12 



leave five places open to non-subscribers, to be filled by the gov- 

 erning board of the Station. 



A governing board consisting of representatives of the govern- 

 ment bureaus interested in subjects kindred to those of the Fish 

 Commission, together with appointees of the subscribers from the 

 leading Universities, might form a board of trustees empowered by 

 Congress to carry on the Wood's Holl Station for the best interests 

 of the Fish Commission and of the different branches of science 

 connected with marine explorations. The vessels under the 

 control of the Commission would, as far as practicable, also be 

 available for the general purposes both of the Commission and 

 of the scientific investigators. Such a combination as that sug- 

 gested above would in no way interfere with the marine lab- 

 oratories now or hereafter to be connected with the different 

 Universities. The Wood's Holl Laboratory would-be a permanent 

 station, occupied during the whole year by the officers of the Fish 

 Commission and the Scientific Director, and in addition to the cen- 

 tral station well equipped laboratories would soon be established 

 for all branches of the scientific investigation of the sea ; and 

 these permanent laboratories in their turn would be supplemented 

 by expeditions of greater or less duration in the vessels connected 

 with the Fish Commission. Should such a central station be 

 found to work well, it would have a fair claim for support both from 

 the government and the public. 



A beginning might be made by securing an annual sum of five 

 thousand dollars for five years from the Universities interested in 

 this work, and a plan prepared to be presented to Congress for their 

 approval. The position of the laboratory at Wood's Holl, and its con- 

 nection with a government bureau, are perhaps the only drawbacks 

 to enlisting the interest of Universities in the proposed scheme. 



There will of course be some difficulty in devising a practical 

 plan of co-operation between the Fish Commission and the repre- 

 sentatives of the purely scientific interests of the country. The 

 distance of Wood's Holl to the open Atlantic is also a very seri- 

 ous drawback. During the summers which I spent at Wood's 

 Holl, my experience was that, while the shore fauna is perhaps as 

 varied as that of more exposed parts of the adjoining coast, it 

 is far less productive so far as the pelagic fauna is concerned 

 which forms so great a share of the material of a marine labora- 

 tory. But with an ample equipment of sea-going launches and of 



