Journal of Applied Microscopy. . 359 



has undertaken the task that the microscope is necessary in many ways, not only 

 on account of the minute forms, but on account of the material that can and must 

 be collected and preserved. 



The smaller forms may be brought into the laboratory during the summer and 

 fall months, and kept in a growing state or in preservative, and used during the 

 months when outdoor work is impossible and outdoor material is not available. 

 In fact, I do not see how even a half year can be profitably spent in botany 

 (especially in the northern parts of the country) without the free use of the micro- 

 scope and laboratory methods. 



Formerly the high price of microscopes and the difficulty of importing them 

 were serious drawbacks to their general use. Happily this is no longer the case. 

 We make several first-class microscopes in this country, especially adapted to the 

 needs of high schools, and at very reasonable or even low prices. In fact, micro- 

 scopes are cheaper than text-books, and tables cheaper than school desks. 



The microscopes in my laboratory have been in almost constant use for six 

 years, and are as good as new, and it is safe to estimate that they will last four 

 or five times as long as they have been in use. They are each used daily by 

 from four to six students. The cost of text-books for the same number of 

 students for the estimated time that the microscopes will last, will aggregate more 

 than the cost of the microscopes. While we may thus compare the cost of 

 equipments, no comparison between the value of the results of the laboratory 

 and text-book methods can be made. 



There are but two places to study science — the field and the laboratory ; 

 and a cardinal principle is, to permit nothing to come between the student and 

 nature. Whatever does this, whether text-book, chart, or teacher, is a hindrance. 

 In a course of botany or zoology, the laboratory work forms the root of the course, 

 the text-book and lecture the leaves. 



A properly equipped laboratory is becoming more and more a necessity. As 

 specially trained and competent teachers are sent out by our colleges and uni- 

 versities, the work in structure and classification is not only delegated to, but 

 demanded of the high schools, as preparatory to the more advanced work of 

 physiology and morphology — the basis of the college course. In addition 

 to this demand, some of the states make appropriations of stated amounts to high 

 schools, or pay for a per cent, of apparatus purchased. It is to be hoped that 

 more states will give like encouragement to their high schools, and that we in the 

 states that have given this encouragement will show our appreciation of the 

 facilities afforded us, and endeavor to effect a marked advancement in thorough- 

 ness and excellence of the work done. A. J. Woolman. ' 



Dr. Hugh M. Smith announces that on June 1st, a new marine biological 

 laboratory, equipped for investigators, will be opened at Beaufort, N. C, by 

 the U. S. Fish Commission. The laboratory will be under the direction of Dr. 

 H. V. Wilson, professor of biology at the University of North Carolina. The 

 Fish-Hawk will have its headquarters at Beaufort in the early fall, during a 

 biological and topographical survey of the oyster grounds of the state. 



