No. 19. [From Nature, November 3, 1910, Vol. Lxxxv.pp. 7 n.] 



THE OCEANOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM AT 

 MONACO 1 



IN the history of the development of the study of the sea 

 all the sciences find an application, and all were worthily 

 represented at the inauguration of the Oceanographical Museum 

 of Monaco on March 29 of this year. The ceremonies and 

 festivities incident to the occasion have already been chronicled 

 in the columns of Nature (April 14, vol. LXXXIII. p. 191). It 

 is proposed here to give an impression of the life-work of the 

 Prince of Monaco, which found expression in the solemnities of 

 that occasion. The accompanying illustrations afford an idea 

 of the magnificence of the building and of the richness of the 

 collections. Fig. i gives a view of the museum from the sea. 

 The scale on which it is built can be judged from the fact that 

 the height of the roof above the lowest masonry is 75 metres. 

 Fig. 2 is the statue of the Prince standing on the bridge of his 

 yacht. It is an artistic work, and a good portrait. It gives 

 fine expression to the modesty as well as to the power of the 

 creator of the great monument in the centre of which it 

 stands. 



The museum and the vessels attached to it, with their 

 staffs and general organisation, are only one-half of the great 

 enterprise which is entitled, "Institut Oc6anographique Fon- 

 dation Albert I er Prince de Monaco." Its seat is in Paris, where 

 is possesses its own buildings and a rich endowment, both of 

 them the gift of the Prince. It has professors of physical and 

 biological oceanography and of the physiology of marine 

 animals, and the lectures delivered during last year had the 

 most numerous attendance of any in Paris. During the life 

 of the Prince he exercises supreme authority. Both in Paris 



1 Note by the Editor of Nature : For the illustrations of this article we 

 are indebted to the courtesy of the proprietor of the Naturwissenschaftliche 

 Wochenschrift. They are reproduced from photographs by Prof. Dofflein of 

 Munich, and illustrate an article by him in that periodical. 



