'58 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. Mo. 367. 



the season, and of Professor Kofoid for the 

 second portion, it proved as satisfactory as 

 any method could, I am convinced. The 

 difficulties in the way of making the haul 

 with the dredge or trawl over precisely 

 the desired course were found to be wholly 

 independent of the method of locating the 

 station. Of these, the drift due to wind 

 and current, which frequently renders it 

 impossible to get the dredge to the bottom 

 at precisely the point after this has been 

 located, is the most serious. It was found 

 practicable to approach within fifty yards 

 of a desired point two or three miles oif 

 shore at the first trial ; and by maneuvering 

 once or twice, giving careful heed to the cur- 

 rents and wind, the point may be reached 

 almost exactly. This requires,- of course, 

 considerable practice with the sextant, and 

 skill in handling the engine and wheel of 

 the boat. 



The procedure consists, as is well knovm, 

 in locating two angles from three points 

 on shore that are shown on the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey charts and are as near the 

 level of the water as possible, and not near 

 the circumference of a circle the center of 

 which is the observer ; and then of plotting 

 the station on the chart by the use of a 

 tracing-paper protractor. 



This method could not be used, of course, 

 at any considerable distance from land, 

 nor on a coast devoid of prominent head- 

 lands or other permanent conspicuous ob- 

 jects, nor where fogs are prevalent. Within 

 the geographical and bathymetric limits, 

 however, set for the summer's operations, 

 none of these restrictions applied. At no 

 point is the one-hundred-fathom curve 

 more than ten miles off shore ; and in only 

 a few places is it more than five or six 

 miles off. 



LABORATOEY. 



Two small wooden buildings at Bast San 

 Pedro were rented for the summer and re- 

 built to adapt them to the purposes of a 



laboratory. These buildings were situated 

 on the breakwater near the pier belonging 

 to the Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and Ter- 

 minal E. R. This location was selected be- 

 cause of its convenience on the one hand 

 to the inner harbor, and on the other to the 

 open sea. On the harbor side a landing for 

 the launch was at hand within a few yards 

 of the laboratory, and the freight and ex- 

 press offices were equally near by. On the 

 ocean side sea water entirely unpolluted 

 by refuse from shore or shipping canie to 

 the very door of the laboratory. 



Of the two buildings, one, an old bath- 

 house, was fitted with seven small private 

 rooms for the use of the investigators, 

 though one of these had to be set aside for 

 the library. 



The second building, a larger one, was 

 used for the summer-school classes, for 

 storage and for some of the investigators 

 who could not be provided vsdth private 

 rooms. Accommodation was supplied for a 

 class of fifteen students. 



The laboratory equipment, consisting of 

 the usual sort for seaside work, as also the 

 library, were sent from the University at 

 Berkeley. 



INVESTIGATIONS PROSECUTED AT THE " 

 STATION. 



' The Classification and Structure of 

 Diatoms ' : Me. Wm. Constantin Adlee- 

 Mereschkowsky. 



' The Peridinium Visitation that took 

 place on the Southern Coast during the 

 Summer ' : Mr. H. B. Toerey. 



' Speciographic and Ecological Studies 

 on the Actinians of the Region ' : Me. H. 

 B. Toebey. 



' The Systematic Position and Variation 

 of various species of Eehinoderms ' : Miss 

 G. R. Ceockee. 



' The Variation and Autotomy of the 

 star-fish Phataria tmifascialis' : Miss 

 Sarah P. Monks. 



