116 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



and the Director and his Staff — relations direct, generous and 

 altogether satisfactory. 



These then, are some of the serious activities of the Station, 

 its raison d'etre, present and future. But it is impossible to 

 convey in words the joy of life in such a place as this; the won- 

 derful sunrises and the indescribable sunsets, the full moon glow- 

 ing through bamboo filigree, recalling Japan, and the wandering 

 little storms, each with its rainbow or sometimes two; the hard 

 work and the hard play — the evenings of violent scientific argu- 

 ment, others of the reading of poetry, or tales of travel or war; 

 the nights — dreamless and of absolute healthy repose, in prepara- 

 tion for days all too short. 



The only regret, always present, ever more real, is the hope- 

 lessness of understanding more than a fraction of the problems 

 which confront us. Each strange habit or character, song or 

 color is no sooner studied and interpreted, than a hundred others 

 rise to take its place. 



If after all our labors, we can add a single stone to the edifice 

 of human understanding of the great world of Nature about us, 

 if we can bring any of our fellow human beings in the world to 

 a greater appreciation of the beauties and wonders of this splen- 

 did country, I, and the generous gentlemen of the Zoological 

 Society who are making our Laboratory possible, will feel that 

 we have been more than repaid. 



