136 FOUNDERS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



undertaking. He fostered and directed it continuously for 

 over thirty years : the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 

 foundation was celebrated on April 14, 1897, by a remark- 

 able memorial in which all the leading biologists of the 

 world were united. 



The international character of the institution is a most 

 interesting and important feature. Situated in the south of 

 Italy, founded and directed by a German, subsidized (in an 

 excellent manner described below) by most European govern- 

 ments, including even those of Switzerland, Hungary, Hol- 

 land, Belgium and Spain, the members of the staff and the 

 naturalists at work in the institution may be of any nation 

 and usually are of many ; and at any hour of the day at least 

 the four languages, French, German, EngUsh and Itahan, 

 may be heard among the busy groups in the laboratory and 

 the library. I am describing it as it was before the war. 

 It is now, no doubt, changed to some extent. On the out- 

 break of war it was taken over by the Itahan Government 

 and put in the control of a Commission of three Itahan 

 professors. Its future is still somewhat uncertain. 



But the Naples Zoological Station is not wholly for the 

 scientific man — in fact, many sight-seeing visitors to Naples 

 do not know that science has anything to do with it. The 

 more pubUc department of the institution, the celebrated 

 " Acquario," is one of the sights of Naples, and is well known 

 to and highly appreciated by the more inteUigent of the tour- 

 ists you meet at the hotels. The whole institution is usually 

 known to the English-speaking tourist as " The Aquarium," 

 and few, even of those who visit and enjoy it, seem to know 

 or wonder anything about the remainder of the great white 

 edifice into the ground floor alone of which they are allowed 

 to penetrate. 



The zoological station of Naples in its present condition 

 (it was once smaller, and wiU probably some day be larger) 

 consists of three great white flat-topped buildings of impos- 

 ing appearance, connected by a central yard and large iron 



