December 2, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



783 



It was found that Montego Bay in the west- 

 ern part of the island was an exception- 

 ally promising place for a laboratory, but 

 as there was then no railroad connection 

 to Montego Bay, more accessible regions 

 were preferred, and following the lines of 

 least resistance the laboratory was opened 

 again at Port Henderson in 1893 and in 

 1896, while in 1897 it was removed to Port 

 Antonio, on the north coast. After this 

 most unfortunate season, which brought 

 with it the deaths from yellow fever of 

 both Professor Humphrey and Dr. Conant, 

 the university sent no more zoologists to 

 Jamaica till the present year, 1910. 



Montego Baj^ being now accessible both 

 by steamer direct from New York, from 

 Philadelphia and from Baltimore, and by 

 rail from Kingston and Port Antonio, six 

 zoologists went to test the advantages of 

 this region, and in a residence lasting 

 through June, July, August and Septem- 

 ber found it a most desirable location for 

 all kinds of zoological work. 



The advantages of this place are largely 

 dependent upon its topography; the con- 

 tour of the coast and the location of the 

 hills form a large body of water cut off 

 from the trade winds to a large extent but 

 still widely open to the ocean on the north. 

 This calm water is exceptionally favorable 

 for the captiire of pelagic life. 



A second advantage lies in the fact that 

 all the rocks in the neighborhood are lime- 

 stone, which forms white sands and clear 

 water, producing conditions much like 

 those in the Bahamas. Yet there are in- 

 teresting rivei-s with fresh-water faunas 

 close at hand, but these discharge so that 

 the wind and currents carry all the fresh 

 water to the west and leave the region 

 selected for a laboratory bathed at all times 

 in purest salt water. The remarkable uni- 

 formitj' of the sea is indicated in the fol- 

 lowing table of observations made at the 



TABIE OF OBSERVATIONS ON SALINITY, TEMPEBA- 

 TUBE AND TIDE, IN SEA IN FRONT OF THE LABO- 

 RATORY, " SNUG HARBOR," MADE BY MR. A. B. 

 MIDDLETON JULY 31-AUQUST 2, 1910, MONTEGO 

 BAY, JAMAICA, B. W. I. 



laboratorj' landing, for forty-eight hours, 

 continuously, with but few interruptions. 

 In this table the salinities have been re- 

 duced by Dr. Caswell Grave, of the jMary- 

 land Shell Fish Commission, to a standard 



