33° 



NATURE 



[September 15, 1910 



taken more than he can carry out, and whetlier it would 

 not require the libraries and the staff and all the other 

 resources of one or more scientific societies to produce the 

 first, and the united work of the marine laboratories and 

 other investigating organisations round the coast to deal 

 adequately with the second object. 



But even if Mr. Pace falls short of his ideal, he may 

 still produce mucli — both bibliographical and faunistic — 

 that will be of use in marine biology. This is a case 

 where the success will depend entirely upon the proved 

 utility. If Mr. Pace's bibliographical " Contributions," as 

 Ihey are called, give us something substantial that the 

 other ■' Records " do not, we shall all use them and be 

 thankful, and that is probably all Mr. Pace desires. 



In regard to the " exhaustive and continuous systematic 

 biological survey," one cannot but doubt w'hether Mr. 

 Pace quite realises the magnitude of what he has set before 

 him. I have been attempting for some years — with con- 

 siderable support from others — to make a systematic survey 

 (I do not think I ever imagined it would be exhaustive) 

 of one small part of the coast in one little section only of 

 marine zoology — viz. plankton — and I have found that the 

 resources of a university laboratory and a fairly well- 

 equipped biological station, a special steamer with 

 expensive apparatus and a good many assistants, are all 

 required to provide, and to deal with, sufficient data ; and 

 I believe that others, both in this country and elsewhere, 

 have had much the same experience. 



But still Mr. Pace, with a movable biological station of 

 " relatively simple and inexpensive equipment," may do 

 good faunistic work on parts of the coast not at present 

 covered by the existing marine laboratories ; and 1 must 

 dissent from Prof. MacBride's attempt (Nature, p. 253) 

 to discourage such work. Every new biological station 

 becomes a centre of useful work, brings in its contribu- 

 tions to knowledge, interests its local public, obtains sup- 

 port for scientific work, and rears up young naturalists, 

 both professional and amateur. Prof. MacBride rightly 

 alludes to the foundations laid by " the splendid amateurs 

 of the last generation." I agree with him that " a great 

 service to science would be accomplished if we could 

 resuscitate this race"; and I believe that local biological 

 stations are the most hopeful influences working in that 

 direction. 



Nor can one agree with Prof. MacBride in his evident 

 desire to see one marine station at Plymouth monopolising 

 the marine biological investigations of the whole country. 

 Even if such a state of affairs w^ere possible, the single 

 station could not overtake all the functions of the half- 

 dozen — such as Cullercoats, St. .\ndrews, Millport, Port 

 Erin, &c. For example, take the needs of local universi- 

 ties. How could Plymouth be to St. Andrews what the 

 Gatty marine laboratory is, or serve Newcastle as the 

 Cullercoats laboratory does? In Liverpool, again (to take 

 the case I know best), the zoology school has had about 

 twenty senior students each year lately who have required 

 a vacation course of marine biology, and have obtained it 

 at very little expense at Port Erin. These students could 

 not have gone to Plymouth : the distance and the expense 

 are prohibitive. Or take the needs of local sea-fisheries 

 authorities. Could a single marine station anywhere on 

 the south coast serve adequately the Northumberland or 

 the Lancashire districts? 



Prof. MacBride says, " we should therefore regret very 

 much to see another ' station ' started." It reminds one 

 of the opinions expressed some years ago that the number 

 of universities in England should not be increased. 

 Fortunately, such views did not prevail, and the provincial 

 universities of England are justifying their existence. It 

 will be the same with those centres of marine investiga- 

 tion which we call " stations." Each new one properlv 

 established in a suitable locality, and w-isely directed, will 

 have its own functions to perform, and will attract students 

 and supporters — and each, I believe, will receive the sup- 

 port it deserves. I have long thought there ought to be 

 a fine biological station in the Firth of Forth in connec- 

 tion with the great luiivcrsity of Edinburgh : surely there 

 ought to be one on the south-east const within easy reach 

 of London, and possibly South Wales or the Bristol 

 Channel might have another. That viJOuld not be too 

 many for England. There are more than that number in 



NO. 2133, VOL. 84] 



.\merica, although Prof. .MacBride writes as if Wood's 

 Hole alone served the zoological schools of that country as 

 ' he suggests Plymouth should do liere. 



I cannot understand Mr. Pace's contention that the 

 intrusion of the economic motive " must arrest, if it does 

 not entirely hinder, scientific research " — and Prof. 

 MacBride seems to approve the view. Has it done so in 

 the case of the Kiel " Kommission," or of the Inter- 

 national Organisation for the Exploration of the North 

 Sea in the interests of fisheries exploitation ? The reviews 

 in Nature from time to time of the scientific publications 

 of the Scottish Fishery Board and the Irish and other 

 scientific fisheries departments sufficiently show- that 

 scientific research is greatly promoted by these bodies with 

 " economic motives." 



Prof. MacBride does not, of course, intend to mislead 

 us in any way, but the incompleteness of his statement in 

 regard to Wood's Hole may give the erroneous impression, 

 to those who do not know the facts, that there is no 

 economic work carried on at that celebrated centre of 

 fisheries investigation and cod and lobster hatching ! The 

 fact is that there are two well-equipped laboratories work- 

 ing side by side at Wood's Hole — the one for teaching and 

 research, under the direction of Prof. Frank R. Lillie, and 

 the other (and older one) for research and economic work, 

 belonging to the Government Fisheries Bureau, formerly 

 the U.S. Fish Commission. The latter, although domin- 

 ated by the economic motive, has produced much good 

 scientific work ; and Dr. F. B. Sumner's recent faunistic 

 survey of Vineyard Sound and neighbouring waters, issued 

 from that " fisheries " laboratory, is probably very much 

 on the lines of the work advocated by Mr. Pace, which 

 he and (?) Prof. MacBride seem to think would be 

 arrested or hindered by such an environment. For my 

 part, I believe the economic environment to be most stimu- 

 lating to scientific research in marine biology, so long as 

 there is perfect freedom to carry on such research. 



I think Prof. MacBride's final sentence would lead the 

 reader to suppose that there was now only one biological 

 station in Canada. When I left Quebec last October there 

 were three ! It is a rapidly advancing country : there may 

 be more now. W. A. Herdman. 



Port Erin Biological Station, .August 28. 



I THINK that Prof. Herdman in his letter in which he 

 criticises a recent article of mine in this journal has mis- 

 understood uty meaning in one or two points. Nothing 

 could be further from my wishes than to see one station 

 monopolising all the biological work of the country. I 

 quite agree with him that biological science would be 

 betirer served by a multiplicity of stations, provided that 

 these were adeqiialcly equipped with funds and with 

 workers. .\\\ I cisntended was that in the present state of 

 affairs in Great Britain it would be better to concentrate 

 scientific support on one station which, so far as build- 

 ings and appliances are concerned, is adequately equipped, 

 than to have it spread over a number of stations poorly 

 provided wnth funds and with staff, and, ipso facto, in- 

 capable of affording opportunities of really first-class work. 

 Prof. Herdman thinks that each new station will attract 

 local support and enlarge the number of the devotees of 

 marine zoology. I sincerely trust that he is right; but 

 my experience has been that a poorly equipped station 

 comes to be regarded by the local friends of education as 

 an expensive toy, which they soon tire of supporting. Mr. 

 Pace's appeal w-as primarily to the professional zoologists, 

 and as the support of these is at present not sufficient to 

 keep one station in proper financial health, I did not see 

 how they could be expected to support two. 



Prof. Herdman is mistaken in supposing that I agree 

 with Mr. Pace that economic work necessarily " arrests, 

 if it does not hinder, scientific research"; but I am sure 

 he will agree that a station the sole aim of which w.is 

 scientific would be the ideal one, and I must point out that 

 his accusation of " incompleteness " in my statement that 

 Wood's Hole w-as such a station is entirely unjustified. It 

 is true, as Prof. Herdman says, that there are two stations 

 in Wood's Hole, one supported by the Federal Government 

 and devoted entirely to economic work, and the other 

 sunoorfd entirely bv zoologists ; but the station which has 

 attained world-wide fame, owing to the quantity and 



