Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-17
JOHNS hopkins SCIENTISTS.
Work at the Marine Laboratory in
North Carolina.
80 4 Raltimore 81

From, the Baltimore sun.
BEAUFORT, n. c., July l0.-rhough the
Abaco party carried of the majority Of
the Hopkins biologists, the former station
at Beaufort, y. c., is still running. There
are, however. but two men here, Mr..
Haldeman and Mr.. Wilson, and the work
is consequently of q less varied character
than usual This summer work of zoolog
zeal students seems to be i'll understood
by people IN general, and it may be worth
while to speak somewhat at length about
it.
The idea OF a summer laboratory is en-
phatically not that of a place designed
for museum collecting, and the visitor
who expects TO see tiers of glass jars con-
tanning all kinds of queer specimens Will
be disappointed. The laboratory is only
a place where one comes to study marine
/ ANIMALS, to observe them alive, dlssect
them fresh, and, if she observer wishes to
examine into the fine microscopic
! structure, preserve them in special ways
for winter work. Finally, ii is place
where one studies the development or
emOryology OF sea animals. just at
! present it is this development OF organ
| isms IN which biologists are every
| where most interested. and for
! this line of investigation marine
| laboratory is essential, since salt
water creatures are by far the most va
! RED and interesting forms OF animal life.
! 70 get the embryoogy of an animal-tor
! instance, a Jellytsh or starhsh-the
! first thing desirable is to capture ripe
! adults, keep them together i'll an aqua
! rum until the eggs are laid and iertiilzed-
! For the large majority OF animals the eggs
/ are microscopic in size, and in al cases
! the changes in the eggs are to be followed
IA NVrNt hal nr rod
! eggs are once obtained they need con-
slant supply of fresh sea water. In
! small glass dish they are Kept under the
! microscope, and hour after hour,
! day by day, they undergo the gradual
changes that transform, for eX-
ample, the egg OF jel!yhsh or
! medusa, which looks like microscopic
pearl, into small and more or less perfect
image of the adult, with its mouth, stom-
ach, muscles, nerves, sense organs often,
| however. it IS impossible or needless o
| keep animals in confinement for breeding
| purposes. In such cases one gets The va
riouS stages of his animal in the natural
nome, where the eggs are laid in masses
attached to the ground or TO some large
| object. Collecting ia very SIMPLE. At
low tide all over the shoa in front OF the
laboratory, in water IA few inches deep,
can be seen Jumps of clear, color
less jelly. On picking up piece
1t is found to contain myriad of
tiny, opaque dots. These are eggs
Of marine anneiids, worms closely allied
to the common earthwOrm. AS the grow
ing eggs approach She condition in which
they are At to SWIM about IN the water,
the jelly gradually goes to pieces and the
little worms are set free. Or, TO take an
other example, in walking across Bird
shoal one will ind a string about yard
long of circular dtsk-sbaped boxes with
a thin leatnerv wall. Each OF these boxes,
say an Inch in diameter, contains num-
Der of the eggs of one Of the conchs.
These egg cases OF the COnch are curious
looking things, and are usually amongst
the list OF marine oddities to be had at the
little seaside curiosity shop.
Very MANY animals, long before they
have developed into the likeness OF the
parent, begin to swim freely about, often
by means OF fine hairs, which all yibrate
IN one direction. Such free swimming,
so-caIIed lsFval forms are to be got by
towing. Towing is managed in this way
Just before high tide, when the current is
bringing in towards shore numbers OF
small animals, one drags fine net from
the stern Of a slow-going boat over the
surface OF the wafer. Now and then toe
net is pulled iu, turned inside out, add
washed in bucket OF water. Later.
when the water is examined, it is found
most Of them microscopic, and amongst
them the above mentioned larval forms.
The b9st time for towing is at night,
when the water is quite calm. SO many
OF the surface animals are ph0sphorescent
that the net when hauled in gllstens all
over with the bright yellow light.
The Beaufort harb0r is well adapted TO
geological work. 1t is a bay of about
two by three miles, wlt1 the seward
opening contracted by two peninsulas,
projecting opposite each other. On one
of them is Fort Macon. In the haTbor
there are several shoals, which At low
tide are capital collecting grounds, the
animals lying in such shallo6 water that
one can easily pick them up. The large
Class of worms is exceedingly well repre-
seDted on these shoals. The group OF
worms is not by any means made up Of
forms all Ike the common earfhwOrm.
some are llat, some are cylindrical, and
they run from a very small size up 10 three
feet. Many of them are highly ColoTed,
have eyes and waving tentacles on the
head, and branched, tree-like gills that
stick out from the sides OF the body. Some.
like the earthwOrm, merely have holes in
| the ground, but others live in tough,
! parcbment-like tubes that sink some dis
| lance below the surface.