i6o 



the weeds before you can see them, said the speaker : if you 

 wait until you see them you are a little too late. 



The closing indoor Institute was lield in Abbot Hall, 

 Marblehead, Friday, March 26,1892. President Apple- 

 ton occupied his usual place in the chair. 



The Institute was the first one ever held in Marblehead, 

 and during the morning, Mr. Gregory showed the visitors 

 many places of interest and related such legends and rem- 

 iniscences as were of interest to them. 



The subject for the forenoon was "Utilization for Plant 

 Food the Wastes of the Ocean" by Hon. J. J. H. Gregory, 



Mr. Gregory commenced by considering the geological 

 construction of the bed of the sea and the shores. The 

 plant growth at the bottom of the sea, were the truth 

 known, said the speaker, would be found to exceed that 

 of the land. Mr. Gregory exhibited to the audience 

 specimens of sea kelp, rockweed and other marine vegeta- 

 tion, redolent of the sea. Sea vegetation, said the speaker, 

 requires plant food the same as land plants. In the ocean, 

 as upon the land, the different forms of life are dependent 

 upon each other. Thus the cod fish is found in abundance 

 only where there is plenty of kelp. It is often remarked 

 that the sewerage that empties into the ocean from our large 

 cities is wasted. That is not so. It fertilizes marine 

 plants, the strong currents carry it away and distribute it 

 along the bed of the ocean. The speaker believed rock- 

 weed much more abundant now than formerly, on account 

 of the sewerage. Sewerage might, perhaps, be used ta 

 better advantage on the laiid, but it is not wasted in the sea. 

 Next we come to Fish ; leaving out all consideration as a 

 food supply. Fish skins and heads are now used exten- 

 sively in the manufacture of isinglass and glue. The skins 

 of the seal and porpoise are used largely for leather. The 

 speaker expressed his regret that Dog fish, which at cer- 

 tain seasons are very abundant, cannot be better utilized 

 for fertilizer, they are so muscular that acids do not readily 



