﻿JOURNAL 
  

  

  OF 
  THE 
  

  

  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  

  

  Vol. 
  12 
  March 
  4, 
  1922 
  No. 
  5 
  

  

  OCEANOGRAPHY. 
  — 
  Some 
  problems 
  of 
  the 
  sea.^ 
  R. 
  L. 
  Faris, 
  U. 
  S. 
  

   Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey. 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  well 
  said, 
  I 
  think, 
  that 
  "a 
  presidential 
  address, 
  if 
  there 
  

   is 
  to 
  be 
  any 
  at 
  all, 
  should 
  be 
  elaborately 
  short 
  and 
  elaborately 
  simple. 
  

   It 
  should 
  deal 
  with 
  general 
  principles, 
  such 
  as 
  can 
  be 
  imme- 
  

   diately 
  grasped 
  by 
  every 
  member 
  of 
  an 
  audience."' 
  This 
  is 
  good 
  ad- 
  

   vice, 
  and 
  I 
  hope 
  you 
  will 
  find 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  followed 
  it. 
  

  

  Noah 
  was 
  probably 
  the 
  first 
  person 
  of 
  record 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  sea. 
  

   He 
  had 
  a 
  sea 
  problem 
  of 
  navigation, 
  of 
  ascertaining 
  his 
  whereabouts 
  

   and 
  that 
  is 
  probably 
  all 
  the 
  attention 
  that 
  he 
  gave 
  to 
  the 
  matter. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  problems 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  were 
  probably 
  those 
  of 
  navigation 
  or 
  

   perhaps 
  such 
  as 
  concerned 
  the 
  local 
  food 
  supply 
  which 
  through- 
  

   out 
  all 
  historic 
  time 
  has 
  been 
  drawn 
  partly 
  from 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  The 
  seas 
  which 
  man 
  found 
  here 
  upon 
  his 
  advent 
  on 
  earth 
  he 
  seems, 
  

   as 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  course, 
  to 
  have 
  long 
  considered 
  as 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  natural 
  

   surroundings, 
  and 
  generally 
  ceased 
  to 
  trouble 
  himself 
  about 
  them 
  — 
  

   their 
  size, 
  their 
  depths, 
  their 
  contents, 
  or 
  even 
  their 
  effect 
  upon 
  his 
  

   life. 
  Yet 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  seas 
  is 
  much 
  larger 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  all 
  land 
  

   areas 
  of 
  the 
  earth, 
  and 
  their 
  influence 
  upon 
  his 
  daily 
  life, 
  and 
  even 
  

   upon 
  his 
  very 
  nature, 
  is 
  profound 
  and 
  persistent. 
  The 
  very 
  ratio 
  of 
  

   sea 
  to 
  land 
  surface 
  is 
  essential 
  to 
  the 
  existence 
  and 
  development 
  of 
  

   the 
  present 
  humankind. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  predict 
  or 
  even 
  definitely 
  to 
  speculate 
  upon 
  the 
  

   effect 
  on 
  human 
  life 
  that 
  a 
  different 
  distribution 
  or 
  a 
  different 
  ratio 
  of 
  

   land 
  and 
  water 
  would 
  bring 
  about, 
  for 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  specific 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  any 
  other 
  world 
  arrangement 
  with 
  which 
  to 
  make 
  comparison. 
  I 
  

   think 
  it 
  quite 
  possible 
  that 
  not 
  many 
  of 
  us 
  have 
  taken 
  thought 
  of 
  

   how 
  really 
  our 
  lives 
  are 
  dependent 
  upon 
  the 
  existence 
  and 
  the 
  pres- 
  

  

  1 
  Address 
  of 
  retiring 
  President 
  of 
  the 
  Philosophical 
  Society 
  of 
  Washington, 
  Jan. 
  14, 
  

   1922. 
  Received 
  Jan. 
  19, 
  1922. 
  

  

  2 
  L. 
  Fletcher. 
  Brit. 
  Assoc. 
  Report 
  for 
  1894, 
  p. 
  631. 
  

  

  117 
  

  

  