Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.
Residence and Fisheries Bureau Headquarters, Woods Hole.
Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.
Beyond the laboratory building was the wharf to which the two steam yachts attached respectively to the station and the M. B. L. were tied up. Beyond that again was a second pier, that of the Revenue Cutter service, where lay, with banked fires, one of the guardians of American seas, a man ever on duty at the wireless receiver. Beyond the pier the land curved to the point opposite the Elizabeth Islands, while in the narrow strait or 'hole' between, the tide for all Buzzards Bay surged out or in as the ebb and flow compelled.
As captain of the fish-trap crew and active in collection, Colin had the run of both laboratories and the day always seemed too short for him. Every investigator's work was a matter of personal interest to him and he talked 'research' all the day long, though too tired to dream of it at night. Nor did he forget his swimming, and at the beach in Buzzards Bay he swam a mile or so each day, the admiration and the envy of all the M. B. L. students. But Colin speedily won their friendship, for he never hesitated to help other swimmers in every way he could, even teaching little tricks of style that were all his own and which had gone far to win him his championship.
As Director Prelatt had promised, Colin was given an opportunity to keep some research work in hand, although he found—as had been foretold—that he had but little time for it. The director was engaged upon a most interesting and important investigation, which, like all those that were in progress at the laboratory, had a strong economic value. This was the study of the life history of the whelk.
"At first sight," the director said to him, when explaining the problem, "it does not seem as though the biology of a sea-snail were a matter of
much importance to the country, but as a matter of fact, to a great extent the oyster industry—which reaches millions of dollars annually and gives employment as well as food to thousands of people—depends upon that very thing."