Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and for that matter, several of the West Indies, offer possible sites for a successful station.  I have reasonably intimate personal knowledge only of the conditions in Jamaica.  The major advantages in the West Indies are (a) suitable climatic conditions and food supply for the animals; and (b) reasonably satisfactory climatic conditions for the staff.  These are, however, more than counterbalanced in my opinion by the following serious disadvantages:  (a) the relative isolation of the investigators from their fellow scientists; (b) the necessity of importing all of the animals originally used; (c) the risk of destruction of the station by storms.

It is definitely known that anthropoid apes as well as monkeys can be successfully kept, bred, and reared in the West Indies.  During the past year, on the estate of Doha Rosalia Abreu, near Havana, Cuba, a chimpanzee was born in captivity.  A valuable account of this important event and of the young ape has been published by Doctor Louis Montane (1915).  It therefore seems practically certain that regions could be found readily on Jamaica, Porto Rico, or smaller islands, which would be eminently satisfactory for the breeding of apes.

There are obvious reasons why an American station for the study of the primates should be located on territory controlled by the United States Government, and if a tropical location proves necessary, it would probably be difficult to find more satisfactory regions, aside from the inconveniences and risk of importation and the relative isolation of the investigators, than are available on Porto Rico.

I have not seriously considered the possibility of locating an American station on the continent of Africa, for although two of the most interesting and important of the anthropoid apes, the gorilla and the chimpanzee, are African forms, while many species of monkey are either found there or could readily be imported, it has seemed to me that the islands of the West and East Indies and the portions of the United States referred to above are much to be preferred over anything available in Africa.

In the East, Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and Hawaii are well worth considering.  Borneo is the home of the gibbon and of at least one species of orang utan, and in addition to these important assets, it presents the advantages of (a) a wholly suitable climate and food supply for monkeys and apes; and (b) climatic conditions for investigators which, I am informed by scientific friends, are nearly ideal.  For investigators the most serious disadvantage here, as in all other parts of the East, would be the isolation from other scientific work and workers.

The possibilities of Central America I considered several years ago when it seemed to me possible that work might profitably be done with monkeys and apes on the Canal Zone.  The advantages are (a) a climate which promises fairly well for the animals; and (b) reasonable accessibility from the United States.  The disadvantages are (a) a far from ideal climate for long continued scientific work; and (b) an environment which from the cultural and scientific point of view leaves much to be desired.