BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 329 
vation to be preserved for all time for students of the Tropics. Dr. 
Thomas Barbour, who is greatly interested in all research which per- 
tains to the Tropics, encouraged the idea. It was through their 
untiring efforts, with the aid of fellow scientists, that the island was 
set aside as a reservation on April 17, 1928, by the Governor of the 
Canal Zone and that a laboratory has been built and maintained. 
The island has been assigned for scientific purposes to the Institute 
for Research in Tropical America, which was organized in 1922 
under the auspices of the National Research Council, to promote 
research in the Tropics. The laboratory is supported in part by 
various scientific and educational institutions under the research 
table plan, which means that the institution, by maintaining a table, 
can nominate research men to hold it. At present the laboratory is 
under the direct charge of Mr. James Zetek, who serves as custodian 
and with his assistant, Mr. Ignacio Molino, is devoting much time and 
energy toward the development of this important station. 
The following excerpt illustrates how the station is appreciated 
by visiting scientists. It is taken from a letter written August 4, 
1926, to Mr. Zetek by Dr. David Fairchild, agricultural explorer in 
charge, United States Department of Agriculture, after his return 
from an extensive exploration : 
I have not seen any place in my travels which compares with Barro Colorado 
Island in point of excitement of the field naturalist kind. In Java and 
Sumatra the Dutch have built palatial laboratories, but these are far removed 
from the fresh, new jungle. In Ceylon the British have an agglomeration of > 
buildings like the Department of Agriculture, but it is surrounded on all sides 
with tea plantations. Everywhere it is the destructive activity of man that 
is clearing off the jungle and replacing the gorgeous forest with weedy growth 
or plantations of rubber trees. Hold the virgin character of Barro Colorado at 
all costs. 
Dr. Frank Chapman, curator of the Department of Birds of the 
American Museum, New York City, writes as follows: 
Some 400 species of birds have been recorded from the Canal Zone, and the 
greater part of these occur on or near Barro Colorado. The island’s chief 
distinction as a station for bird study, however, is the facilities it affords the 
bird student and the assurance it gives him of making long-continued observa- 
tions under the undisturbed conditions of insular isolation. In no other place 
have I seen these conditions approached. 
Doctor Chapman has selected Barro Colorado as the scene and 
source of materials for his new museum group to represent the bird 
life of the American Tropics. 
There are many features of the Canal Zone which are destined to 
make Barro Colorado one of the most important and popular bio- 
logical stations in the Tropics. First of all is its accessibility, for 
it may be readily reached by steamers from all parts of the world. 
Steamer service with the United States is frequent and rapid. One 
