188 OCEANOGRAPHY 



Mr. Bauer. Now, it was mentioned yesterday in our hearings that 

 one of the difficulties with biological research is the fact that we do 

 not possess adequate platforms to study the various marine inverte- 

 brates and vertebrates in situ but must depend upon their being 

 brought back to a laboratory. 



Now, do you feel, as a systematic biologist, that it would be of any 

 assistance to have ships constructed for biological research in the 

 ocean or the estuaries and be run on some sort of a national program 

 and made available, we shall say, for universities of the east coast 

 and the west coast and the central coast, and so on ? Would that kind 

 of a program be of any benefit ? 



Mr. Chace. It is a subject I have thought about a little bit. I am 

 not a field man myself, so that my reaction may be a little biased. I 

 think that most of the collecting of marine organisms can be done 

 without participation by the specialist concerned; but, of course, a 

 g-reat deal can be added to our knowledge by knowing the colors of 

 these organisms and w^hat they look like when they come out of the 

 water. To a limited extent, I think it is desirable for the specialist 

 to go to sea and see some of these things alive. 



Mr. Bauer. You certainly would say, I should think, that the 

 ecology would have to be studied at sea, would you not ? 



Mr. Chace. Well. I w^as thinking particularly of deep water where 

 we at this moment can not go easily. Of course, a great deal of 

 ecological data can be gained from the collections in museums: as- 

 sociations, and so forth. 



JSIr. Bauer. I realize, of course, that you cannot commit the Smith- 

 sonian. Would it be of any value to have a joint study looking to the 

 provision of adequate platforms for research for biology midertaken 

 by the Smithsonian and the National Science Foundation and come 

 up with recommendations as to a program of how universities could 

 be integrated into the picture — various State govemments, the various 

 people that are interested in estuarine studies, and so on ? Would that 

 be of any value? 



Mr. Chace. It seems to me that the biological work that can be done 

 at sea gets into the experimental field to a considerable extent and I 

 do not think that the Smithsonian is competent to enter that field. 

 We have had very little experience in that field, and I think that it 

 could be more properly handled by some other agency or by private 

 institutions. 



Mr. Bauer. I was thinking particularly of the fact that you do 

 operate something of that nature in Barro Colorado Island at the 

 moment. 



Mr. Chace. That is right. That is a shore station. 



Mr. Bauer. I was thinking that you are operators really when you 

 look at your Astrophysical Observatory and Barro Colorado Island. 

 In other words, you maintain facilities as well as a staff of able 

 scientists. 



Mr. Chace. That is right. 



Mr. Bauer. That is all, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Mn.LER. Mr. Pelly? 



Mr. Pelly. Dr. Chace, yesterday Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, testifying be- 

 fore this committee, indicated that we should do a little more for the 

 U.S. National Museum. She said she hated to bother the staff be- 



