OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 285 



in carrying out the purposes of the bill. We suggest that this respon- 

 sibility be left with universities and other agencies which are presently 

 handling such activities. 



Reference: Section 9 (a). By provision of the act of March 8, 1879, 

 referred to above, the Smithsonian Institution has been designated as 

 the official repository of the governmental collection of "rocks, min- 

 erals, soils, fossils, and objects of natural history, archaeology and 

 ethnology." However, it would be useful to redefine repository re- 

 sponsibility in this area and to assure that the collection and preserva- 

 tion of marine organisms is given proper emphasis in the expansion of 

 oceanographic activities recently recommended by the President. We 

 believe that repository responsibility of the Institution can be affirmed 

 by administrative action and we shall continue our efforts in that 

 direction. This would assure that specimens collected in the course 

 of the various phases of oceanographic research which are no longer 

 needed for investigations in process would not be lost but would 

 ultimately be available for continuing taxonomic stud3\ 



The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the 

 submission of this report to the Congress. 



Mr. Chairman, that is my official report but I would like to say a 

 word or tw^o more about the Smithsonian's work in this area. 



I like to think we are a biological Bureau of Standards, in a sense, 

 for all that lives in the sea. It is, of course, life in the sea that makes 

 the sea most important from the standpoint of economic biology. It 

 is important from the standpoint of conserv^ation. It is important 

 from the standpoint of many of the related sciences. 



We have in the Smithsonian in organized scientific collections over 

 9I/2 million specimens in the general field of moUusks. 



When I say "specimens" I do not mean just one similar shell after 

 another, but I mean specimens that have been collected and that are 

 maintained in study collections so that others who are puzzled about 

 the identification of an animal can here compare the new specimen 

 with the known specimens. That is the basis of the understanding 

 of zoological and biological life. It is for this reason that our collec- 

 tions, which are certainly among the greatest in the world, are valu- 

 able — of course, there are similar great collections in the British Mu- 

 seum and in Russia and in most of the major countries, but our collec- 

 tions are certainly among the greatest in the world and, in many cases, 

 they are the greatest. 



"V^Hien I speak of this large collection of moUusks I refer to the 

 class of animals that includes oysters, scallops, periwinkles, squids, 

 octopuses, and so forth. 



We have over 1,700,000 fish specimens and ours is one of the gi-eatest 

 centers for scientific study of ichthyology in the world. 



These collections are very important for the sort of study that is 

 contemplated in all of this newly discussed work in oceanography. 

 We also have over 1,700,000 specimens, cataloged and scientifically 

 organized specimens, in the field of marine invertebrates. 



The definition of the words "marine invertebrates" is a little hard, 

 but I think it includes, and the layman may understand it best, by 

 saying they are the animals that live in the sea that are not fish and 

 that are not in that class of mollusks I just described, but do include 

 such animals as worms, jellyfish, starfish, shrimp, lobsters, and crabs. 



