JIakch 1, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



345 



local sources or from equally good situations 

 elsewhere. 



Of course, the hypothetical case here given 

 is typical only of men of small caliber who 

 happen to occupy directors' chairs. Never- 

 theless, the proposed concerted action of ex- 

 ecutive officers to prevent competition in the 

 securing of men for certain positions, by pre- 

 cluding the possibility of transfer, may in 

 many cases work injustice to the men who are, 

 in fact, responsible for the success of every 

 station. By this combination, and the head- 

 ing off of competition, salaries are held down 

 to a disproportionately low figure, and the 

 inspiration of possible advancement is with- 

 drawn. 



While the importance of retaining the serv- 

 ices of valued members of a station staff is 

 unquestioned, and while some means of rid- 

 ding the service of undesirable workers is also 

 essential, it is equally important for the 

 success of the work that the individual have 

 a sense of the security of his position and that 

 he be not subject to the whims and moods of 

 a ' boss ' who does not recognize the difference 

 between a body of educated gentlemen, who 

 have quite as much at stake as he himself, 

 and a force of clerks in a mercantile establish- 

 ment or a factory. 



On the other hand, and every well-balanced 

 station worker recognizes the fact, the station 

 must move forward as a unit, and there can 

 be but one head. With a mutual understand- 

 ing, and mutual confidence between the execu- 

 tive head and the heads of the scientific depart- 

 ments, the work will move forward without 

 the necessity of ' combining ' to hold down the 

 workers, and with much saving of friction for 

 all parties concerned. W. 



THE PRIMARY SEPTA IN RUGOSE CORALS 



In Science for August 24, 1906, and in a 

 more recent and longer paper' Dr. J. E. Duer- 

 den deals in a critical and analytical way 

 with a paper read by me before the New York 

 Academy of Sciences and published in full in 

 the American Journal of Science for Feb- 

 ruary, 1906. In that paper I offered another 



'^ Annals and Magazine of 'Natural History, 

 Ser. 7, Vol. XVIII., September, 1906. 



interpretation of certain figures which Duer- 

 den had drawn of sections made through 

 Lophophyllum proliferum' and offered evi- 

 dence for the support of my interpretation. 

 Dr. Duerden's articles call for a reply. It is 

 made in the same spirit in which the first 

 paper was written. 



It was, perhaps, to be expected that Duerden 

 would not agree with my interpretation; but 

 the excellent spirit of his article is commend- 

 able. I desire to discuss the matter in an 

 equally fair manner, without any wish to 

 belittle any work of investigation, to ignore 

 a profound knowledge of the particular field 

 of discussion, or to deny the possibility of 

 other interpretations. 



I still maintain the view that the resem- 

 blance to the Zoanthese of certain rugose 

 coral tips in dispute is not a structural re- 

 semblance, but an apparent likeness; that the 

 important deductions about the origin of the 

 cardinal fossula are largely based upon this 

 supposed resemblance, and that the number 

 of primary septa was four. If this appears 

 to be obstinacy in the face of strong assertions 

 to the contrai-y, I desire to submit the follow- 

 ing argument. 



I am not prepared to admit that the evi- 

 dence afforded by the specimens of Sirep- 

 telasma profundum examined by me is to be 

 considered lightly. The forms examined were 

 undoubtedly young specimens showing all the 

 septa and having in the tip only four primary 

 septa. In those specimens, which were much 

 younger than the one figured by Duerden,' 

 the cup was open to the bottom, thus allowing 

 a complete view of the septa down to the tip 

 — the septa not having reached the center in 

 these specimens. If a section close to the 

 tip of these specimens were made only four 

 septa (protosepta) would be seen. Two speci- 

 mens were examined by me, both of which 

 showed unquestionably that only four proto- 

 septa were present in the youngest stage, and 

 Professor Grabau assures me that several 

 others of the same kind, though less perfect, 

 are in the collection at Colimibia University. 



' See ' Johns Hopkins University Circular,' 

 January, 1902. 



'Biol. Bull, June, 1905. 



