A great labor. Mrs. Conklin, I was married. This is my last year in Johns
Hopkins. I was married. Mrs. Conklin was my amanuensis. And she wrote it
all out for me. As I dictated it
and
I submitted it all to Brooks with the plates. I had 8 or 10 plates made
with pen and ink. And uh Brooks took it Took it home with him, kept it for
several days, brought it back. Well, he said. I don't know what to say
about this.
He said, I don't know where in the world you can ever print this. There's
no place. We have no money. Morgan has used up all the money allotted to
the biology department. And In his work on pyno. He said, We've got no
money. We can't help you in printing it. And we've got to have 100 copies.
As a thesis
I don't know where in the world you can print it.
Said I don't know that it's worth printing.
And There is no
Logical importance.
In the mere duplication of parts. Cell division is merely a duplication of
parts.
And there's no morphological significance in it.
That was his thesis.
Well, The result was that he came back to see me after several.
Well, The result was that he came back to see me after several. In
interviews
in which there were always a half dozen students in the room. We didn't
have individual rooms. We were all thrown together, our gra graduate
students. And
Finally, he came back and he said, Well, Martin Compton. I've decided.
That this university has given doctor's degrees. For counting words.
In ancient languages for counting words.
I don't know why they might not give one degree for counting sales.
Well That ended And it was accepted for a doctoral thesis and a
preliminary note did appear at that at that time.
And I sent. And To the anatomer onyer.
Uh, which, uh, published it. On the early A cleavage Of the egg of
crepituulla with this. Definite separation of the germinal layer material.
Into these few cells.
Well, it was. Better regarded by the public than by Brooks.
And I went back to Johns Hopkins. In 1891.
To the same table. At the fish commission.
To continue the work. To a later stage of, of the development.
And
One of the first few weeks. At to
Which hole?
I, I was wrong in saying I had met Wilson. At the previous summer, I
hadn't. I had never met Wilson. Until my 2nd summer at Woods Hole.
And uh Water say,
who was a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins and who knew about my work.
To Wilson. Of what I was doing.
Well, Wilson was intensely interested. And he asked Sent word over asking
to make an appointment for the next Sunday morning. And on Sunday morning
next, he came over with his drawings. Of the cell lineage of Nerius. Of
course, it wasn't called that. The cell lineage of Nereus was one of the
later things in the development of the paper.
Well,
I never spent such a forenoon in my life. As I did that with Wilson. And
we went over these things. The whole of the ectoderm. In 12 cells, the
same in Nereus, but in Caidulla, spread out on a plate. In near use in the
sphere, much more difficult to follow. So much plainer. In crepiulla,
everything out on a plate. And finally
The Meeder. In one cell. The 4D,
well, that simply capped the climax. And then, of course. We were
following the individual ectomirs, the various cells as far as we could.
And I gave Wilson. Had just been appointed. To his position at Columbia
University. He had been for 5 years, professor of biology at Johns Hopkins
University. I know. At Bryn Mawr College. And uh
He was greatly admired there as a teacher. He was a prince of teachers.
And he had just gone to Columbia with the understanding. That his first
year was to be spent in Europe.
And I had made Arrangements.
Just before I got my doctor's degree. To go out to the Ohio Wesleyan
University, my old college where I had graduated 6 years before. And had
taught for 3 years in the interval. And then had spent 3 years at Johns
Hopkins.
I had made arrangements to go there. And start A laboratory, they had no
laboratory.
Of biology.
I had to equip everything, take a bare room. Get tables and put in sinks.
And lockers And all that sort of thing. And I had to organize. I didn't
have to, but I thought I ought to. I I had a great idea of getting things
started in a, in a pretty good way. And I had the advanced students,
students who I knew a good deal of biology. Especially Harold Heath. Who
was uh The finest sort of an assistant.
And I had to provide advanced. Courses for him in zoology. And for half a
dozen others. And the result of it was. That to fit my work into the old
college curriculum.
To which there had been added. Not a single professor. In more than 20
years. I was the first man. In 20 years to be added to the faculty.
Uh, as a professor.
Well, everything was terribly backwards. Awfully hard work. And that was
my first duty and I worked at it. As hard as any man ever worked at
anything.
And
I got the work going, going well. But by going back to Woods Hole, I kept
in touch with research.
And This 2nd summer. And the contact With Wilson brought me in contact
with Whitman. And Whitman had me in for a half day. And he said he solved
one of my problems at once. He said, I want that for the Journal of
morphology, which was the finest publication in morphology in the world at
that time. My goodness, I took my breath.
He said, I want you to do that work over, making it as perfect as it can
be made.
Don't spare the time or the labor. And we will print it and we'll give you
the finest lithographic illustrations.
Well, I'll tell you what. I worked at that.
And The result was.
That I was, uh, the whole of that summer. of 91.
Uh, when Wilson and I were both at Woods Hole, I was getting my paper into
shape. And during the following winter and spring. And In 1892.
Uh The work went, went ahead. And grew and grew and grew. I was afraid.
That it would be turned down. It was bigger than it need have been.
There's just no question. It could have been cut down.
But it turned out to be some 240 or 250 printed pages in length. With 9
lithographic plates in 3 or 4 colors.
And
It was a book and literally was a book. Occupy the full number. Of the
Journal of Morphology. And was one of the things that caused the collapse
of the journal. Yeah.
Well.
Then the question was to get it printed. And gaining company. In spite of
the plate, the fact that the plates were all made by Werner and Vinter. I
don't know that they were made before. 1893.
But about that time they were made. And I had the proofs.
But uh but uh again and company said they would be, they would lose $2000
on printing that number and they couldn't afford it. And In the meantime,
I did everything I could.
To increase the subscriptions to the Journal of Morphology. And
To do what I could to help get in company. In their difficulties, Whitman
took no interest in such things. He, he said to me on one occasion. When I
said my goodness, Whitman. That'll take a mint of money. Great God, he
said, what's money for?
That was his attitude
and it's it was a pretty good attitude.
Well, that's a good chapter. I don't you? Yes, it's all.
Oh.