Decembee 13, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



839 



graphical essays were opened with a brief gen- 

 eral statement, giving the essence of the whole 

 story in terms of structure, process and stage 

 of development; and if the later pages then 

 proceeded, following the scheme and the 

 sequence thus outlined at the beginning, to 

 present the details. The Istrian peninsula 

 would seem to lend itself admirably to such 

 treatment. Its larger structures are reducible 

 to a very simple statement, upon which all 

 sorts of details as to pitching folds and over- 

 thrusts may be afterwards embroidered. The 

 deformed mass without question reached well- 

 advanced old age in the first recognizable cycle 

 of erosion, as is clearly indicated by the even 

 surfaces which transect the folded strata over 

 large areas. It is equally evident that irregu- 

 lar movements of faulting and tilting inter- 

 rupted the first cycle before the more resistant 

 strata were completely worn down. In the 

 new cycle thus introduced revived erosion 

 gained a good advance, with characteristic de- 

 velopment of karst features on the limestones, 

 before a moderate submergence drovmed the 

 borders of the dissected block at so recent 

 a date that the present shore line is still very 

 young. Upon the framework of such a state- 

 ment all details can be most conveniently 

 placed in good order for easy understanding; 

 but if no general framework is presented at 

 the beginning, the reader must be embarrassed 

 as he comes on page after page of unrelated 

 details. 



There is, however, a certain unevenness of 

 treatment in Krebs' essay on the Istrian 

 peninsula which seems to indicate that the 

 author is perhaps not yet ready to adopt the 

 concise scheme of " structure, process and 

 stage," above suggested. The even uplands are 

 repeatedly spoken of as the work of " abra- 

 sion," thus implying that the first cycle of 

 erosion was accomplished chiefly by marine 

 processes; yet there is no discussion of this 

 debatable point; it appears to be accepted as 

 a traditional truth; and this in spite of the 

 frequent occurrence of rounded residual re- 

 liefs which surmount the uplands and which 

 are much more suggestive of subaerial than of 

 marine erosion in the first cycle. Further- 

 more, while no sufficient space is given to an 



adequate discussion of the origin of the chief 

 features of the peninsula, space is allowed (p. 

 66) for a brief refutation of the obsolete ideas 

 that the typical drowned valleys on the west 

 and south (Oanali di Leme and dell' Arsa) are 

 due to (marine) abrasion or to faulting. 

 There is no need of such a refutation; but 

 there is much need of a critical consideration 

 of the postulated marine planation of the dis- 

 trict. 



W. M. D. 



THE TWENTY-FIRST SESSION OF THE 



MARINE BIOLOOICAL LABORATORY, 



JUNE 1 TO OCTOBER 1, 1908. 



PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT 



On account of considerable changes pro- 

 posed for the season of 1908, the following 

 preliminary announcement is made. Atten- 

 tion is directed particularly to the statements 

 concerning the addition of the Wistar Insti- 

 tute of Anatomy and Biology to the list of 

 cooperating institutions, to the change of per- 

 sonnel in the staff of instruction in zoology, 

 to the reinstatement of the course in embry- 

 ology and to the introduction of a new course 

 in the general morphology of plants. The 

 final announcement wiU be ready in March or 

 April, 1908, and will be sent on request to all 

 desiring it. 



The Marine Biological Laboratory is an in- 

 stitution for the promotion of research in biol- 

 ogy by the cooperative endeavors of biologists 

 from all parts of the country. The laboratory 

 is a national institution on an absolutely in- 

 dependent foundation, and it solicits the co- 

 operation of all students of biology. 



I. Research. — The laboratory will be open 

 for research from June 1 to October 1, 1908. 

 Facilities for research are offered in zoology, 

 embryology, physiology and botany. Fifty- 

 five private rooms are reserved for investiga- 

 tors, and those assigned to such rooms are sup- 

 plied with reagents, glassware and service in 

 the collection of material. The majority of 

 these rooms are reserved for members of the 

 staff and for subscribing institutions. The 

 charge for the remaining rooms is $100 per 

 season and applicants should state the time 

 of desired occupancy and any special needs; 



