OCEANOGRAPHY 159 



to provide flowing impolluted sea wnter in reasonably equipped worlving quar- 

 ters. Most of the existing marine laboratories are university-associated : their 

 maintenance is expensive, the costs of expansion almost prohibitive. Yet the 

 requests for working space continue to exceed by far what is available. If it 

 is in the national interest to increase the kinds of biological studies we have 

 been discussing, then more marine and fresh water laboratories are urgently 

 needed, increased and continuing support for those already in existence is 

 imperative. 



This need most emphatically includes museums, where the major taxonomic 

 studies are carried out. Accurate identity of the plants and animals that con- 

 stitute study and experimental material is an essential so basic that without 

 it much biological research is useless. There are no shortcuts to identifying 

 species, no handy tests to guide the novice to accurate judgments. 



Although there is recent evidence of a sincere desire to reverse the trend 

 of the past few years, the plight of our museums is at present a national dis- 

 grace. Natural history museums, besides providing the leadership in research 

 in systematics, serves for the biologist as the major data center. This simple 

 fact must not be overlooked in planning for other data centers designed to re- 

 ceive the kind of material that can be fed through a computer. Biological data, 

 in very large part, can be processed only by the most complicated computer yet 

 invented, the human brain. 



Another kind of facility for biological research that is presently beyond the 

 financial capacity of most university laboratories, is a research vessel designed 

 and built for biological studies so that it is essentially a floating laboratory. 

 Many problems with respect to plankton and epipelagic and open ocean organ- 

 isms cannot be studied except by taking the laboratory to the location and stay- 

 ing there while all possible features of the environment are intensively studied. 

 In any case, provision for a greater amount of more varied biological investi- 

 gations of phenomena in the sea must include expanded facilities both ashore 

 and afloat. 



Provision of physical plant is no less important than its maintenance and oper- 

 ating costs. Here again the requirements are beyond the capacity of individual 

 scientists or institutions. Regional cooperation is a promising solution to effec- 

 tive utilization of specialized f acilites but the continuing support of programs ap- 

 pears to offer the best solution to the serious financial problems confronting the 

 biologist interested in undertaking long-range research studies. 



Continuing support should mean not only funding for the glamorous aspects 

 of collecting the field data or specimens, but also for their sober study and in- 

 terpretation through to the publication of the treatises, monographs and re- 

 search papers that represent the "processed data" or "data reduction" of th& 

 biologist. Many results from previous biological surveys and expeditions are not 

 available through failure to provide for the study and publication costs. 



Finally we come to the question of manpower — who will do all this work if 

 expansion of research in hydrobiology is encouraged. In spite of the fact 

 that the Civil Service Commission still fails to include biologists along with other 

 scientists and engineers in its recommendations for salary increases (see p. 1428 

 in Science, vol. 131, for May 13, 1960) the biologists of this country are a large 

 and active group and many young people are choosing this branch of science as 

 their profession. I agree with Dr. Hedgpeth that there is no dearth of talent 

 and interest. A major difficulty is the relatively small number of professional 

 opportunities, for aside from the academic world and Government service, em- 

 ployment for biologists is limited. 



May I say in closing that it is a privilege to be here and to speak in behalf of 

 hydrobiology, its role, its interests and its problems. This committee has the 

 thanks and gratitude of the entire scientific community for its genuine interest 

 in science and for the concern it has shown to encourage the thoughtful de- 

 velopment of our knowledge of the sea. 



Dr. Ray. Before starting; on my statement, I would like to thank 

 Mr. Pelly especially for his kind word of welcome. If it is not step- 

 ping too far out of line, I would like to extend on behalf of the Uni- 

 versity of Washington a very cordial invitation to the committee and 

 any of its members. We would be most happy to see you visit our in- 

 stitution and, if it should be possible to serve in the capacity of guide, 

 I would be delighted to show you all of our facilities and thework 

 that is going on. 



