repairs was allocated. It was sufficient to repair the roof, replace 

 broken windows, and do other minor jobs. The seawall and wharf 

 remained badly damaged. 



In the summer season of 1940, two interesting projects were 

 carried out at the Laboratory. Arthur Shlaifer of the New York 

 Aquarium studied the social and respiratory behavior of young 

 tarpon, and P. F. Scholander of the University of Oslo, Norway, 

 jointly with L. Irving and S. W. Grinell conducted research on 

 the respiratory adjustment to diving and asphyxia in harbor seals 

 (Scholander, Irving, and Grinell, 1942). Half of the hatchery floor 

 was set aside for bulky equipment, which included respirometers, 

 electrocardiograph, and instruments for the automatic recording 

 of pulse and respiration rates in seals. The animals were strap- 

 ped to a special holder and were kept in air first, then they were 

 automatically submerged into water. From 10 to 16 seals were 

 kept in a fenced enclosure along the beach and boat slip. The ex- 

 periments provided valuable information for understanding the 

 physiology of diving, but the problem of maintaining and feeding a 

 large number of seals presented many unexpected headaches to 

 the Station personnel. 



In the summer of 1941 the study on the deposition rate of 

 shell material in oysters was undertaken by Galtsoff and Dorothy 

 H. Algire. At the invitation of the Bureau, Chester I. Bliss con- 

 ducted a seminar on statistical methods in biology and worked on 

 the problem of standardization of toxicity experiments. 



Shortly after the beginning of hostilities in December 1941, 

 the Station was closed and the buildings were occupied by the U.S. 

 Navy until the spring of 1944. The library, large stock of labora- 

 tory equipment, and chemicals were transferred for storage to the 

 basement of the MBL. During the ensuing years shellfishery re- 

 search, mostly dealing with the study of life history of the mud 

 worm, Polydora ligni , and with physiology of the feeding of oysters, 

 was conducted by Galtsoff and Edith Morrison in a laboratory room 

 rented in the main building of the MBL. 



During the war years Woods Hole presented an unfamiliar 

 picture. The Fisheries grounds and the adjacent buildings of the 

 MBL were surrounded by high fence, and became inaccessible to 

 civilians. The gay crowd that used to assemble near the aquarium 

 and around the seal pool was no longer there. Less than half of the 

 MBL laboratory rooms were occupied. Bright -looking pleasure 

 boats were gone, and very few fishing vessels were seen in the 

 harbor. Even the New Bedford-Nantucket steamer lost its smart 

 appearance under a coat of gray paint. At night everything was 

 pitch dark and the streets were deserted. 



87 



