October 11, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



457 



done and which perhaps one is no longer 

 capable of doing ? His own words make us 

 realize the size of the undertaking to which 

 Dohrn had committed himself. No man of 

 experience, upon hearing of the plans, be- 

 lieved them to be practical, and the more 

 intimate the knowledge of the critics, the 

 more were they convinced that this fan- 

 tastic undertaking would meet with noth- 

 ing less than failure. But these prophecies 

 left out of the reckoning one thing, which 

 alone action could bring to life, namely, 

 Dohrn 's iron will and his unusual abilities. 

 Within the limits I must set myself in 

 this address, it is impossible to give a pic- 

 ture of the difficulties with which Dohrn 

 had to contend during these years. When, 

 as we dare hope, that which he has written 

 of the drama of these early years at last 

 reaches print, no zoologist will fail to read 

 it. As one example only, we will cite an 

 episode out of many similar ones which 

 might be chosen. In the autumn of 1872, 

 when the building was almost ready for the 

 roof and Dohrn at the time was lingering 

 in Berlin, in order to seek support for his 

 undertaking in the Academy of Science, 

 from the Prussian authorities and from the 

 crown, he suddenly received from Naples a 

 telegram to the effect that the municipal 

 authorities had stopped the building be- 

 cause the height agreed to by contract had 

 been exceeded. This was in truth the case. 

 In consequence of an incorrect level, it be- 

 came necessary to exceed the prescribed 

 height by a couple of meters, unless the 

 whole structure were to be reduced in size. 

 This infraction of the agreement aroused 

 anew the smouldering fires of suspicion. 

 All the enemies and envious critics, all 

 those whose profits had been interfered with, 

 again rose, and soon the rumor was rife 

 that the building must be razed to the 

 ground. Dohrn hastened immediately to 

 Naples. It was autumn and the season of 



the heaviest rainfall was imminent. Un- 

 less great damage were to be done, the 

 house must at once be put under cover. 

 But notwithstanding every effort, he was 

 unable to obtain more from the municipal 

 authorities than the permission to carry on 

 the work at his own risk. A settlement of 

 the question as to the height could not be 

 reached. Not an instant did Dohrn pause 

 to consider ; the precious time must be used 

 to advantage, and the work of building con- 

 tinued. He was also confronted with the 

 problem how to procure funds to pay the 

 indemnity occasioned by the slight excess 

 of height. The straining of every nerve 

 had to be begun again in order that those 

 upon whose favor the success of his enter- 

 prise rested might be reconvinced and re- 

 won. This work he had believed to be 

 behind him. But all ears appeared closed. 

 Week after week passed and nothing was 

 attained. Still undisturbed and unaffected 

 by the damage that a deluge of unusual 

 and unprecedented severity had occasioned, 

 he pushed his building operations towards 

 completion. Suddenly a command came 

 from the city authorities that the work 

 must be definitely discontinued and, as if 

 this were not enough, at the same time bad 

 news arrived from Berlin. Du-Bois Ray- 

 mond, in whom Dohrn had found a friend 

 and sympathizer, wrote him that the circle 

 of intellectuals in Berlin with whom rested 

 the final decisions, were so unfavorably dis- 

 posed that no aid from the academy and 

 thus no subsidy from the German govern- 

 ment could be counted upon. Du-Bois 

 RajTBond deeply regretted being obliged to 

 communicate to him anything so adverse to 

 his interests, and hoped that Dohrn would 

 not allow himself to be cast down, but 

 would make every effort to get the neces- 

 sary help elsewhere. The evening of that 

 same day Dohrn was on his way back to 

 Berlin, and before Du-Bois Raymond could 



