150 A FIELD DAY AT ANNISQUAM. , 



ing June and July, owing to the absence of Mr. VanVleck, 

 I have had charge of the laboratory ; but about the first of 

 August he will resume the position he has so acceptably 

 filled in the past. 



The object of the laboratory is to furnish students an 

 opportunity to study animals and plants in the best pos- 

 sible manner. Some of those who come are competent to 

 conduct original investigations and they are left to follow 

 out any line they may choose. The majority, however, 

 come to get a foundation and to fit themselves for teaching. 

 We have nothing to do with species. The common ques- 

 tion asked by students at first is what is the name of this 

 and that form. The name is not the most important thing. 

 What we aim to teach are the structure and development of 

 animals and the methods of study best adapted to produce 

 teachers and investigators. Each student, unless previ- 

 ously qualified, dissects a series of types of the larger forms, 

 such as sea anemones, starfish, clams, lobsters, squid, etc. 

 After this comes a drill in the methods of investigating the 

 embryology of marine forms. You all know that a fish 

 comes from an egg, but have you any idea of the way in 

 which that small, simple object becomes converted into 

 the highly organized cod or cunner ? To trace these steps 

 of development is the province of embryology and to-day 

 the study of embryology is solving some of the most pro- 

 found problems connected with life. 



All our life here is not spent with the scalpel in hand or 

 in gazing through the microscope. We have to collect 

 the specimens we study. Collecting may seem an easy 

 task but, in reality, it is one which requires experience to 

 meet with much success. On the shores and beaches, when 

 the tide is out, we find some forms ; others may be obtained 

 by turning over stones or by digging in the mud. Still 

 others are found below that zone which is laid bare by the 



