificial culture of all cdilJe forms of sea 

 life, and a S3nnpathetic and active factor in the prosecution of pure 

 scientific research. This national station under the administration of 

 Goode, Bumpus, and others has l)een a resourceful and willing ally 

 of the biological laboratory. 



The natural advantages of W^oods Hole deserAc especial emphasis. 

 The waters of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound are cjf exceptional 

 purity. In the immediate vicinity of Woods Hoh^ are luuuerous har- 

 bors and lagoons, with muddy, sandy, or rocky bottoms, while the 

 coast is so broken by ])ays, ])roniontorics. sti'aits. and islands as to 

 afford the most varied enviromnents for marine life. In addition the 



