EXPLORINGTHEFLOOR 47 



destined to take a leading place. Situated between the 

 two greatest oceans and with institutions capable of 

 handling the rich harvests brought in from the ocean 

 floor, this country has unrivaled opportunities for deep- 

 sea research. When, a few years ago, I visited the 

 observatory at Palomar and examined its wonderful 

 equipment for sounding the depths of the universe, it 

 struck me that a fraction of the capital expended on that 

 institution would suffice for building, equipping, and 

 manning an interstate deep-sea research ship capable 

 of revealing the secrets of the ocean floor and obtaining 

 abstracts from the records of the deep, a field in which 

 Sweden and Denmark, in spite of their size, have made 

 pioneer efforts. 



