August 14, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



229 



new fields we should avoid tlie manifest 

 errors of our business predecessors. Agree- 

 ing with Dr. Johnson's astronomer that 

 "the memory of mischief is no desirable 

 fame, ' ' we should not seek, for example, to 

 perform the academic feat of capitalizing 

 deficits. Even if there were a body of 

 alumni to which appeal might be made in 

 distress, such a feat would be unworthy of 

 a research organization. Above all, re- 

 search organizations should embrace the 

 great advantages that come from open 

 audit and truthful publicity in all financial 

 affairs. We should accept these and the 

 other conditions and limitations of our en- 

 vironment to which attention has been 

 called, not in a spirit of unreflective meek- 

 ness, nor in a spirit of impatient defiance, 

 but in a spirit of philosophic equanimity, 

 confident that the scientific methods of ob- 

 servation, experiment, comparison, demon- 

 stration, generalization and verification 

 will ultimately work out adjustments to the 

 permanent advantage of our successors, if 

 not to the ephemeral advantage of our- 

 selves. 



R. S. Woodward 



ADDSESSES AT THE DEDICATION OF THE 



NEW BUILDINGS OF THE MABINE 



BIOLOGICAL LABOSATOST^ 



The subject of biology possesses immense 

 significance for human thought and action. 

 If the biology, the sociology, the philosophy 

 and whole mode of thought of the twentieth 

 century differ quite radically from those of the 

 mid-nineteenth century, it is largely because 

 the biological investigations of Lamarck, of 

 Darwin and of many others founded the evo- 



1 In addition to these shorter addresses and the 

 address of Dr. E. S. Woodward, printed above, an 

 address was made by Professor Edwin G. Conklin, 

 ■ of Princeton University, who, on account of his ab- 

 sence from the country, was unable to prepare it 

 for publication. Mr. C. E. Orane, president of the 

 board of trustees and donor of the building, pre- 

 sided and presented the speakers. 



lution theory, the future development of which 

 is one of the main problems of biology. 



The eeU-theory, another great generalization 

 of biology, revolutionized the study of pathol- 

 ogy, the basis of medicine, besides furnishing 

 the indispensable foundation for all future bio- 

 logical studies. The conception of the physico- 

 chemical constitution of protoplasm, or living 

 matter, is a third great contribution of biolog- 

 ical science of inestimable significance for sci- 

 ence and philosophy. 



Biology is related to the most practical af- 

 fairs of life: to medicine, of which it forms 

 the indispensable foundation, to hygiene and 

 public health, to many problems of agriculture 

 and animal industry, and to fisheries problems. 

 Economic entomology, parasitology, protozool- 

 ogy, etc., are practical branches of our great 

 subject; not to mention the fundamental prin- 

 ciples of the mooted subject of eugenics. The 

 advancement of biology is one of the most im- 

 portant considerations of modern society. 



Even such an intentionally incomplete state- 

 ment of the significance of biology may appear 

 exaggerated. But nothing is more sure than 

 that the acquisition of knowledge increases 

 man's control of nature, and that the science 

 of biology, although still in an early stage of 

 its development, promises control of those un- 

 certainties of practical human life which are 

 most perplexing and dangerous to the race. 



The significance of the present occasion is to 

 be found only partly in such general considera- 

 tions. This laboratory represents one of the 

 forces that have to be reckoned with in this 

 general situation. But it is to the special 

 significance of this occasion that I would more 

 particularly direct your attention. 



The sea-shore is undoubtedly the ideal situa- 

 tion for a biological station, because marine 

 life offers certain valuable opportunities for 

 study that are unique. These are given in 

 such a situation as ours, and we relinquish 

 none of the opportunities of inland labora- 

 tories. Louis Agassiz, in America, and Anton 

 Dohrn, in Europe, were among the first to or- 

 ganize seaside laboratories; about the same 

 time, 1872, Agassiz founded his station on the 



