178 JL 100 YEARS EXPLORING LIFE, 1888-1988 



rooms upstairs, while the public passed through the open aquarium down- 

 stairs, paying their admission fees to support the cause of science above. 

 The Naples station did not teach courses or bring the extended coterie of 

 assistants and graduate students that very quickly became a vital part of the 

 MBL. The MBL offered a model (though not always a perfectly successful 

 model) for integrating instructional and research purposes, and other 

 stations have followed. Within the century, the coastal states and most 

 countries of the world that touch on a seacoast, as well as many that do not, 

 have built their own marine stations. Often they have followed the MBL 

 model, seeking to foster that spirit of free interchange and cross-fertilization 

 among students, teachers, and independent researchers. Others have pur- 

 posefully diverged in whatever ways to develop some other goal. 



As these many stations have grown, they have often appealed to the 

 mature and experienced MBL for advice: how does one get the seawater 

 system to work without corroding all the metal fixtures or polluting the 

 environment with toxic metals, for example? How does one procure large 

 numbers of specimens without overfishing the local waters? How does one 

 combine the various desirable functions of a marine laboratory at reason- 

 able costs to the participants, without going too heavily into debt? Some labs 

 have had wonderftil benefactors who have given them more solid and 

 long-term financial security than the MBL has so far achieved. Many are run 

 by a single institution such as the excellent Friday Harbor Laboratory at the 

 University of Washington, or the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the 

 University of California at San Diego. The MBL has resolved time and again 

 to remain independent, as a truly national and even international facility, but 

 at great cost at times. Only a solid endowment will ensure the successful 

 continuation into the second century of the myriad quality programs and of 

 the free atmosphere of open discourse. The MBL must learn from others 

 how^ to pursue such a goal. 



In Woods Hole, the MBL also has a vital host of friends and neighbors. 

 Many of the wealthy land owners, beginning with the influential and gen- 

 erous Fay family, have given money, land, and advice at critical junctures. 

 Charles R. Crane followed, then Carnegie, Rockefeller, and more recently 

 the Grass, John D. and Catlierine T. MacAi-tliur, and Andrew W. Mellon 

 foundations, along with many other donors to make the laboratory's 

 continued growth and improvement possible. Individuals from Penzance 

 Point, the Cape, and elsewhere have generously donated time and money 

 to the MBL's well-being. This support is essential, but probably not suffi- 

 cient without a solid permanent financial base. Even the crucial substantial 

 grants for many researchers ft-om the NIH and NSF cannot cover all tlie 

 ever-increasing expenses for sophisticated world-class science. 



Equally important for the MBL's well-being ai'e the local families who 

 have contributed indispensable employees. Some have begun as maids or 



