June 30, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



995 



considerable amount of high priced fruit had 

 been ruined. 



Scattered irregularly over the surface of 

 each apple were conspicuous spots of various 

 sizes where the epidermis was dead, discolored 

 and slightly sunken. Each spot was nearly 

 circular, though on some apples the adjacent 

 spots had coalesced, forming a large affected 

 area of irregular shape. Beneath each spot 

 to a depth of a few millimeters, the flesh was 

 dead, shrunken and dry, appearing as though 

 affected with a dry rot. There was no dis- 

 agreeable odor or taste to the dead flesh or 

 epidermis. 



In the center of each of the smaller spots, 

 and scattered over the larger affected areas, 

 were small bodies resembling the pycnidia of 

 a fungus, but examination showed them to be 

 only the normal lenticels of the apples. 



Failure to find either fungi or bacteria as a 

 cause of the injury led to the belief that some 

 treatment of the fruit, such as fumigation, 

 might be a cause. Sulphur, being commonly 

 used for fumigation, was experimented with 

 to note the effects of the fumes upon ripe 

 apples. Fruits of different varieties including 

 Esopus Spitzenburg were placed in a bell jar 

 which was then filled with sulphur fumes. 

 After five minutes the fruit was removed and 

 found to have developed numerous spots that 

 were in every way identical with those on the 

 apples received for examination. 



This experiment was repeated many times 

 with wet and with dry fruits, but the charac- 

 teristic spots were always produced. The 

 spots continued to enlarge for some time after 

 the fruits were removed from the fumes. 



The presence of a lenticel in the center of 

 each spot would indicate that the sulphur 

 dioxid passes into the fruit at this point and 

 causes the bleaching of the tissue. A similar 

 effect was produced where an artificial break 

 in the epidermis was made. A lenticel makes 

 a strong color contrast with the bleached epi- 

 dermis, thus giving it the appearance of a 

 pycnidium. 



.Sulphur was the only substance used in 

 these experiments; it is possible that other 

 chemicals would produce a similar injury. 



Geneva, N. Y. H. J. Eustace. 



THE FLOATING LABORATORY OF MARINE 

 BIOLOGY OF TRINITY COLLEGE. 

 Articles of incorporation have been filed 

 with the secretary of the state of Connecticut 

 ' to establish and maintain a floating labora- 

 tory of marine biology for exploration in 

 oceanography and the collection and investiga- 

 tion of the organisms of the sea; to supply 

 colleges, museums and other institutions with 

 material for investigation, study and exhibi- 

 tion.' 



A vessel of about ninety tons burden will 

 be secured and equipped with the necessary 

 dredges, trawles, tangles, tow-nets, etc., as 

 well as chemical reagents and glassware for 

 work in marine zoology and botany. When 

 the boat is anchored in a protected harbor im- 

 mediately it becomes a laboratory. The vessel, 

 in sailing from place to place in the ocean, 

 will furnish most favorable facilities for the 

 investigation of the distribution and variation 

 of organisms. On each expedition it is 

 planned to stay in some particularly desirable 

 locality for about one month so that problems 

 of cytology, embryology and physiology may 

 be undertaken. Competent preparators, art- 

 ists and photographers will be on the staff so 

 that not only museums and laboratories may 

 be supplied with material, but an effort will 

 be made to meet the specifications of investi- 

 gators as to fixation and preservation, together 

 with sketches, or photographs, of the organ- 

 isms desired for their work. In going to a 

 new region each summer large collections for 

 research will be made year after year and it 

 is hoped to greatly extend our knowledge of 

 the local faunas and flora of the western At- 

 lantic. 



In the early summer of 1906 the vessel will 

 sail to the Bahamas. After a month in the 

 sub-tropics the boat will weigh anchor for the 

 cruise northward, making a harbor every hun- 

 dred miles or so for the purpose of getting 

 material for comparative studies. In the 

 Bahama Islands the conditions are very fa- 

 vorable for the most abundant and varied 

 organisms since these islands are situated in 

 the mouth of the Gulf Stream where it de- 

 bouches between Florida and Cuba, bringing 

 with it myriads of creatures caught up in the 



