348 Scientific News. [ April, 
invited to avail themselves of the scientific facilities of the 
station. 
The laboratory was opened at Beaufort, N. C., on April 23, 
1880, and closed on September 30, after a session of twenty-three 
weeks. It was supplied with working accommodations for the 
six investigators who were in attendance. 
Beaufort, was selected for the third season’s work because it is 
the nearest accessible town, south of Baltimore, which is favorably 
situated for zodlogical study. The advantages of a location in a 
town are well shown by the fact that the expenses of a session of 
twenty-three weeks this year were considerably less than those of 
a ten weeks’ session the year before. . 
The scientific advantages of Beaufort are very great; the most 
important is the great difference between its fauna and that of our 
northern Atlantic coast. 
The configuration of our coast line is such that Cape Hatteras, 
_ the most projecting point south of New York, deflects the warm 
water of the Gulf Stream away from the coast, and thus forms an 
abrupt barrier between acold northern coast and a warm southern 
one. The fauna north of this barrier passes gradually into that 
of Southern New England, while the fauna south of the barrier 
passes without any abrupt change into that of Florida, but the 
northern fauna is sharply separated by Cape Hatteras from the 
southern. : 
During the past season Dr, Brooks worked out the interesting 
life history of Leucifer, and Mr. Wilson that of Phoronis, which 
have been published in abstract in the NATURALIST. wo 
Another interesting group which was studied is the Porcellani- 
da; the least specialized of the true crabs. The adults of our 
American species are almost restricted to our southern waters, 
although the swimming larvae are carried north by the Gulf 
Stream. Within the last two years two northern naturalists have 
studied these floating embryos upon the south coast of New Eng- 
land, but as they were working upon stragglers so far from home, 
their accounts are incomplete and somewhat contradictory. he 
advantages at Beaufort enabled them to contribute towards the 
solution of this confused subject by raising one species of Por- 
cellana from the egg. 
hey also raised six other species of crabs from the egg, and 
made drawings of the more important stages of developmient. 
One of the species which was thus studied is the edible crab. Its 
metamorphosis has never been figured, and although it presents 
no unusual features, its economic importance gives value to exact 
knowledge of its life history. : 
Mr. Wilson also studied the development of one species of 
Pycnogonida, a group of very peculiar Arthropods, distantly rela- 
ted to the spiders. As he has paid especial attention to the syS 
tematic study of this group, and is now engaged in describing . 
Pycnogonids collected in the Gulf Stream by Mr. Agassiz, te 
