Marine bacteria 17 



My plan was accepted by the Trustees of the Institution, and I was invited to spend 

 a month that summer at Woods Hole to study the situation a little more closely. 

 Subsequently, I was appointed investigator to organize the work in marine bacteriology. 



The next 10 years found me busy every summer for about two months at the 

 Oceanographic Institution, searching for bacteria in the sea. There were always 

 several collaborators, assistants, and graduate students to help in the research 

 program. It is of particular interest to mention among the associates Dr. Cornelia 

 Carey, Professor of Bacteriology at Barnard, Dr. Margaret Hotchkiss of New 

 York Medical College, and, later. Dr. Austin Phelps of Yale University. Among the 

 assistants who should be mentioned are, first, Herbert W. Reuszer, Charles Renn, 

 J. Stokes, and D. Q. Anderson, and, later, Charles Weiss, Donald Reynolds, and 

 Don Johnstone. There were also various visiting investigators concerned with 

 microbiological problems, principally Prof. H. Gran of Oslo, Norway, who has left 

 his mark in bacteriology with his classical study of the agar-liquefying bacteria; Dr. 

 Frederick K. Sparrow, who made a study of the fungi in the sea, especially those 

 pathogenic to marine algae; and Prof. U. Vartiovaara of Finland. A number of 

 summer laboratory assistants, especially Eric Warbasse, contributed much in 

 collecting equipment, for both inside and outside (or boat) work, and helping to 

 organize the laboratory at the Institution. 



By the time I started the first investigation in 1931, the laboratories were fully 

 equipped and ready to operate, thanks to the efforts of Reuszer, who did a great deal 

 of the preparatory work, especially prior to my arrival at Woods Hole. He also 

 continued some of the experimental studies in New Brunswick during the rest of the 

 year. It was not until 1932, however, that our program of marine research was fully 

 developed. During the preparatory period I had full opportunity to familiarize 

 myself with the literature on the subject. We decided to approach the study of marine 

 bacteria along four distinct lines : 



1. The nature of the bacterial population as a whole, both in sea-water and in the 

 sea bottom. Special attention was given to the influence of distance from land, depth 

 of water, and nature of bottom material. A comparative study was also undertaken 

 of the methods to be used, including suitable media, and of the changes in the popula- 

 tion after the samples were taken, especially upon standing in the laboratory. Although 

 most of these studies were quantitative in nature, others were also qualitative, since 

 they involved a study of the specific nature of marine bacteria, such as aerobic v^. 

 anaerobic, and spore-forming v^. non-spore-forming types. 



2. The specific nature of some of the marine bacteria. Particular attention was 

 paid to those responsible for the formation of nitrite and nitrate by oxidation of 

 ammonia, the reduction of nitrate, the fixation of nitrogen, the decomposition of 

 cellulose, and the nature and decomposition of marine algal constituents. 



3. Transformation of organic matter in the water and in the bottom material. 

 This included a variety of reactions, such as oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide 

 liberation, and nitrogen transformation. The water from warm regions showed, for 

 example a higher bacterial population with much less oxygen consumption than did 

 the water from cold regions, when samples of water were kept under identical con- 

 ditions for equal periods of time. This pointed to a greater concentration of available 

 organic matter in the colder waters. 



