130 [May 22, 



The number of elements hitherto found in sea- water the author 

 stated to be thirty-one, viz. Oxygen, Hydrogen, Azote in ammonia, 

 Carbon in carbonic acid, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine in fuci, Fluorine 

 in combination with calcium, Sulphur as sulphuric acid, Phosphorus 

 as phosphoric acid, Silicium as silica, Boron as boracic acid, discovered 

 by the author both in sea-water and in sea- weeds, Silver in the Po- 

 cillopora aldcornis, Copper very frequent both in animals and plants 

 of the sea, Lead very frequent in marine organisms, Zinc principally 

 in sea-plants, Cobalt and Nickel in sea-plants, Iron, Manganese, Alu- 

 minium, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium and Barium, the latter two 

 as sulphates in fucoid plants, Sodium, Potassium. These twenty- 

 seven elements the author himself had ascertained to occur in sea- 

 water; the presence of the next four elements, viz. Lithium, Casium, 

 Rubidium, and Arsenic, has been shown by other chemists. 



Of these elements only a few occur in such quantity that their 

 determination has any notable influence 5n the quantitative analysis 

 of sea-water, viz. Chlorine, Sulphuric acid, Magnesia, Lime, Potash, 

 and Soda. The others, as far as their existence has been determined 

 in the sea-water itself, are found in the residue which remains after 

 evaporation to dryness and redissolution of the salts in water. 



The author next stated that in the water of the ocean far from the 

 shores the principal ingredients always occur very nearly in the same 

 proportions. If we assume chlorine =100, the mean proportion of 

 the other leading constituents is as follows : 



Mean proportion. Maximum. Minimum. 



Sulphuric acid .. 11*89 12'09 11-65 



Lime 2'96 3'16 2-87 



Magnesia 11-07 11'28 10'95 



All salts 18M 181-4 180-6 



These proportions apply only to specimens obtained at a long di- 

 stance from shores, or in the open ocean. In the interior of the 

 Baltic, for instance, the proportion of chlorine to sulphuric acid is as 

 100 to 14-97 to lime as 100 to 7*48; and the proportion of chlo- 

 rine to all salts as 100 to 223*0. This constant proportion of the 

 different constituents in the ocean depends evidently not upon any 

 chemical combination and affinity between the different substances, 

 but upon the enormous quantity of salts in the whole ocean, which 



