APPENDIX A XLII 
large bodies of water. The sea offers, as compared to the land, a very 
strong contrast as regards vegetation. On the latter there is abundant 
vegetable food for the animal life which is directly or indirectly de- 
pendent upon it. In the former we are struck by the predominance 
of animal life. The secret of the initial source of food for the animal 
life of the sea was only disclosed when it was learned that the vegetation 
of the sea is just as abundant as that of the land, but that it consists 
of creatures of small size, mostly unicellular and occupying the upper 
strata of the water as far as light can permeate. Down to 25 fathoms 
their number—which may vary from 3,000 to 12,000 per litre—remains 
fairly constant, but gradually diminishes below that depth. The 
amount of such organisms can only be realized by pulling the finest 
silk nets through the water, and indeed many of the smallest organisms 
escape through the meshes of the closest fabrics. They serve as food 
for the smaller animals, such as copepods, and these again for fish of 
various kinds, so that the richness of our northern waters in vegetable 
plankton is responsible for the wealth of our fisheries. 
This consideration naturally leads me to refer to the great progress 
that has been made in Marine Biology during the last generation and 
its economic relationships. This progress has been due to two different 
lines of investigation. The fitting out of expeditions for oceanographic 
researches and the establishment of Biological Stations for the study 
of restricted areas. While acting as assistant to the Chair of Zoology 
in Edinburgh, I had the pleasure of unpacking the first treasures sent 
home from the Challenger Expedition, the first adequately equipped 
expedition for the study of marine life and its conditions. Since then 
numerous other expeditions, such as the Norwegian North Atlantic 
Expedition, the German Deep Sea Expedition, the Plankton. Expedition 
of the Humboldt Foundation, the Dutch Siboga Expedition, and the 
explorations of the Prince of Monaco, have carried on the work. Some 
of the most important additions to biological literature have been 
contributed by the publication of the results of these expeditions, and 
the same may be said of the various Biological Stations of the world. 
Although not. the first sea-side station to be established with a 
view to research, the Naples station, founded by Anton Dohrn, has 
always occupied the first place, partly on account of the generous 
scale on which it was conceived, partly on account of its international 
character. The favorable conditions for zoological study in the 
Mediterranean have led to the establishment of a number of stations 
on the French coast from the Spanish frontier at Banyuls-sur-Mer to 
Monaco. Here there has recently been completed a magnificent 
Museum of Oceanography with a laboratory in connection, munificently 
endowed by the Prince of Monaco, who has greatly contributed to the 
knowledge of the sea and its life by his own researches and those of 
