1 82 



NATURE 



[August io, 191 1 



SOME SCIENTIFIC CENTRES. 



So. XVI.— Prof. Weismann's Zoological Institute 

 at Friciburg-i.m-Bueiscau. 



MOST students ol zoolog) arrive at some period 

 or other of their Wanderjahre at Freiburg, 

 that quaint and beautiful old town on the edge of the 

 Black Forest. To some the chief interest will lie in 

 the Miinster, in the university buildings, old and new, 

 and in the numerous statues and fountains that are 

 scattered through the town ; yet the majority of the 

 students will not consider the visit satisfactorily ended 

 if they omit to call at that institute in Katherinen- 

 strasse, which Prof. August Weis- 

 mann has made famous. 



The institute itself stands in a 

 small garden close beside the Chemi- 

 cal and Physiological Institutes, and 

 is built in the shape of an L, 

 with the laboratory windows facing 

 north. It stands gable on to the 

 street, and its exterior presents nc 

 striking features, so that by anyone 

 going there for the first time it 

 could easily be passed unnoticed, as 

 it was by the writer on his first visit. 

 The interior, however, presents quite 

 a different appearance : everything 

 necessarv for research is there, and 

 the work-benches are splendidly 

 equipped with gas and water and 

 the necessary electric plugs and 

 switches. 



In addition to the senior and 

 junior laboratories, rooms are set 

 aside for the students at different 

 stages in their course. There are 

 special rooms for diagrams, appa- 

 ratus, &C, and in the basement a 

 large tank room. The lecture 

 theatre, from which a small tram- 

 way runs to the museum, is large, 

 has plenty of wall space for dia- 

 grams, and is fitted with a large 

 Zeiss epidiascope. Finally, there is a 

 fine suite of rooms for the members 

 of the staff, a large and representative 

 museum, and an extensive library, 

 and, further, through the kindaess 

 of Prof. Weismann, his private 

 library is placed at the disposal of 

 those engaged in research. 



A typical day's work may be of 

 more interest than a mere detailed 

 description of the buildings. In 

 summer by 8 a.m., and in winter by 

 9 a.m., the senior students are at 

 work. The morning's work usually 

 starts with a short discussion, it 

 may be on some points that have 

 arisen in someone's "Arbeit," but very often the dis- 

 cussions are on any subject under the sun but zoology. 

 As a rule this discussion soon finishes, and each 

 student seats himself at his bench to collect the knotty 

 points in his research for the professor's consideration, 

 or to get some passage in a book or journal ready to 

 lay before the professor as soon as he appears in order 

 t'i get his own interpretation confirmed or utterly 

 quashed. 



Sometimes the morning's discussion is disturbed 

 when near its height by the whisper, " Der Chef," 

 which is always followed by a general and hurried 

 scamper to get ready for the morning's visit. This 

 whisper of "Der Chel " has been used e>n more than 

 NO. 2l8o, VOL. 87] 



one occasion as a means of getting out of a tight 

 place in an argument. 



Prof. Weismann begins his day by visiting each 

 student, going over the interesting points in his work, 

 comparing them with other results, or by a series 

 of questions getting the student on to the right track. 

 During the remainder of the day the laboratories are 

 in charge of the senior assistant, and students may 

 either spend all their time there, or attend one or more 

 of the courses of lectures delivered at the institute, 

 either by Prof. Weismann on some general subject, 

 or by one or other of the assistants on some special 

 subject. 



Prof. August Wei 



n his Study. 



On one afternoon weekly there is the seminar, 

 which is attended by the professors, the other mem- 

 bers of the Staff, and the senior students. Some time 

 previously recent books or articles from the scientific 

 journals are distributed to the students and members 

 ol the staff, and at the seminar each student must 

 criticise the book or paper given to him. As soon as 

 the criticism is finished, the other students and the 

 members of the staff give their opinions, and then 

 Prof. Weismann sums up the discussion. The work 

 in the seminar is not restricted to recent literature, 

 nor to works published in Herman. Frequently a 

 student is requested to give a review of the present 

 State of knowledge in some biological problem, or to 



