Present methods for the determination of plant pigments lack 

 sensitivity and fail to give estimations of the different pigments present. 

 A method using a small sample is being developed and can be standardized 

 for comparison of results. The Tswett chromatographic method is being 

 applied by Mr. Francis Richards. Small amounts of pigment are 

 concentrated and compared with similarly adsorbed pigments of known 

 amount. Preliminary results indicate that amounts of pigment too 

 small for accurate colorimetric comparisons may be compared in this 

 way. A modification of the Harvey pigment standards, in which not 

 only the concentration of the two coloured inorganic salts, but also 

 their ratio to each other, is varied, offers a standard of greater versatility 

 than the original Harvey standards. However, it appears that it will 

 be better to report pigment values as percentage absorption in well- 

 defined bands of the \-isible spectrum. This method is being developed for 

 a chemical estimation of phj^toplankton. 



In the field of biochemistry, Dr. Earl R. Norris, Professor of 

 Biochemistry, and his students have been engaged in several series of 

 researches dealing with nutrition, vitamins, enzymes, and metabolism 

 of marine organisms. Ready for publication are papers dealing with 

 the purification and properties of the pepsin of halibut, albacore, 

 yellow fin tuna, and blue fin tuna ; the occurrence of arsenic in marine 

 organisms ; the composition of marine algae and the seasonal occurrence 

 of laminarin in brown algae of the Puget Sound area, including the 

 enzymetic h\^drolysis of the carbohydrates of alg£e ; and the nutritional 

 requirements of young salmonoid fish. 



A long-range programme is being initiated by Dr. W. H. Blaser, 

 Associate Professor of Botany, dealing with the distribution and 

 characteristics of the algae of the Puget Sound and Washington Sound 

 areas, together with considerable attention to physiological studies of 

 some of the marine plants. 



Dr. Arthur W. Martin, Professor of Zoolog}/, is continuing his 

 investigations on the circulatory phenomena of fishes. Blood volumes 

 have been described in a number of species, great changes taking place 

 in the blood volume during pregnancy of viviparous fishes. The 

 characteristics of the hemoglobin of the young of viviparous fishes 

 have been shown to conform to those of fetal mammals. The dynamics 

 of fluid exchange between the circulating blood and the tissue fluid are 

 at present being investigated. 



Dr. Dixy Ray, Assistant Professor of Zoology, is examining early 

 developmental processes in the coelenterates, the current form being 

 the scyphistomae of Cyanea capillata. Her students are investigating 

 new mesozoans from the urinary tract of Polypus Jiongkongensis, the 

 morphology of the tectibranch Phyllaplvsia tavlori, and the classification 

 of intertidal chitons. 



Dr. A. H. Whitely is pursuing work upon the mechanisms of energy 

 transfer in the developing egg, with special emphasis upon the utilization 

 of high-energy phosphate bonds. He is now in a position to follow the 

 overturn of tagged phosphorus atoms in the metabolic cycle of the 

 common invertebrate eggs. 



At the Friday Harbour laboratories continuous meteorological and 

 tidal records, generally obtained by mechanically recording devices, 

 are under the supervision of Dr. Emery S. Swan, Assistant Professor of 

 Oceanography and Resident Scientist, together with quantitative studies 

 of the seasonal variation of the temperature, salinity, and various 



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