156 R. A. Daly — Problems df the Pacific Islands. 



this is a very great advantage, not shared by the ordinary 

 "monographic" method of work, which is now possible to the 

 individual, however he be supported. Examples will occur to 

 every naturalist. Mutational and experimental studies of end- 

 less variety need to run several years before valuable results 

 are attainable. The same is largely true of the dynamics of 

 organic distribution. The essence of volcanic action can only 

 be determined by nearly continuous observation of vents for 

 many years ; already the Pacific volcanoes have probably 

 taught us more concerning this fundamental subject than have 

 all the other vents of the globe together. Determinations of 

 the rates of change, such as that of coral or nullipore growth, 

 are urgently needed, and a decade must give estimates much 

 safer than those possible under the usual conditions of field 

 work. For various reasons it is important to compare the ero- 

 sive power of waves breaking on oceanic islands with the 

 power of those which break on continental shores after run- 

 ning over the broad continental shelves ; observations through 

 a series of years can alone give the data. Continued, direct 

 measurements on the Falcon shoal of the Tonga group — a 

 recently formed mass of volcanic ash — can doubtless do much 

 toward settling the important question as to the depth to 

 which waves and currents can erode the ocean bottom. 



Many other instances might be cited, but no naturalist needs 

 to be further reminded of the value of ample lime for his field 

 studies, nor of the loss to science involved in the normal 

 obligation to leave the field at the end of one or two seasons. 

 Not less important than the allowance of time for the com- 

 pletion of dynamic studies, is the advantage of a plan whereby 

 the observer himself becomes saturated with his large problem 

 and fully matured in the power to solve it. 



The project is further justified on account of the rapid 

 destruction of aboriginal conditions in the Pacific islands by 

 immigrant man. Already their primitive peoples have been 

 largely displaced, degraded, or destroyed by the whites. With 

 the savages and their customs and equipment have disappeared 

 some precious data regarding the development of our race. 

 The white man's interference with the native animals and 

 plants is similarly and speedily increasing the difficulty of 

 writing the natural history of the archipelagoes. Immediate 

 scientific attack means simultaneous attack on the islands. 



Again, the plan has a special advantage owing to its very 

 bigness. To be workable at all, the scientific collections and 

 laboratories should be concentrated as far as possible under 

 one roof, though, of course, duplicate material might well be 

 distributed among other museums of the United States. Such 

 a central building: should serve as the off-season home of the 



