February i6, 191 i] 



NATURE 



513 



THE OCEANOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE AT 

 PARIS. 



THE inauguration of the Oceanographical Insti- 

 tute of Paris, which took place on January 23, 

 marks not only the completion of the foundation of 

 the Prince of Monaco's institute in Paris and Monaco, 

 but an era in the history of the science of oceano- 

 graphy. If Britain led the way in initiating the 

 systematic scientific investigation of the sea by the 

 dispatch of the Challenger expedition in 1874 under 

 the leadership of Sir Wyville Thomson, and by the 

 publication of the results of that remarkable expedi- 

 tion under the direction of Sir Wyville Thomson and 

 Sir John Murray, no country or individual has done 

 more to establish oceanography as a science than His 

 Serene Highness the Pnnce of Monaco. 



Mr. J. Y. Buchanan has for so many years been 

 associated witii the Prince of Monaco and his oceano- 

 graphical researches, and one sees as an outcwne of 



FiG. I. — \'icw of the OceanoKraphical Institute at Paris, 



his influence the present methods of the physico- 

 chemical investigations, that are being carried out 

 on board the Princesse Alice, in the museum at 

 Monaco, and the institute in Paris. This valued help 

 and guidance the Prince has recognised, not only 

 conferring on Mr. Buchanan the Order of St. Charles, 

 but also by making him vice-president of the "Comite 

 de Perfectionnement." 



Mr. Buchanan has given an impression of the life- 

 work of the Prince of Monaco, which found expres- 

 sion in the solemnities ^ connected with the inaugura- 

 tion of the Oceanographical Museum of Monaco in 

 April last vear,=' and it is now proposed to add a 

 further impression of the Prince's work on the occa- 

 sion of the inauguration of the Oceanographical 

 Institute of Paris. 



When the Prince commenced to build the museum 

 at Monaco he was determined that the institution 

 should vield the best possible scientific returns. To 



1 Natuhb, April 14, vol. Uwdii., p. 191. 



2 /iid., November ?, vol. Ixzxv., p. 7. 



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VOL. 



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ensure this he has created the Oceanographical Insti- 

 tute of Paris, where courses of instruction to students 

 of the university, and public lectures of a popular 

 character are given. Thus the Oceanographical 

 Institute is composed of (i) the " Institut Oceano- 

 graphique " of Paris, and (2) the " Mus^ Oceano- 

 graphique " of Monaco. The Prince has familiarly 

 described the museum at Monaco as the workshop 

 or factor}-, and the institute at Paris as the retail 

 house. At Monaco is carried on the work of a labora- 

 tory, and an exhibition of products of the sea in an 

 interpretative, scientific, and yet attractive manner. At 

 Paris there are lectures and demonstrations which, it 

 is hoped, will diffuse a taste for oceanography among 

 industrious youths, who would ultimately complete 

 their studies by personal research work at Monaco, 

 and afterwards give their successors at the institute 

 in Paris the fruit of their labours. Thus the two 

 establishments form one institute with an unbroken 

 interchange of w-ork — experimental on the one hand, 

 didactic on the other, all co-or- 

 dinated and concurrent with the 

 same aim— the advancement of 

 oceanographical science. 



The institute, as has already been 

 pointed out, is at the same time 

 French and international. French 

 because its seat is in Paris, with a 

 French " Conseil d'Administra- 

 tion " ; international because the 

 men in whose hands the Prince of 

 Monaco has placed the technical 

 scientific direction are chosen from 

 the whole world, without distinction 

 of nationality, amongst savants who 

 are qualified oceanographers. The 

 Prince himself is president, Mr. 

 J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S., vice-presi- 

 dent, and Sir John Murray, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., and the writer, are, along 

 with Mr. Buchanan, the British 

 representatives. Among others on 

 this "Comite de Perfectionnement" 

 are Dr. Jules Richard, who has so 

 long been the chief of the Prince's 

 scientific staff on board his ships, 

 and who is now- director of the 

 museum at Monaco, which, as Mr. 

 Buchanan has pointed out, owes so 

 much to his " strenuous and un- 

 selfish work"; Dr. Paul Regnard, 

 • administrator of the institute in 

 Paris ; Prof. Dr. K. Chun, of 

 Leipzig; Prof. Hergesell, of Strassburg; M. Forel, 

 of Lausanne; Dr. F. Nansen, Christiania ; Com- 

 mandant F. A. Chaves, director of the meteorological 

 ser\'ice at the Azores, and several others. The late 

 Prof. Agassiz represented the United States on the 

 committee. It will be seen from these few names 

 mentioned how international this committee is. 



Situated in the heart of the Latin quarter, in Rue 

 St. Jacque, the institute is destined to fulfil an im- 

 portant role in the educational life of Paris. The 

 site chosen is the old property- of the " Dames de 

 Saint-Michel," which was acquired in 1906 by the 

 L'niversitA- of Paris with the help of the State, of 

 the cit}" of Paris, and of the Prince of Monaco, and 

 the universit}- has ceded the part occupied by the 

 institute to the Prince of Monaco. 



In selecting M. N^not as architect, the Prince has 

 been able to combine art with science in the erection 

 of the institute at Paris. 



The central feature of the institute is a large 

 lecture theatre, accommodating eight hundred people. 



