192 



NATURE 



[April 14, 1910 



days ; they were planned on a scale of magnificence 

 rarely attempted, and drew upon the resources of 

 art in a manner which we believe has never been 

 paralleled. It would almost appear as if the design 

 were to show that science, no less than pleasure, was 

 a fitting theme for the exercise of art as exemplified 

 in painting, poetry, and music ; and that, in any case, 

 the dedication of a great international scientific institu- 

 tion, provided by the princely munificence of an indi- 

 vidual, was no everyday matter, to be passed by 

 unnoticed save by the specialists immediately con- 

 cerned. 



The inauguration was an arresting function, which 

 could not fail to impress the most regardless pleasure- 

 seeker in the gayest haunt of the C6te d'Azur with 

 the thought that science, even in, perhaps, its least 

 known department, was a thing of high import- 

 ance. To us the fact that " someone had blundered " 

 and no admiral of the British Fleet was there to 

 join the high German, French, and Italian officers 

 in offering a tribute to the scientific study of the 

 sea was a cause of humiliation. It is little short 

 of a disgrace that the country in which modern 

 oceanography was created, and the navy the 

 Challenger of which revealed the wonders of the 

 ocean as a whole, were brought to the attention of 

 the gathering only by the Prince's generous recogni- 

 tion in his inaugural address of British preeminence in 

 oceanographical research, and in the name of the 

 ship engraved on the facade of the new building. 

 We know, of course, that the breach of international 

 good manners was due to no intention on the part of 

 the King or of the Prime Minister to inflict a slight 

 upon a noble enterprise, but the effect was none the 

 less deplorable, and on behalf of the British scientific 

 public we desire to give expression to this feeling in 

 the most emphatic way. The official representation 

 of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 

 the Royal Geographical Society, and the Challenger 

 Society showed at least the good will and apprecia- 

 tion of British men of science. 



It seems more appropriate to occupy this article 

 with a short description of the museum itself than 

 with details of the formal speeches at the ceremonial 

 inauguration, the performance at the opera, the 

 pageant in the harbour symbolising the landing of 

 Hercules, mythical founder of Monaco, in a blaze of 

 fireworks, and the concluding reception by the Prince in 

 the Palace. One evening was devoted to a series of 

 lantern demonstrations, by Lieutenant Bourree, which 

 proved of extraordinary interest on account of the 

 kinematograph representation of the routine of work 

 on the Princesse Alice in handling the various oceano- 

 graphical instruments and appliances at sea. 



The Prince of Monaco has devoted an increasing 

 amount of time to deep-sea investigation since he 

 commenced his observations on the Gulf Stream in 

 the sailing-yacht Hirondelle in 1885, and, as a result 

 of his work in that vessel, in^ the auxiliary steam- 

 yacht Princesse Alice, and in his present splendid 

 vessel Princesse Alice 11. , he had accumulated, by 

 1898, so large a collection of natural-history specimens 

 that he resolved to build a museum in which to house 

 them. On April 25, 1899, the foundation-stone vt'as 

 laid on the southern face of the. cliff which bounds the 

 peninsula of Monaco, and the great building designed 

 by INI. Delefortrie has now been completed and 

 equipped, and was formally inaugurated on March 28 

 this year. The first object has been greatly enlarged, 

 and the Oceanographical Museum as it is established 

 to-day contains more than the nucleus of a collection 

 gathered from all investigators of all the oceans illus- 

 trative of the whole science of oceanography. On 

 the face of the cliff the foundations of the museum 

 XO. 21 1 1, VOL. 83] 



are almost at the level of the sea. Two storeys are 

 built facing the sea, with the rock as their rear wall, 

 and the third storey is on the level of the rock form- 

 ing the ground-floor of the main frontage, which 

 faces north. The material is the extremely fine- 

 grained white limestone of the La Turbie quarries, on 

 the mountains behind Monaco. 



The ground plan of the principal floor includes a 

 central hall twenty metres square, with a wing on 

 each side forty metres long by fifteen wide, the whole 

 frontage being a hundred metres. The decoration of 

 the front of the building includes representations in 

 relief of deep-sea invertebrates and fish, and the whole 

 is crowned by the Prince's arms and a gigantic alba- 

 tross and sea-eagle. The names of the Challenger, 

 Talisman, Valdivia, Hirondelle, Princesse Alice, and 

 other ships which have become famous in the annals 

 of oceanography are boldly carved along the front. 

 Two great groups of symboIiCi/iSt^ituary flanking the 

 immense window of the landing on the upper floor 

 represent Truth unveiling the forces of the world to 

 science, and Progress coming to the rescue of 

 humanity. The roof of the central part of the build- 

 ing, eighty-seven metres above the sea, forms a 

 meteorological observatory, and the main roof, five 

 metres lower, forms an immense terrace, measuring 

 a hundred metres by fifteen metres. The entrance- 

 hall, floored with mosaics representing the Princesse 

 Alice at sea surrounded by trophies of deep-sea fish, 

 contains the two great stone staircases leading to the 

 upper floor, and unobtrusive doors leading to the 

 stairs by which the director's room, library, labora- 

 tories, workshops, and aquarium on the lower floors 

 are reached. It opens into a large square hall, lighted 

 at night by an immense pendant representing a 

 medusa, the lights in which are so disposed as to 

 bring out the anatomy with extraordinary distinct- 

 ness. Four smaller lights are encased in models of 

 radiolarians very exactly reproduced. 



A marble statue of the Prince in yachting costume, 

 leaning on the rail of his yacht, occupies the centre 

 of the hall; this remarkably fine portrait, executed by 

 M. D. Puech, was presented by a number of the 

 sovereigns of Europe and other admirers of the Prince. 

 Great doors to right and left open into the two wings 

 of the building, each forming a lofty hall, lighted 

 by windows along each side, which may be shaded or 

 darkened as required. The western hall is at present 

 fitted as a meeting-room for functions, and here the 

 ceremony of inauguration and the banquet took place. 

 The platform at the west end is surmounted by an 

 immense . painting showing the slaty-blue ocean 

 heaved into a long swell, with the white form of the 

 Princesse Alice in the background. Electric lights in 

 clusters, representing seaweeds and marine animals, 

 hang from the roof, and the ceiling is frescoed with 

 views of the sea and ships. 



The eastern hall is occupied by a collection of 

 oceanographical apparatus and specimens of marine 

 zoology, arranged in a provisional way. The collec- 

 tion includes several whale skeletons, Arctic and Ant-_ 

 arctic sealsj models of fish, and a vast number of 

 specimens in preservatives. The labels are written in 

 French, English, and German, and give sufficient de 

 tails of the exhibits to enable a visitor to appreciate 

 the remarkable character of many of the specimens. 



On the upper floor, the central hall contains models- 

 of the Princesse Alice I. and the Princesse Alice II., 

 showing the arrangements for sounding and for work-i 

 ing the zoological apparatus. There is a whale-boat'^ 

 exactlv as used by the modern whaler, with the gun 

 throwing the explosive harpoon at the bow, and the 

 full equipment of harpoons, lines, and lances. The 

 eastern hall on this floor will ultimately be devoted 



