MARINE LABORATORIES 



at Beaufort, North Carolina, and one at the extreme 

 westerly and southerly end of the Florida Keys. 



No laboratory has as yet been established along the in- 

 teresting coast between Hatteras and Sandy Hook, with 

 its peculiar transitional fauna; yet such situations as 

 Cape Ma}^, or Linhaven, or Willoughby Harbors in Hamp- 

 ton Roads, would afford a suitable site for such a. station. 



It is not so remarkable that no laboratories have been 

 established upon the inner shores of Delaware or Chesa- 

 peake Bays, or at Pamlico or Albemarle Sounds, for in 

 these brackish inland waters the fauna is but limited in 

 comparison with the rich variety of forms to be found 

 along the exposed sea-beaches. In future, indeed, we 

 should endeavor to avoid the error which has, in places, 

 been made of building our laboratories in situations from 

 which the open water is not readily accessible at all times, 

 for it is peculiarly true of every laboratory that the 

 animals which afford the subjects of its most significant 

 researches are invariably those which may be obtained in 

 abundance in the near neighborhood of the station itself. 

 It is, therefore, most desirable that the laboratory be 

 placed in close proximity to the richest collecting grounds 

 of the region. 



It is remarkable that so little effort has been made to 

 properly install a laboratory for general instruction and 

 research upon the coast of New England north of Cape 

 Cod Bay. Yet here we find one of the most sharply dif- 

 ferentiated of the faunistic divisions of our coast. The 

 welfare of research in marine biology demands the ade- 

 quate maintenance of such a station. 



Returning recently from a visit of half a year to 

 various biological centers in Europe the writer has 

 formed the impression that the scientific results which 

 have been achieved by investigators in our marine 

 laboratories have won the admiration of European 

 students, while at home our intelligent public is only 

 beginning to awaken to the fact that they are worthy of 

 respect. 



