Decembee 27, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



SWEDISH MARINE ZOOLOGICAL STATION. 



The December number of Natural Science con- 

 tains an interesting account, by Mr. F. A. 

 Bather, of a visit to the Marine Zoological Sta- 

 tion at Kristineberg, on the Island of Skafto, 

 Sweden, on the south side of the Gullmar-fjord. 

 The fjord cuts deep into the land, and has a 

 varying bottom of clay, gravel, rock, Zostera, 

 alg'Ee, shells and mud ; immediately outside 

 Kristineberg it reaches a depth of thirty 

 fathoms, and six miles further up a little over 

 eighty fathoms. A number of rocky islands 

 shelter the mouth of the fjord against the sea. 

 Animal and vegetable life are richly repre- 

 sented and provide a boundless field for re- 

 search. 



The station was established in 1877 through 

 the efforts of Sven Loven. The initial en- 

 dowment was the sum of $15,000 bequeathed 

 by Anders Fredrik Eeguell to the Royal Acad- 

 emy of Science in order to found a Zoological 

 Station that should belong to the Academy. 

 The Swedish government placed $2,775 and a 

 gunboat completely equipped at the disposal of 

 Sven Loven during the summers 1877-9 to 

 facilitate the study of the animal life of the 

 Swedish seas, and this aided greatly in the first 

 development of the station. 



The laboratory provides working rooms for 

 ten persons exclusive of the common room. It 

 is furnished with aquaria and all necessary ap- 

 paratus and supplies. The station is only 

 open during the three summer mouths, as lack 

 of funds (the yearly appropriation granted by 

 the government is but $550) does not permit it 

 to be open at other times. For the same reason 

 foreign students are not admitted. The students 

 at the station are provided with work tables and 

 all necessary appliances without charge, with 

 no further expenses than those for board and 

 lodging, which would amount to about $18 a 

 month. 



Mr. Bather suggests that the station might 

 with advantage be opened to foreign students 

 who would gladly pay for the privilege of study- 

 ing at Kristineberg. Under the present arrange- 

 ment the student loses the great advantage of 

 free intercourse with his colleagues from other 

 countries. 



' TIMBER. ' 



Bulletin No. 10, of the Division of Forestry, 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, con- 

 tains a discussion of the characteristics and 

 properties of wood by Mr. Filibert Roth. The 

 monograph enters into details concerning the 

 weight, moisture, shrinkage, mechanical and 

 chemical properties of wood, its durability and 

 decay. It points out how different kinds of 

 wood may be distinguished, and concludes with 

 a list of the more important woods of the United 

 States. In the introduction Mr. B. E. Fer- 

 now. Chief of the Division of Forestry, empha- 

 sises the fact that, although wood has been 

 in use so long and so universally, there still 

 exists a remarkable lack of knowledge regard- 

 ing its nature in detail, not only among lay- 

 men, but among those who might be expected 

 to know its properties; as a consequence, the 

 practice is often faulty and wasteful in the 

 manner of its use, and Mr. Fernow indicates 

 ways in which it may be used to advantage. 



Mr. Fernow says that " wood is now, has ever 

 been, and will continue to be, the most widely 

 useful material of construction. It has been at 

 the base of all material civilization. In spite of 

 all the substitutes for it in the shape of metal, 

 stone and other materials, the consumption of 

 wood in civilized countries has never decreased; 

 nay, applications in new directions have in- 

 creased its use beyond the saving affected by 

 the substitutes. Thus, in England, the per 

 cajnta consumption has increased in the last 

 fifty years more than double, a fact which is 

 especially notable, as the bulk of the timber 

 used there must be imported, while iron and 

 coal are plentiful in Great Britain. In the 

 United States we can only estimate from the 

 partial data furnished by census returns. By 

 these we find the per capita consumption to 

 have increased for every decade since 1860 at 

 the rate of from 20 to 25 per cent. There is no 

 country in which wood is more lavishly used 

 than in the United States, and none in which 

 nature has more bountifully provided for all 

 reasonable requirements. In the absence of 

 proper efforts to secure reproduction, the most 

 valuable kinds are rapidly being decimated, 

 and the necessity of a more rational and careful 

 use of what remains is clearly apparent. By 



