138 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 7 



Colorado Island has the opposite aim, of enabling man to transport 

 himself into the midst of tropical nature and to live there for any 

 period of time in comfort and safety. 



"Nature lovers as well as scientists can enjoy this unusual experience. 

 My wife was as excited as I was on our morning walks, at the hundred 

 and one novel things she had read about but never seen. We were 

 equally lucky in sighting manmials and birds before they took alarm, 

 while the trees and plants always stood still to be admired. I was 

 struck by the intelligence and alertness of our Panamanian guide 

 Silvestre, and his knowledge of jungle life. 



"In short, I am enthusiastic about Barro Colorado and I will not 

 fail to endeavor to communicate this feeling to my friends." — Dr. L. W. 

 Hackeit, Rockefeller Foimdation. 



"As the result of my recent visit to Barro Colorado Island I feel 

 impelled to write you to express my gratification with what is being 

 accomplished. I remember my pleasure when the isolation of this area 

 by the waters of Gatun Lake was first foreseen, and the decision was 

 made to make it a permanent preserve for native life. Yet I can see 

 now that I had a very inadequate idea of the realities of nature in 

 that area ; and an equally inadequate idea of what might be attempted 

 in the way of scientific observation, experiment, and systematic record. 

 I had, indeed, a general idea of the abundance of life in the jungle, 

 but the scope of your records was a revelation. This means, partly, 

 that the number of species is vastly greater than would be guessed, 

 even by most scientific men. It also means (you must allow me to 

 say this) that the work is being directed with wisdom and pushed with 

 energy. That such records as I saw should be even attempted would 

 seem to indicate the presence of a considerable staff, yet I could not 

 help seeing that it is largely your own work. It is greatly to be 

 hoped that your work will not only be continued, but augmented by 

 further cooperation." — Nevin M. Fenneman. 



"I find it difficult to say anything about my general impi-ession of 

 Barro Colorado that does not sound exaggerated, trite, or exactly like 

 something I have read somewhere else. Perhaps you will know how 

 I feel when I say that I wish (financial considerations aside) that a 

 stay on Barro Colorado could be required of every candidate for the 

 doctor's degree in either botany or zoology. You may be amused to 

 know that about a week after we returned to Cliicago we went to 

 Warren Woods, a beach-maple forest about 70 miles east of Chicago. 

 It was very hot, 96° F., and the mosquitoes were indescribably thick. 

 It was impossible to accomplish much, and we left after about 20 

 minutes. We both agreed then that we would a thousand times rather 

 have the ticks and red bugs of B. C. I. than the mosquitoes of our 

 temperate forests. In fact, when I begin to recount the virtues of that 



