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PACIFIC EXPLORATION: W, G. FARLOW 
progress and decline of typhoons and similar marked storms constitute 
a program of work that claims the careful attention of those who plan 
the expedition, and can not fail to command the interest and approval 
of men of science generally. 
ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF PACIFIC INVERTEBRATES 
By Wm. H. Dall 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. WASHINGTON. D. C. 
Read before the Academy. April 17. 1916. Received. May 24. 1916 
The distribution of Marine invertebrates is important, as one of the 
keys to the former distribution of land masses, and to our very imper- 
fect knowledge of their distribution in the Pacific. Certain species, 
usually those inhabiting the reefs and comparatively shallow water, 
are very widely distributed over the region usually referred to as Indo- 
Pacific; but when a careful collection of the species belonging to any 
isolated island or group is available it becomes evident that a large 
proportion of them are local and combine to form a local fauna. A 
knowledge of these faunas is necessary before any satisfactory discussion 
can be had of the presumably Tertiary fossiliferous deposits which are 
found fringing the more elevated Pacific islands. The landshells of the 
Hawaiian and Tahitian groups indicate a high antiquity for their iso- 
lation according to Pilsbry, the most eminent student of these animals. 
The facies of the Tertiary fossils obtained by Ochsner on the Galapagos 
Islands indicates a derivation from the American rather than the Indo- 
Pacific fauna, with which the recent invertebrates are commingled. 
These facts indicate the interest which attaches to a wider knowledge 
of the Pacific faunas. 
THE MARINE ALGAE OF THE PACIFIC 
By W. G. Farlow 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
Read before the Academy, April 17,1916. Received, May 24, 1916 
In considering the desirabihty of an exploration of the Pacific Islands 
the following points relating to our knowledge of the marine algae of 
the Pacific may be mentioned. Our present knowledge is so fragmentary 
that it is not possible as yet to suggest any special problem of a general 
nature whose solution would be aided by a well arranged expedition. 
What the important general questions are we cannot tell until after a 
more thorough exploration has given us a more detailed knowledge of 
