OCTOBEE 10, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



591 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE MABINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY AND THE 

 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. SOME MATTERS 

 OF FACT. 



The article by Professor Whitman in the 

 issue of Science for October 3d, entitled 

 ' The Impending Crisis in the History of the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory,' contains much 

 that is excellent by way of statement of gen- 

 eral principle, but raises certain questions of 

 fact that should be clearly understood by the 

 general scientific public. The discussion car- 

 ried on during the negotiations with the Car- 

 negie Institution turned largely on the propo- 

 sition that the existing property of the labo- 

 ratory should be transferred to the Carnegie 

 Institution, and was especially concerned with 

 the question whether, under the reorganiza- 

 tion thus necessitated, the scientific inde- 

 pendence and representative cooperative char- 

 acter of the laboratory would be surrendered. 



As chairman of the executive committee of 

 the laboratory during the course of the nego- 

 tiations I ask attention to two principal points 

 in regard to which Professor Whitman's letter 

 creates, I think, a wrong impression concern- 

 ing the action of our own trustees and those 

 of the Carnegie Institution. 



The first is contained in the following pas- 

 sage (p. 511) : 



" It is due to the trustees of the Carnegie In- 

 stitution to say that the proposition to acquire 

 the laboratory as a condition to supporting it 

 did not originate with them. This is the humili- 

 ating side of the situation in which we now find 

 ourselves. They were told that the laboratory 

 was in dire financial distress, that some local 

 western institution was machinating to get pos- 

 session; in short, that there was an emergency 

 requiring immediate action to save the institu- 

 tion. T}icy icere asked on what terms they would 

 consent to own and support it." (Italics mine.) 



I desire to state that, by the insertion of the 

 words ' to own ' in the above passage, the form 

 in which the matter was laid before the Car- 

 negie Institution by our committee is changed 

 in an essential particular. No such question 

 was asked or suggested in any of the official 

 correspondence, all of which passed through 

 my hands ; and if such a request or suggestion 



was privately made by anyone connected with 

 the laboratory it was without the authoriza- 

 tion, and without the knowledge of the execu- 

 tive committee. On the contrary, the opinion 

 was expressed to the Carnegie trustees that 

 ' An organization similar to the existing one 

 would be preferable if compatible with ade- 

 quate financial support ' (quoted from a letter 

 to Secretary Walcott dated March 8) ; and 

 in communications addressed to President 

 Oilman, Secretary Walcott and others the Car- 

 negie trustees were only invited to offer sug- 

 gestions as to ' the best practicable organiza- 

 tion that would commend itself to the Car- 

 negie Institution as an assurance of its 

 national representative character ' (quoted 

 from the same letter to Secretary Walcott-). 



The suggestion that the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion should own the property of the laboratory 

 first came to the Marine Biological Laboratory 

 'trustees from a subcommittee appointed by 

 the Carnegie executive committee to consider 

 and report upon the general proposition to 

 support the laboratory; to the best of my 

 knowledge and belief it originated with mem- 

 bers of this subcommittee. It was based on 

 the ground that a guarantee of permanent and 

 continuous support, involving the purchase of 

 land, erection and equipment of buildings, 

 and the regular contribution of funds for run- 

 ning expenses, could only be promised the 

 laboratory by placing the Carnegie trustees in 

 a position of financial control and responsi- 

 bility. The grounds for taking this position 

 were fully and repeatedly explained to the 

 representatives of the laboratory as an obvi- 

 ous necessity of good business management; 

 and at no time during the negotiations was 

 the least ground given for the suspicion that 

 an unfair advantage was being taken of the 

 emergency created by the financial diificulties 

 of the laboratory. In the various discussions 

 which took place the line was clearly drawn 

 between financial control and scientific con- 

 trol. 



The second point, therefore, to which atten- 

 tion is directed is the nature of the guarantee 

 of scientific independence offered the labora- 

 tory by the Carnegie committee. From Pro- 

 fessor Whitman's letter it might be inferred 



