A Corner of Brittany. 99 
"A La Maison Blanche," says a man near me, in an accent which 
is immediately distinguished from that of the Parisian *'cocher." 
"Oui!"is replied in a confident tone as if a knowledge of the 
whole French language was at the tongue's end. He asks if I am 
the American who is going to work in the laboratory and I reply 
that I am. We trudge down the dark road unlighted by a single 
lamp, and in a few moments the hostess of "La Maison Blanche " had 
me in charge. The hotel looks comfortable but its surroundings are 
very strange. The threshold of the entrance is lower than the 
pavement of the street. Along the entry hang rows of chickens, 
legs of lambs, sausages and vegetables. A crowd of Roscovites hang 
about the bar, which is elaborately filled with all the necessities. 
The hostess has picked up a little English from the numerous 
sailors who frequent her house and gives me a good reception. A bed 
of purest white and an excellent cup of coffee and bread in the 
morning form a cordial introduction to a town in which I was destin- 
ed to pass many, very many, happy days. 
French naturalists were the first to found special institutions on 
the seashore for the study of marine zoology. There are many prob- 
lems connected with the study of marine life which cannot be success- 
fully taken up without a residence near the localites where the ani- 
mals live, for they must be worked out either on living or fresh 
material, and it must be possible to have ready access to the habitats 
of these animals to study these questions. A first step in this work 
is to watch the animals in aquaria and carefully study their mode of 
life. With the improvement in methods of research a work room 
near the aquaria thus becomes a necessity for a successful answer 
to many problems. 
One of the earliest laboratories founded especially for the study of 
marine life on the shore was created by Prof. Lacaze-Duthiers at 
Roscoff. This institution is an " Annexe " of the Sorbonne in which 
the founder holds a professorship of Natural History, and over the 
door is placed this significant inscription, so often found on public 
buildings in Paris, " Liberte, Egalit^, Fraternite." This motto has 
here a new significance, and I thought as I approached the build- 
ing of the well-known laboratory in Roscoff on the morning after my 
arrival, how much that motto means in the organization of the institu- 
tion. The advantages are free to all of every nation, French, English 
American, Russian. Every specialist is freely given without expense 
the advantages of the institution. All are equal who enter its walls 
