119 



ations, mv;st be found elsewhere- and the scT-rclty of students in 

 this field has heen one of the drags on the development of this 

 science in America. 



E. ADV1E3RY ASSISTATJCE. 



Constant assistance c^n "Iways he depended upon in tbis respect 

 in all the fields of marine research in which Governments regulnrly 

 take part. And it is perhaps by its expert advice that they can 

 most forward the general progress of oceanogrnphic science. Re- 

 quests for cooperation in the development of working programs, for 

 instruction in the use of instruments, etc, and for general advice 

 in working; up the results of field data, would r lwa".'s be gladly met 

 b^^ the bureaux concerned. The Const and Geodotic Survey and the 

 Hydrographic Office will, for example, give expert advice -^s to 

 sounding procedure, the exploration of submarine topography, ■-'nd the 

 measurement of currents; the Geological Survey as to sedimentation; 

 the Coast Gunrd as to dyn'-mic surveys of ocean waters* the Bureau 

 of Fisheries and the Biological Board of Crnada ns to marine ecology 

 in general. All those est'^blishments do, in fact, nnswer frequent 

 calls for such assistance. 



F. STOFAGE AI^ID IDEKTIFICATICN OT? BIOLOGIC iL SPECIMENS 



Tbis is the n.^rticitlrr province of the U. S. N-'tiona] Museum, 

 v/hich is, by law, t>''e repository for r'll specimens collected by 

 governmental expeditions of the United State:-. Great assistance in 

 identif icption of specj.mens m.ay be expected from the staff of the 

 Museum. At present the Canadian "National Museum has no specialists 

 in Marine Biology. And it m.ust be realized that no one museum, 

 whether governmental or private, caa ever carry on its staff spec- 

 ialists in oil groues of m-rine animals and plants. Consequently, 

 it will be necessar:^ in the future, as it hcs been in the p^-st, to 

 send collections to the students who are best fitted to work them 

 up, wherever tliese authorities m^y be located. 



G. ANALYSIS OF SUBMAPINS SEDIMENTS 



The U. S. Geological Survey j we nre informed, would always be 

 inclined to nssist in the analysis and geologic stiadv of submarine 

 sediments, especinlly of those from the continental shelf of North 

 America, but also of collections from the ocean beds in general. 

 Put only to a s-^iall extent coiald such assistance be depended upon, 

 because (with its present facilities) the 'Survey could undertake 

 such studies only by displacing some other project thnt might well 

 be more directl;^.^ germane to its major fields of activit:;-. The Can- 

 adian Geological Snvvej also informs us that it could undertake some 

 analytical work, its extent depending upon the interest taken by 

 the Survey/- in each pj^rticular investigation. 



H. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF SEA i":T.^R AND DETERMINATION OF ITS 



SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 



No government agency could reasonably be expected to undertake 

 routine determinations of salinity and specific gravity for outside 

 Institutions. But on the rare occasions where such determine tions 

 of thie highest possible degree of accu.racy are needed, in the stan- 



