1915] Michael, ct al. : Hydrographic Records of Scripps Institution 5 



PART I 

 DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS AND METHODS OP WORK 



A. Events Leading to the Present Locations and Methods 

 OF Work 



1. BRIEF HISTORICAL RESUME 



Tlie ideas out of which the Seripps Institution grew had their 

 origin in 1891, when the present scientific director of the Station was 

 called to the newly inaugurated sub-department of biology in the 

 University of California. It was at once noted that, while all the 

 fields of zoology of western America had been but imperfectly culti- 

 vated, the least studied of all was the teeming life of the great ocean 

 on whose margin the University is located. It thus came about that 

 most of the investigations carried on by the Department of Zoology 

 from that day to this have pertained to the life of the Pacific Ocean. 

 As a large amount of work in systematic zoology would have to be 

 done at the outset, efforts were made, especially during the summei-s. 

 to gain a first-hand knowledge of the fauna and their habitat. Thus, 

 in the spring of 1S92. a structure, partly of wood and partly of canvas, 

 constructed with a view to being taken to pieaes and moved about, was 

 built for use as a seaside laboratory at Pacific Grove. This summer's 

 work, supplemented by numerous collecting trips to various points on 

 the coast both south and north of the Golden Gate, created a desire to 

 see more of the southern coast. Accordingly in 1893' the laboratory 

 was re-erected on the beach at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island. 



From 1S9-4 to 1901 no organized seaside laboratory work was 

 undertaken, but numerous collecting and observational excursions 

 were made from time to time, covering the coast from San Diego on 

 the south to Alaska on the north. The outcome of this extensive re- 

 connoitering was the firm conviction shared by all that San Pedro 

 Bay was particularly favorable for almost any sort of marine bio- 

 logical activity. 



Without entering further into details (see Ritter, 1912). suffice it 

 to sav that the vear 1901 marks the time when the first organized work 



