3 BUILDINGS AND BUDGETS 



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59 



William P. Procter 

 standing with his bucket 

 on the marsh of Great 

 Harbor. MBL Archives. 



William Procter at his lab table in Old Main, 1923. 

 Photograph by Alfred F. Huettner, MBL Archives. 



than some older students. Students have an enthusiasm and resilience 

 which has benefitted the MBL throughout its 100 years. 



In the early days of introductory courses, nearly everyone congregated 

 in the central classrooms or around the lamps at night in the laboratory to 

 draw and to record the observations of the day. If it was cold, they lit up 

 bunsen burners to drive off the chill. The shared general laboratory for 

 students made the close collaboration and exchange of ideas almost un- 

 avoidable. The initial wooden building was designed udth lots of windows to 

 let in the light for microscopic work, and was organized around a central 

 site for seawater where organisms resided away from the disturbing 

 sunlight. 



This century has brought photography, photocopying, and round- 

 the-clock lighting to allow microscopic observations at any time of day or 

 night. One no longer has to worry much about exposing the embryos to too 

 much sunlight, which might speed up or artificially alter development. The 

 laboratory designs in the new building reflect the advances, because win- 

 dows no longer have to function as the major source of light for micro- 

 scopic work. But people do continue to make changes, such as adding 

 aluminum foil to create light-controlled environments or air conditioning for 

 midafternoon comfort. 



The buildings now are designed with separate lab spaces for research- 

 ers. People from different parts of the country working on similar but 

 different problems find themselves not shoulder to shoulder or through 

 only an open door from others, but in the next lab. In the earliest years in 



