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general oceanographic field as being the source of information for all 

 persons, all of the agencies that are involved in this field, and you put 

 together this information and make it available to all of these 

 agencies ? 



Dr. Galler. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Edwards. Is this what you see as your paramount position in 

 the oceanographic field ? 



Dr. Galler. I believe it is, Mr. Congressman, by virtue of our respon- 

 sibilities for maintaining and curating the national collection, and the 

 fact that many, in fact most of our science faculty are collection- 

 oriented. They have joined the Smithsonian faculty because they do 

 wish to work up the collections. 



Mr. Edwards. You have been an active participant in the Council. 

 Does the Council have anything to say or do with regard to projects 

 that you will carry out, or do you clear certain projects through the 

 Council ? To what extent do you subordinate your own activity to the 

 wishes or desires of the Council ? 



Dr. Galler. So far, there has not been any question of subordinating 

 our interests to the interests of the Council. Quite to the contrary, the 

 Council has provided the Smithsonian with a window on our national 

 oceanographic problems and aspirations and I think the information 

 that we derive from the Council has been very helpful in orienting our 

 thinking in trying to be more responsive to the national need. 



Mr. Edwards. It indicates to you perhaps, from what j^ou see in 

 observing the Council and in communication with the Council mem- 

 bers, areas that the Smithsonian feels it can operate in to help the 

 overall picture of determining what is down there? 



Dr. Galler. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Edwards. Part of the time you were talking I will have to admit 

 I did not understand what you were talking about. 



What is a taxonomist ? 



Dr. Galler. A taxonomist is a person who is engaged in identifying, 

 determining what a particular organism is, is it fish or fowl, is it a 

 particular kind of insect, is it a particular kind of fish, is it a particu- 

 lar kind of plant? Now, there is more to identification than just giving 

 it a Latin name. But once an organism is identified and is essentially 

 compared with similar or specific organisms, then it opens up a vast 

 collection of information that has been gathered over many, many 

 years regarding the biology, the ecology, the behavior of the organism. 

 So, in a sense, identifying an organsm is kind of like the reference 

 card that tells you where to go in the library and discover what 

 we know about this particular species and what we need to discover. 



It also provides scientists Avith an opportunity to assess the particu- 

 lar position of an organism in evolutionary biology, is it a higher 

 form, a lower form, a recent form, an ancient form ? 



And while this perhaps is not immediately applicable to the solu- 

 tion of problem.s, it is part of the base line of fundamental informa- 

 tion that contributes to a better understanding of the biology and the 

 behavior and the eventual exploitation of some of these organisms. 



Mr. Edwards. Did I understand you to say that you are not getting 

 enough taxonomists; there are not enough being trained? 



Dr. Galler. That is correct, sir. 



Mr, Edwards. Is this a serious problem ? 



