Annual Meeting.] 10 [May 3, 



had nearly double that number. Twenty-two persons, ten women 

 and twelve men, availed themselves of the privileges offered ; 

 thirteen of these were teachers in the public schools of Boston, 

 and various colleges and other institutions of learning were also 

 represented, such as Princeton, N. J., Oswego Normal School, N. 

 Y., Framingham Normal School in this State, and Smith College. 

 Four special students were in attendance and pursued advanced 

 studies involving original work in embryology and anatomy. 

 Four investigators honored the Laboratory with their presence, 

 and pursued their labors in the more difficult fields of original 

 research. There was but one student at large, that is .in pur- 

 suit of information without decided views of using his acquisi- 

 tions for some professional or practical purpose. The Laboratory 

 was begun under the impression that such an institution would 

 meet the wants of a number of students, teachers, and others, 

 who had already made a beginning in the study of Natural His- 

 tory. This impression has received the fullest confirmation, 

 though the expense of board and lodging in Annisquam prevented 

 several persons from making application. It was also expected 

 that the demand for such instruction as the Laboratory could give, 

 would come largely from those who had been pupils in the Teach- 

 ers' School of Science, and in the Laboratory of the Society of 

 Natural History. This expectation was also fully realized ; more 

 than half of the whole number present had been under our 

 instruction in Boston. The small sum charged for the use of the 

 Laboratory per week to each person was none too small when it is 

 considered that very few of those who studied there could have 

 afforded any considerable sum in addition to their board and 

 travelling expenses. 



The success of the summer's work is due to the ability and 

 energy of Mr. B. H. Van Vleck, who had the whole charge of the 

 instruction and work done in the Laboratory, and it is also proper 

 to remember that his labor was largely a donation for the purpose 

 of trying this experiment. The great need of an institution for 

 teaching field work cannot be properly estimated by the number 

 of those who are attracted by the opening of such opportunities for 

 study. The mental condition of those who attend, and what it 

 has done for them, what it can do for others like them, and 



