284 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XXI. No. 538 



THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION OF THE UNIVER- 

 SITY OF TEXAS. 



BT CHARLES L. EDWARDS, AUSTIN, TEXAS. 



Any one familiar with the brilliant pioneer work of Agassiz, 

 Pourtales, and Brooks, together with their students, upon the 

 fauna of the Gulf of Mexico and neighboring waters will gladly 

 welcome the inauguration of any movement, however modest, to 

 continue the exploration of the American Mediterranean. The 

 successive summer expeditions sent from the Johns Hopkins 

 University since 1887, to the different Bahama Islands and 

 Jamaica, and the proposed establishment of the Columbus Station 

 on the latter islands, are familiar to all interested in the work of 

 this field. 



An important part of the School of Biology, created in January, 

 1893, by the regents of the University of Texas, both as regards 

 instruction and research, is the Gulf of Me.xico Station. As a 

 result of a brief preliminary survey which, at the request of the 

 regents, I made last summer at Aransas Pass and Galveston, sev- 

 eral facts of prime importance in locating a biological station 

 became apparent. The low Texas coast is bordered by exceed- 

 ingly shallow bays, from two to ten miles wide, cut ofl! from the 

 Gulf of Mexico by a very narrow sand-formation. This almost 

 continuous stretch of sand, raised unevenly by innumerable dunes 

 formed by the wind, is broken at eight places by narrow channels 

 into seven islands, and at three other points partially unites with 

 the mainland to form extended peninsulas. Its gulf shore is un- 

 indented, while, on the other hand, its bay shore-line is quite 

 irregular. Vast areas of the bays are exposed at low tide, forming 

 mud-flats; while even in Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bays the 

 depth does not exceed fifteen feet. Since the mean tide is less 

 than half a foot at most places in the bays, an advantageous loca- 

 tion for a biological station must be contiguous to the tree waters 

 of the Gulf. Even then one must go from along most of the 

 outer shore five miles to seaward, in order to reach the ten- 

 fathom curve. Directly off the entrance to Galveston Bay this 

 depth of less than ten fathoms extends for a distance of thirty 

 miles. 



Reaching from near the mouth of the Rio Grande along the ex- 

 treme southern Texas coast for one hundred and fifty miles north- 

 ward is Padre Island. The bay which it cuts off, Laguna Madre, is 

 for the most part a vast mud flat, and the Padre itself is inaccessible. 

 Farther north, at either Aransas Pass, where Corpus Christi and 

 Aransas Bays empty into the Gulf, or at Pass Cavallo, the entrance 

 to Matagorda Bay. would be, with a suitable building, an excel- 

 lent location for the station. The entrance to Galveston Bay, 

 while in some respects not having the natural advantages of the 

 other two locations, yet is much more accessible. Here is a 

 highly desirable building, which cost some $15,000, soon to be 

 vacated by the Quarantine Department. Since this building be- 

 longs to the State, the Galveston location was recommended and 

 a bill was introduced in the 23d legislature of Texas to set aside 

 the present officers" quarters of the Quarantine Department at 

 Galveston for the purposes of the Marine Biological Station of the 

 University of Texas. With a further item of |5, 000 for equip- 

 ment, the bill was favorably reported from the Committee on 

 Grounds and Buildings of the House, but, owing to the large 

 number of measures having precedence, this bill, unfortunately, 

 was not considered. 



Besides a building fully supplied with the necessary aquaria, 

 microscopes, reagents, etc., for laboratory study, and boats of 

 light draught for work in the shallow water, it is planned, after 

 the idea of Dohrn • for the Naples Station, to equip a seaworthy 

 steamer as a floating station for deep-sea collection and observa- 

 tion in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For the wonderful 

 possibilities of this field uo addition to the eloquent testimony of 

 A. Agassiz," in his description of the work on the " Blake" expe- 

 ditions, need be added. 



1 Bericlit iiber die Zoologisohe Station watirencl der Jalire 1885-1892. Mlt- 

 theil. Zool. Station, Neapel, 10 Bd., 1893, pp. 633-674. 

 = Tliree Cruises ot tlie " Blake," Boston, 1888. 



As Profpssor Whitman has so ably demonstrated in building up 

 a national station for maiine biology at Woods HoH, it is in gen- 

 erous cooperation that the science can best be advanced. The 

 University of Texas extends a welcome to any investigator in the 

 various lines of biology who may desire access to the fauna and flora 

 of the Gulf of Mexico. Going from the various stations established 

 by Agassiz, Brooks, WhitruHn. and others on the Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts, to that of Jordan on the Pacific, the investigalor 

 may have the enviable advantage of studying a special group 

 of animals or plants under the most diverse geographical con- 

 ditions. Once this migration, which in Germany is so en- 

 larging and helpful to the student, is made possible among our 

 biological stations, the great advantages are too apparent to need 

 mention. 



Since the best conditions are not this summer available for work 

 on the Texas coast, it has been decided to hold the first session of 

 the marine station in the Bemini Islands, Bahamas Applica- 

 tions for admission will be received until June 20. Of investi- 

 gators no special fee is required. For students not attending the 

 University of Texas, there is a laboratory fee of $35. The neces- 

 sary expenses for the session, including transportation from Aus- 

 tin and return, will approximate $100. 



METHOD OF MAKING A SANITARY INVESTIGATION OF 

 A RIVER. 



BY CHAS. 0. BROWN, 0, E., UNION COLLEGE, SCHENECTADY, N. Y. 



The following programme of the investigation of the Hudson 

 River and its tributaries has been worked out in our labors for 

 the State Board of Health during the last four years, and may be 

 of interest. The work commenced with an inspection of the 

 shores of the river to determine the causes of certain nuisances 

 which existed along its banks and to determine the method of 

 abating these nuisances. These consisted principally of marshes 

 or badly drained pools with some areas partly covered with water 

 at high stages but open to the sun at low water. A few nuisances 

 arising from the deposit of garbage or the discharge of sewage 

 were also found. All these were evident on inspection and it was 

 possible to abate most of them with little difiSculty. In any other 

 case the same would usually be true, except where there are 

 large areas of bottom land which are overflowed by high water 

 and are not well situated for drainage after the high stage is 

 passed. It is possible, however, except in the largest water- 

 sheds, to drain much the largest part of such lands. There 

 is no question that such bad conditions as are often found have 

 a decided effect upon the salubrity of the neighboring lands, 

 and that sooner or later treatment of the problem of drain- 

 age must begin and be carried through as rapidly as funds will 

 permit. 



Where a river is also used as a source of water supply, a much 

 moi-e detailed study must be made of its condition and possibili- 

 ties. In the case of the Hudson, a study of the geology of the 

 watershed was made to show what the inorganic chemical im- 

 purities of the water might be, the result being very favorable to 

 the purity of the water, as much of tlie area is covered by the 

 oldest formations and supplies but little inorganic matter of any 

 sort. The southern tributaries of the Mohawk bring in more 

 such matter, in the form of lime from the Helderberg and neigh- 

 boring formations, than any other part of the watershed. Where 

 the surface soil is made up of disintegrated rock it may have a bene- 

 ficial effect upon the water by acting as a filter to remove some 

 of the organic matter, or it may have a deleterious effect by add- 

 ing much alkaline matter to water percolating through it. In 

 some cases this may be so serious as to prevent the use of water 

 from some parts of the watershed for water supply. In connec- 

 tion with this study of the geology goes the study of the organic 

 pollution from vegerable sources, since much of this comes from 

 marshes and swamps whose existence is due to the arrangement 

 of the geological strata. There are cases where the amount of 

 such pollution is excessive. It is probable, however, that there 

 are very few cases where the swamps cannot be drained and thus 



