THE BIOLCXilCAL AND CHEMICAL PROGRAM 



101 



for this purpose often were obtainable only at hospital 

 laboratories. In many ports it is impossible to get even 

 ordinary commercially distilled water. The experience 

 on the Carnegie showed that a water still is a necessary 

 part of the oceanographic equipment and should be in- 

 cluded in the laboratory equipment to eliminate all the 

 uncertainties connected with obtaining a supply of water. 



When the chemical and physical results were ob- 

 tained for a station, the vertical distribution curves 

 were drawn in order that the changes at various depths 

 might be seen graphically and, if unusual gradations 

 were found, additional samples were taken at following 

 stations in the region, at the depths in question. 



The biological and chemical program on the Carne- 

 gie was as extensive as the whole general plan of the 

 expedition would permit, but on future expeditions, pri- 

 marily concerned with an oceanographic program, it 

 would be desirable that the biological and chemical 

 work he somewhat more elalxjrate than that on the Car- 

 negie . Even if the collecting is to be confined to pelagic 

 life, and deep-sea trawling omitted, the work should be 

 of a broader scope than conditions would permit on the 



Carnegie . The personnel should be increased so that 

 one man could devote his entire time to the biological 

 work which could be materially expanded. 



Surface catches for phytoplankton should be made 

 hourly throughout the day and night to obtain more fre- 

 quent samples for a more intensive study of plankton 

 distributions. Townets could be used at much greater 

 depths than was done on the Carnegie , which investigat- 

 ed only the photosynthetic zone. Stations might be oc- 

 cupied at different hours of the day and plankton collect- 

 ed at various levels for a study of the diurnal migrations 

 of the plankton. It is highly desirable that nets of differ- 

 ent mesh be used at each level fished, in order that a 

 separation of the organisms be made at the time of col- 

 lecting, thus greatly facilitating the study of the samples 

 later. More work should be done on the quantity of 

 plankton in the sea. A centrifuge should be employed 

 for quantitative studies of the nannoplankton. 



The chemical program might be expanded to include 

 determinations of nitrates and carbon dioxide, but this 

 depends on the perfection of methods that will determine 

 minute quantities of these substances in the water. 



LITERATURE CITED 



1. Seiwell, H. R. 1929. Patterns for conical silk plank- 



ton nets of one-meter and half-meter diameters. 

 Jour. Conseil Internat. Expl. Mer., vol. 4, pp. 99- 

 103. 



2. Atkins, W. R. G. 1922. The preparation of perman- 



ently non-acid formalin for preserving calcareous 

 specimens. Jour. Marine Biol. Assoc, vol. 12, pp. 

 792-794. 



3. Procurable from the DuPont Cellophane Co., 2 Park 



Ave., New York, New York. 



4. Graham, H. W., and E. G. Moberg. 1944. Chemical 



results of the last cruise of the Carnegie . Scientif- 

 ic results of cruise VII of the Carnegie during 1928- 

 1929 under command of Captain J. P. Ault, Chemis- 

 try-I, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 562, p. 3. 



5. Barnett, G. D., and C. W. Harnett. 1921. Colorimet- 



ric determination of hydrogen-ion concentration by 



means of a double-wedge comparator. Proc. Soc. 

 Exper. Biol. Med., vol. 18, pp. 127-131. 



6. Moberg, E. G. 1926. Hydrogen-ion concentration of 



sea-water off the coast of Southern California. 

 Proc. Third Pan-Pacific Sci. Cong., Tokyo, vol. 1, 

 pp. 221-229. 



7. Atkins, W. R. G. 1923. The phosphate content of 



fresh and salt waters in its relationship to the 

 growth of the algal plankton. Jour. Marine Biol. 

 Assoc, vol. 13, pp. 119-150. 



8. Atkins, W. R. G. 1923. The silica content of some 



natural waters and of culture media. Jour. Marine 

 Biol. Assoc, vol. 13, pp. 151-159. 



9. Thompson, T. G., and R. J. Robinson. 1932. Chemis- 



try of the sea. Physics of the earth-V, Oceanogra- 

 phy. Nation. Res. Council, Bull., no. 85, p. 159. 



