81 



for a plankton trip too cumbersome for an ordinary boat. The total weight 

 of the boat when manned and loaded with the outfit and water samples is not 

 less than a thousand pounds. The increased attention given to winter work 

 has necessitated the adaption of the boat to the exigencies of that season. 

 The bow and sides are protected with a sheath of zinc, and while the ice pre- 

 vails the bottom is shod with two steel runners. With the boat thus equipped 

 it is usually possible by rocking the boat and skillful manipulation of the ice- 

 hooks to beat a way through the thin and i-otten ice which will not carry the 

 weight of the load, while the runners allow the boat to slide easily over the 

 surface of the smooth ice wherever this is strong enough to bear the weight. 

 The greatest difficulty attending transit in the field in the winter occurs at 

 times when the river is low and access to Thompson's lake must be had by 

 portage across the bottomlands at the southern end of the lake. A pair of 

 wheels has been rigged up for this work, but in wet weather or after heavy 

 snows they are hardly adequate to the task. 



In the fall of 1896 the rented quarters which the station had occupied in 

 town were given up, and the property there accumulated was placed onboard 

 the laboratory boat. When the station was opened the following summer it 

 was necessary to secure storage elsewhere for pi-operty of a bulky nature or 

 that for which there was onlj' occasional use, and by the courtesy of the 

 Illinois State Fish Commission we utilized a corner of their warehouse on the 

 river front until the burning of the building in September. We suffered no 

 loss of consequence, and our property, some of it in a damaged condition, 

 was then returned to the laboratory boat for the winter. In 1898 the prob- 

 lem of storage was temporarily solved by the purchase of a cheaply con- 

 structed cabin boat twelve by twenty feet. 



Although no formal opening of the station to students was made during the 

 summer of 1897 and no advertisements of its facilities was undertaken, a few 

 applicants for places were accommodated under the conditions attending the 

 opening of the station to such persons in previous years. The following is a 

 jist of those in attendance and the lines of work pursued. 



H. C. Beardslee, A. B. , Instructor in Science, University School, Cleve- 

 land, Ohio. Fleshy fungi and Mycetozoa. 



Miss Bertha V. H. Forbes, B. S., Teacher of Biology, High School, Austin, 

 111. General biologj'. 



H. M. Kelly, A. M., Professor of Biology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon. 

 jowa. Trematoda parasitic in Unionidfp. 



S. D. Magers, B. S., Principal of High School, Houston, Texas. Alga? and 

 general biology. 



H. L. Roberts, Superintendent of Schools and Principal of High School, 

 Farmington, 111. General biology. 



The following j'ear a summer school of biology, with regular courses in 

 botany and zoology and offerings of advanced work in zoology was planned, 

 and authorized at the ]\Iarch meeting of the board of trustees. The school 

 ■s\;as well advertised iu the educational journals, and preliminarj^ and final 

 circulars were distributed as far as possible among the teachers of the State. 

 Extended advertising in the neighboring states was not attempted. The 

 Station staff was mainly responsible for packing and shipping the equip- 

 ment sent over by the University and the State Laboratorj^ and for its return, 

 for the registration of students, and for the financial management of the 

 school. No effort was spared to make the equipment of the station of use to 

 the school. The board of education of Havana placed the high school 

 building at our disposal for the summer school, and the teachers' institute 

 in session during the opening days was transferred to one of the churches by 

 the county superintendent, Mr. M. Bolan. 



The following is a list of the persons in attendance and their present fosi- 

 tions. 



Miss Anna L. Baldwin, Science Teacher, High Schcol, Pitt^field 111. 



T. L. Cook, Superintendent of Schools, Mt. Pulaski, 111. 



—6 F. C. 



