August 4, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



135 



his discovery of the "Atlantic Palolo" and his 

 study on the Partulas of Tahiti. 



In 1900 Mayor entered on a new phase of 

 work. He was appointed curator of natural 

 science at the new Brooklyn Museum and, in 

 1904, curator-in-chief. Here he devoted him- 

 self to arranging the rapidly increasing col- 

 lections; and he also continued his studies on 

 Lepidoptera and Medusae. But museum work 

 was too static for this experimental naturalist. 

 He agitated the establishment of a marine 

 laboratory at the Tortugas (Science, January 

 30, 1903) and found the American biologists 

 strongly favored the plan. So it was natural 

 that when the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington was casting about for the best projects 

 to support it should adopt this and its prin- 

 cipal sponsor, Dr. Mayor. In 1905 he pub- 

 lished a book, "Sea Shore Life," of which he 

 unselfishly turned the copyright over to the 

 New York Zoological Society ; just as he turned 

 over the problem of the Partulas of Tahiti to 

 Dr. H. E. Crampton; and just as he gen- 

 erously gave unsparingly of his time and ideas 

 to others. 



And now began a new era in Mayor's life. 

 He erected in July, 1904, laboratory buildings 

 at Loggerhead Key, Florida, and sailed thence 

 from Maine to the Tortugas in the new 57-foot 

 auxiliary ketch, the Pliyaalia. Besides pro- 

 viding for the physical care and scientific needs 

 of the zoologists that gathered at the labora- 

 tory, Mayor plunged into scientific work. In 

 it he combined his special knowledge of jelly 

 fishes with his fondness for physical and chem- 

 ical experimentation and showed that rhyth- 

 mical pulsation may be initiated and maintained 

 independently of the nervous system. During 

 the following seasons he made fundamental 

 studies on the effect of different ions. Thus 

 Mg is stupefying ahd the NaCl, K and Ca and 

 sea water resist its stupefying eft'ect; many 

 ions have the opposite effect on muscles from 

 that on cilia. 



In 1909 the series of "Papers from the Tor- 

 tugas Laboratory" began to appear, of which 

 15 large volumes have been published. It took 

 a lot of pertinacious endeavor and much tact 

 on the part of the director to secure a prompt 

 publication of results. 



In 1913-14 Mayor made an expedition to 

 Thursday Islands and Murray Islands in 

 Torres Straits, where studies were made on 

 coral reefs, and where he found clear evidence of 

 solution of limestone on the reefs. A summary 

 of the first ten years of work of his depart- 

 ment is given in Mayor's report in the Year- 

 book of the Institution for 1914. 



Already it had begun to appear that the 

 Tortugas must be abandoned as the permanent 

 site of the laboratory, on account of its de- 

 structive hurricanes and its isolation; so Mayor 

 visited numerous other islands to find a better 

 site; also more studies were undertaken in the 

 Pacific Ocean on coral reefs, especially at 

 American Sam6a. Later studies were made 

 here upon the theory of coral reef building. 



The war seriously interfered with Mayor's 

 scientific work for a year or two — when he 

 was giving much time to instructing naval re- 

 cruits in navigation. Returning to Samoa in 

 1919 he demonstrated that the present living 

 coral reefs are not superimposed upon ancient 

 reefs but have simply grown outward from 

 the shore slopes since post-glacial times. Mayor 

 made observations and photographs of corals 

 down to 8.5 fathoms by the use of a diving 

 hood, and it was probably in connection with 

 this trying experience that his resistance was 

 weakened and that illness was started which 

 resulted in his death. 



Mayor's scientific influence is not confined 

 to his personal researches; to his activity must 

 be largely ascribed the results of Vaughan's 

 studies on growth of corals, of Bartsch's on 

 hybridization in Cerion, of Drew's on the origin 

 of limestone deposits through bacterial action, 

 of Harvey's on phosphorescent light ; and many 

 other researches. The hope may 'be expressed 

 that since the department which Mayor found- 

 ed has so amply justified itself the man and 

 means will be found to continue it. 



Chas. B. Davenport 



A SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION TO THE 



ISLANDS OFF THE WEST COAST 



OF LOWER CALIFORNIA 



The most important expedition sent out by 

 the California Academy of Sciences this year 

 has sailed from San Diego for a two months' 



