360 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
expense, as by maintaining a well-equipped laboratory, open to 
all who come to study the natural history of that region. Pro- 
fessor Alexander Agassiz, in his report on the Museum of 
Comparative Zoólogy for the year 1894-95, points out the 
mutual advantages that result from coóperation between the 
Fish Commission and those engaged in research work in biol- 
ogy. Mr. Agassiz has especially in mind the Woods Holl sta- 
tion, but his remarks have a wider applicability. Mr. Agassiz 
remarks that * no university laboratory can hope to obtain the 
facilities accruing from the maintenance of the fleet of small 
boats and steamers, and of the personnel which forms a neces- 
sary part of the equipment of the Fish Commission Station”; 
and farther on: * The mere collecting of material for ordinary 
investigation, at a marine station, is not expensive, but it is 
expensive to carry on the continuous observations of eminent 
specialists, and subsequently to publish their investigations. 
Such observations could well be carried on in connection with 
the work of a Government Fish Commission, and are not only ger- 
mane to its investigations, but all important to their success." ! 
The bill providing for a marine station at Beaufort has the 
earnest support of many naturalists and college presidents in 
the North, West, and South. It is widely recognized how 
advisable, both from the scientific and economic standpoint, it 
is to have several stations along our coast at which observa- 
tions may be carried on year after year. The wisdom of such 
a course becomes manifest when we consider the length of the 
coast, the difference in the character of its fauna at widely sep- 
arated places, and the migratory habits of many animals (food 
fishes, etc.). It may safely be said that many of the most inter- 
esting economic problems, such, for instance, as the effect of 
the feeding ground on edible animals, and the possibility of 
altering such grounds, can only be solved after a comparison 
of results, obtained at various points on the coast, has been 
made, and the same is true for the broader Muy of variation 
in its strictly scientific aspect. 
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
1 Italics are mine. 
