702 ~ The American Naturalist. [August, 
division of the laboratory is carefully organized and is under 
the charge of a special assistant. Prof. Hugo Eisig, the 
assistant director, has taken the welfare of each student under 
his personal charge, and it is not until the end of his stay that 
the visitor recognizes how much has been done for him. 
- There is no more interesting department of the station than 
that of receiving and distributing the material Its 
headquarters is in the basement of the physiological labora- 
tory, and here Cav. Lo Bianco is to be found busy with his 
aids and attendants amid a confusion of pans, dishes and 
tables, encountering the Neapolitan fishermen who have 
learned to bring all of their rarities to the station. The 
specimens are quickly assorted by the attendants; such 
as may not be needed for the immediate use of the investiga- 
tors are retained and prepared for shipment to the universities 
throughout Europe. The methods of killing and preserving 
marine forms have been made a most careful study by Lo 
Bianco and his preparations have gained him a world wide 
reputation. “Delicate jelly fish are to be preserved distended, 
and the frail forms of almost every group have been success- 
fully fixed. The methods of the Naples station were kept 
secret only until it was possible to verify and improve them 
asit was not deemed desirable to have them given out in a 
scattered way by a number of investigators. 
Lo Bianco has made the best use of the rich material passing 
daily through his department, and has been enabled to pre- 
pare the most valuable records as to spawning seasons and as 
to larval conditions. He knows the exact station of the rarest 
species, and it seems to the stranger a difficult matter to ask 
for a form which cannot be directly or indirectly procured. It 
adds no little to the time saving of the student to find each 
morning at his work place, the fresh material which he has 
ordered the day before, and there is usually an embarrassment 
rather than a dearth of riches. 
. A collecting trip often occurs as a pleasant change from the 
indoor work of the investigator. An excursion to Capri may 
be planned ; the launch will be brought to the quay near the 
station and the party will embark. The collecting tubs are 
