336 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 270. 



is readily accessible by rail or boat, that 

 the climate in summer is delightful, the 

 bathing excellent, the mainland and is- 

 lands charming, the sound with its con- 

 tinual procession of ships always varied 

 and interesting, and you have in Woods 

 Holl not only an ideal place for a laboratory, 

 but also an ideal place for summer resi- 

 dence. 



Having determined to locate the Labora- 

 tory at Woods Holl, the Trustees bought a 

 small piece of land near the Fish Commis- 

 sion Station and erected upon it a plain 

 wooden building, 63 x 28 feet and two sto- 

 ries high. This was equipped with the 

 most necessary apparatus and the Marine 

 Biological Laboratory was first opened 

 July 17, 1888. 



From the first it was determined that 

 the Laboratory should not be under the 

 control of any college, university or other 

 institution, but that it should be truly na- 

 tional in character and that it should invite 

 the cooperation of all persons and institu- 

 tions interested in the advancement of the 

 science of Biology. Accordiugly the Lab- 

 oratory was organized on an independent 

 foundation. 



Its government was vested in a Corpora- 

 tion and a Board of Trustees. The Cor- 

 poration, at first ten in number, now con- 

 sists of several hundred persons, many of 

 them present or former students and inves- 

 tigators at the Laboratory, who are inter- 

 ested in its welfare and have contributed to 

 its support. The Corporation elects an- 

 nually six members of the Board of Trus- 

 tees, passes upon all proposed changes in the 

 CoDstitution and By-Laws, hears an annual 

 report from the Director and the Treas- 

 urer and makes such recommendations con- 

 cerning the general policy of the Labora- 

 tory as it may desire. The Board of 

 Trustees, at first seven in number, now 

 consists of twenty-seven members, some of 

 them business men of recognized ability, but 



most of them biologists representing prom- 

 inent educational institutions in almost 

 every part of the United States and Canada. 

 The Board has direct charge of the property 

 and funds of the Laboratory, elects the Di- 

 rector and Assistant Director, and has gen- 

 eral supervision of the scientific work. 



From the first the institution has been 

 under the directorship of Professor C. O. 

 Whitman, and it isbut simple justice to say 

 that the remarkable success which has at- 

 tended it is due in large measure to the 

 high ideals and the untiring energy and 

 sacrifice of Professor Whitman. For twelve 

 years he has devoted himself to the Labora- 

 tory without compensation and with an en- 

 thusiasm which has served to inspire many 

 others with his own ideals concerning the 

 Laboratory and to enlist their hearty coop- 

 eration. 



In his address at the opening of the Lab- 

 oratory and in subsequent publications. 

 Professor Whitman took the position that 

 there was great need for a laboratory which 

 should represent, (1) the whole of biol- 

 ogy ; (2) both teaching and research ; (3) 

 the widest possible cooperation of educa- 

 tional and scientific institutions. Such a 

 laboratory should not be merely a collect- 

 ing station, nor a summer school, nor a 

 scientific work shop, nor a congress of biol- 

 ogists, but all of these; an institution com- 

 bining in itself the functions and features 

 of the best biological institutes of the world, 

 having the cooperation of the biologists of 

 this country, and thus forming " a national 

 center of instruction and research in every 

 department of Biology. " The history of the 

 Laboratory has shown that this ambitious 

 project is not only highly desirable, but 

 that it is entirely feasible and has justified 

 the claim of the Director that such an in- 

 stitution is the greatest need of American 

 biology. 



" The new laboratory at Woods Holl," 

 said the director in his first report, " is 



