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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  tropical 
  climate. 
  Such 
  a 
  concept 
  best 
  finds 
  expression 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  

   case 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  argue 
  for 
  lack 
  of 
  solar 
  control 
  of 
  climates 
  until 
  

   the 
  Pleistocene. 
  So, 
  too, 
  we 
  have 
  papers 
  dealing 
  with 
  temperature 
  

   conditions 
  as 
  evidenced 
  by 
  marine 
  invertebrates. 
  Barren 
  shales 
  have 
  

   been 
  pointed 
  out 
  as 
  indicating 
  deposition 
  in 
  cold 
  uncongenial 
  waters. 
  

   In 
  all 
  cases 
  the 
  assumption 
  is 
  that 
  abundant 
  marine 
  faunas 
  liourish 
  

   only 
  in 
  warm 
  waters, 
  and 
  cold 
  waters 
  leave 
  their 
  record 
  in 
  sediments 
  

   containing 
  depauperate 
  scant 
  faunas, 
  or 
  destitute 
  of 
  life. 
  

  

  This 
  viewpoint 
  is 
  interesting 
  as 
  a 
  heritage 
  from 
  tlie 
  past 
  but 
  is 
  

   scarcely 
  a 
  credit 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  generation 
  for 
  whom 
  the 
  vast 
  store- 
  

   house 
  of 
  information 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  seas 
  and 
  

   oceans 
  is 
  readily 
  available. 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact 
  the 
  commonplace 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  present-day 
  marine 
  bionomists 
  runs 
  practically 
  counter 
  

   to 
  current 
  geological 
  thought. 
  Quotations 
  from 
  three 
  recent 
  works 
  

   on 
  oceanography 
  will 
  serve 
  to 
  sum 
  up 
  modern 
  information 
  on 
  this 
  

   subject. 
  

  

  In 
  James 
  Johnstone's 
  A 
  Study 
  of 
  the 
  Oceans, 
  1926, 
  page 
  138, 
  we 
  

   read: 
  

  

  Particularly 
  we 
  may 
  note 
  that 
  wherever 
  there 
  is 
  sea 
  there 
  is 
  also 
  nbuudant 
  

   life. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  The 
  sea 
  everywhere 
  in 
  the 
  Arctic 
  and 
  Antarctic 
  regions 
  is 
  teem- 
  

   ing 
  with 
  life 
  — 
  for 
  instance, 
  the 
  extraordinary 
  abundance 
  of 
  whales 
  and 
  seals 
  in 
  

   both 
  Arctic 
  and 
  Antarctic 
  seas 
  before 
  the 
  ruthless 
  slaughter 
  initiated 
  by 
  

   modern 
  industrialism 
  began. 
  Even 
  now 
  the 
  incredibly 
  great 
  wealth 
  of 
  bird 
  

   life 
  in 
  the 
  Antarctic, 
  as 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  penguin 
  rookeries, 
  is 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  

   thing. 
  In 
  the 
  sea 
  itself 
  animal 
  life 
  of 
  all 
  kinds, 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  surface 
  waters 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  bottom, 
  is 
  more 
  dense 
  in 
  the 
  polar 
  regions 
  tlian 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  inter- 
  

   tropical 
  ones. 
  

  

  From 
  J. 
  T. 
  Jenkins's 
  A 
  Textbook 
  of 
  Oceanography, 
  1921, 
  we 
  quote 
  

   the 
  following 
  on 
  page 
  53: 
  

  

  The 
  main 
  source 
  of 
  organic 
  material 
  in 
  the 
  sea 
  is 
  fortunately 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  

   cold-water 
  areas. 
  

  

  On 
  page 
  98 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  Generally 
  speaking, 
  the 
  open 
  oceans 
  are 
  less 
  rich 
  in 
  plankton 
  than 
  coastal 
  

   waters 
  ; 
  again, 
  tropical 
  seas 
  are 
  poorer 
  than 
  colder 
  waters 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  directly 
  

   dependent 
  on 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  vegetable 
  food 
  in 
  the 
  ocean. 
  

  

  Indeed, 
  the 
  warm 
  blue 
  tropical 
  waters 
  are 
  notoriously 
  so 
  poor 
  in 
  

   plankton 
  that 
  we 
  find 
  oceanographers 
  commonly 
  stating 
  that 
  " 
  deep 
  

   blue 
  is 
  the 
  desert 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  deep 
  sea." 
  

  

  In 
  James 
  Johnstone's 
  Conditions 
  of 
  Life 
  in 
  the 
  Sea, 
  Cambridge 
  

   Biological 
  Series, 
  1908, 
  pages 
  201 
  to 
  205, 
  the 
  comparative 
  abundance 
  

   of 
  life 
  in 
  cold 
  and 
  warm 
  waters 
  is 
  discussed. 
  He 
  says 
  in 
  part 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  usual 
  picture 
  we 
  obtain 
  from 
  records 
  of 
  voyages 
  in 
  tropical 
  seas 
  is 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  wealth 
  of 
  life, 
  and 
  we 
  are 
  naturally 
  surprised 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  the 
  tropical 
  

   seas 
  are 
  not 
  more 
  abundant 
  in 
  plant 
  and 
  animal 
  life 
  tlian 
  tlie 
  temperate 
  and 
  

   polar 
  waters 
  ; 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  the 
  reverse 
  is 
  really 
  the 
  case. 
  

  

  