33 
bearing upon questions of public health as affected by pollution 
of the waters of the Illinois River by sewage and other waste 
from the towns above, and ultimately from Chicago by way of 
the drainage canal. 
A knowledge of the plant life of the river is scarcely second 
in importance to that of its animal life; a fact which has been 
evident to me from the beginning, but which, nevertheless, I 
have been compelled largely to ignore because of lack of funds 
to provide for continuous botanical investigation. Several com¬ 
petent zoologists were already in our employ as assistants in 
the State Laboratory of Natural History, and zoological investi¬ 
gation could consequently be provided for with little difficulty 
and at a relatively small expense. Furthermore, the smaller 
animal forms—the rotifers and the Protozoa—can be success¬ 
fully studied as a whole only in the living state, while micro¬ 
scopic plants are capable of preservation in condition to make 
their subsequent determination practicable Our plant collec¬ 
tions can consequently still be worked up by a botanist having 
an expert knowledge of aquatic forms. It is very much to be 
desired that another year may not be allowed to pass without 
provision for this indispensable part of our general subject, 
without which, indeed, final conclusions concerning the (ecology 
and economics of our aquatic biology cannot possibly be 
reached. 
The efficiency of our corps of workers and the quantity of 
the results of their work would be very greatly increased if pro¬ 
vision were made for their continuous maintenance on Quiver 
Lake. Our daily trips to and from the town proved very waste¬ 
ful of time and opportunity, and have added greatly to the 
expense of running the Station launch. Furthermore, notwith¬ 
standing the great usefulness of our floating laboratory, it is in 
some respects insufficient for the more advanced stages of our 
work, and should be supplemented by a laboratory building in 
the immediate neighborhood. Experimental researches will 
presently require a larger equipment than that now at our dis¬ 
posal in the jars and small aquaria to which we are at present 
confined. Finally, if the Station is to be utilized to the fullest 
extent as a means of instruction to teachers in the public 
schools, permanent provision for this work must certainly be 
made. 
