Apeil 24, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



655 



a sterile formalism quite unrepresentative 

 of nature's unconventional methods. That 

 they have in this case fallen into this pit 

 is due, I think, to the misleading influence 

 of words. Starting with forms in which 

 there are two distinct generations (as in 

 the ferns), and applying very appropri- 

 ately the terms sexual generation to the 

 gametophyte and non-sexual to the sporo- 

 phyte, they have kept these names for the 

 morphologically equivalent stages in the 

 evolution to the phanerogam, not noticing 

 the gradual emptying of the names of their 

 original physiological significance; until, 

 finally, the names themselves have come 

 to stand in their minds for the facts they 

 state, and to be accepted as evidence, or 

 even as final authority, upon the points 

 at issue. The mischievous terms sexual 

 and non-sexual generations have been and 

 are the cause of the whole difficulty. Let 

 us abandon them. 



W. F. Ganong. 

 Smith College. 



A TROPICAL MARINE LABORATORY FOR 



RESEARCH? 



Despite the creditable activity which has 

 developed in our country in biological re- 

 search during the past few years, it must 

 be confessed that it is difficult to explain 

 the neglect upon the part of our naturalists 

 to avail themselves of the opportunity to 

 study the marine life of the tropical At- 

 lantic, especially as one of the most, if not 

 the most, favorable locality for the prose- 

 cution of such researches lies within our 

 own territory at the Tortugas, Florida. 



As Professor Davenport aptly states, we 

 know more of the life of the Red Sea than 

 we do of that of the Caribbean and Gulf 

 of Mexico. 



Our knowledge of the life of the tropical 

 Atlantic is almost wholly dependent upon 

 the results of brief and cursory expeditions, 

 and the innumerable researches which re- 



quii-e a perxaanent station for their suc- 

 cessful prosecution have hardly been at- 

 tempted. The mere systematic study and 

 classification of forms in our tropical 

 waters is glaringly incomplete, while we 

 have almost failed to take advantage of 

 the exceptional facilities which a tropical 

 station offers for physiological and em- 

 bryological studies, owing to the fact that 

 the water in the tropics may be readily 

 maintained at the same or at even a lower 

 temperature than that of the ocean itself. 

 In consequence of this and of the remark- 

 able purity of the ocean water at the Tor- 

 tugas and Bahamas, it is possible to rear 

 larvae or carry out physiological experi- 

 ments with far better success than is at- 

 tainable in our northern stations. If much 

 has been accomplished in work upon the 

 limited fauna of the southern New Eng- 

 land or Carolina coasts, how much more 

 might be expected from a study of the far 

 richer faiina under the more favorable 

 conditions attainable in the tropical At- 

 lantic. 



The cause of this neglect has been that 

 none of our educational institiitions has 

 been able to afford to maintain a perma- 

 nent laboratory in the tropics, and no co- 

 operation has yet been, or is likely to be, 

 effected which could bring such a labora- 

 tory into being. 



The establishment of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution has suddenly changed the aspect of 

 the case, and as it appears to be the prov- 

 ince of this institution to support impor- 

 tant research work which none of our ex- 

 isting institutions has been able to afford, 

 the prospect for the establishment of a 

 permanent research laboratory in the trop- 

 ical Atlantic appears for the first time 

 possible. 



As far as the writer is aware, no appli- 

 cation for the establishment of such a 

 laboratory has yet been addressed to the 



