79 



with plankton should be planned, not so much to produce dramatic surprises in the shape of 

 unknown organisms, but rather to ensure that each haul shall be made in pursuance of a 

 reasoned purpose, and to record all the conditions under which it was made, with the same 

 forethought and precision as is at the moment exhibited by the scheme of the 'Conseil permanent 

 International'. Of the long series of records reprinted above, far more than three-fourths have 

 no value for the purpose of understanding the conditions under which the organism lived. 

 Whether we should understand these conditions or not, supposing that all possible observations 

 had been recorded, is another matter; but it is quite certain that, in their absence and at the 

 moment, we know practically nothing. 



