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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE LABORATORIES 
Dr. N. L. Brirron, Drrector-1n-CuHIEF. 
Sir; I have the honor to submit the following report for 
the year 1912. 
The Laboratories 
Some minor changes have been made in the laboratories 
during the past year. Two working desks have been added, 
making at present eight desks for student use. A specially 
constructed seed cabinet has been placed in the laboratory 
to provide for the proper storing of the seed used in the in- 
vestigations in genetics. It is planned to provide early in 
the coming year several high power objectives for the micro- 
scopes now in stock, thereby meeting the needs of the im- 
mediate future in this respect. 
Meteorological Records 
Records of the amount of precipitation and of the air 
and soil temperatures have been taken throughout the year, 
and monthly summaries of these have been furnished for 
publication in the Garden JoURNAL. 
Conference Meetings 
A monthly conference of the scientific staff and registered 
students of the Garden has been held, except during the 
summer months. As secretary of this conference I have 
planned the programs, sent notices of each conference to 
members of the botanical staff at Columbia University and 
Barnard College, and of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and 
prepared abstracts of the topics presented for publication 
in the Garden JouRNAL. 
Personal Investigations 
The general plan for my personal investigations as out- 
lined in my report one year ago, has been quite closely 
followed. During the winter months certain phases of 
the cytological studies of Carex aquatilis were completed 
and prepared for publication. There remains, however, 
