APPENDIX 10 

 Report on the Canal Zone Biological Area 



Sir : It gives mc pleasure to present herewith the annual report on 

 the Canal Zone Biological Area for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1951. 



IMPROVEMENTS 



A contract was awarded for the construction of a new 2-story build- 

 ing to provide much-needed space for laboratory expansion. Two of 

 the eight rooms on the ground floor will be used for photographic 

 work ; another will be a general dry room provided with heaters ; and 

 the others will be for laboratory work, toilets, and showers. The eight 

 upper-floor rooms will house the library, herbarium, card-index rec- 

 ords, laboratory glassware, microscopes, incubators, chemicals, and 

 other scientific apparatus. With each room a unit by itself, it will be 

 easier to control humidity and temperature, and most of the rooms 

 will have dehumidifiers. The roof, an inverted-V type, will be of alu- 

 minum and will have gutters to collect the rain water and direct its 

 flow into a large concrete water-storage tank, to be constructed. This 

 reservoir is urgently needed because the other large one, of creosoted 

 timber, is badly deteriorated. 



During the year the new addition to the building for deterioration 

 and corrosion tests, started last year, was completed, and the interior 

 was remodeled. The building for the resident manager and the fore- 

 man's former building (now a dormitory) were thoroughly bat- 

 proofed. 



All the trails were inspected to determine their general condition 

 and to note any markers that might be missing. Four students from 

 Cristobal — Larry Cox, Andrew Bleakley, Jr., John Delaney, and Don 

 Smith, Jr. — were recommended for this task by Scout Master Richard 

 D. Cox, and to them was entrusted this important job, which they did 

 extremely well. In addition, they kept a record of the animals they 

 saw. A number of markers and posts will have to be replaced, but 

 on the whole the trails are in excellent condition. 



CONDITION OF BUILDINGS 



The main laboratory building remains in satisfactory condition, but 

 eventually should be converted into one with less fire hazard. The 

 134 



