Septembee 7, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



371 



INVESTIGATIONS A2 COLD SPRING HARBOR. 

 The investigations at this Laboratory 

 during the present summer have covered a 

 wide field as the following enumeration of 

 subjects and abstracts shows. In Botany 

 work is being done in the determination of 

 the species of the rich cryptogamic flora of 

 the vicinity, in the study of the tension zone 

 where fresh water and marine species meet 

 and in various other ecological matters. In 

 Zoology, investigations are being carried 

 out on the supermatogenesis of certain 

 higher Crustacea, on the development of 

 Trematodes, of Squilla, of Phascolosoma, of 

 Pectinatella and of Hemiptera. Studies on 

 the development of color markings in in- 

 sects have made good progress, the insect 

 fauna is being systematically studied, and 

 the food habits of fishes are being ana- 

 lyzed. Quantitative variation'studies are 

 being carried out on sea anemones, Daph- 

 nia, Amphipoda, lamellibranchs, Myria- 

 poda, several groups of insects and mice. 

 The following brief statements give further 

 details concerning some of these studies. 



Cryptogamic Studies at Cold Spring Harbor : 



By De. D. S. Johnson. 



The work accomplished in the study of 

 the cryptogams, aside from class work, has 

 been chiefly systematic, including a study 

 of the distribution of the marine algte in 

 various parts of Cold Spring Harbor, Hun- 

 tington Harbor, and Smithtown Bay. Few 

 new forms have been added to the flora, 

 but forms hitherto known only from free 

 fragments have been found abundantly in 

 their natural habitat. Many notes have 

 also been made as to the diflTerent species 

 preponderating in the same locality in dif- 

 ferent years. Fungi have been much re- 

 stricted in distribution and numbers because 

 of the dry season, but several interesting 

 finds have been made. Of the Myxomy- 

 cetes, Mr. D. N. Shoemaker has added 

 twelve additional genera and thirty-eight 



additional species to those reported from 

 other sources in Jellifife's list of Long Island 

 plants and only one species mentioned by 

 Jelliffe has not been seen here. Several 

 specimens of Dictyophora (Ravenellii?) ap- 

 parently new to the Island have been 

 found and a group of over twenty speci- 

 mens of Simhlum rubescens, of which four 

 had double stipes and an elongated recep- 

 taculum . 



Studies in Ecology: By De. Heney C. Cowles. 

 The work in this department has been 

 chiefly along two lines. Considerable at- 

 tention has been paid to variations in form, 

 especially in leaves, with a view to the sug- 

 gestion of a series of hypotheses, which may 

 be made the basis of further observation 

 and experiment on these matters. Perhaps 

 the most fruitful field of study has been in 

 relation to the development of the Long 

 Island vegetation in connection with the 

 physiography. The succession of plant so- 

 cieties along the xerophytic shores strik- 

 ingly resembles that along the Great Lakes. 

 The genetic relations of salt, brackish and 

 fresh swamps have been looked into, and 

 one student has taken up this problem as a 

 special field for research. Another student 

 is preparing to make a comparative chem- 

 ical analysis of forms which grow in both 

 maritime and inland conditions. Two other 

 students are contemplating leaf variation 

 studies. Our present plans also include a 

 series of culture experiments on halophytes 

 conducted in the interior under various soil 

 conditions. 



Trematode Studies : By Dr. H. S. Peatt. 



The adult form of Apoblema (Distoma) 

 appendiculatum has been found in consider- 

 able numbers in the menhaden, attached to 

 the wall of the stomach. Immature forms 

 of this worm have been plentiful at Cold 

 Spring Harbor during the past five years, 

 although they have not been observed at 

 any other part of the Atlantic coast of this 



