Hopkins Marine Station (1918-1950)
ANNUAL REPORTS 1930s
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN FIFTH SERIES, No. 101 NOVEMBER 1930
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
FOR THE THIRTY-NINTH ACADEMIC YEAR
ENDING AUGUST 31, 1930
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1930
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Laurence B. Becking, Walter K. Fisher, Harold Heath, George E. MacGinitie, Harold Mestre, Tage Skogsberg, Cornelis B. van Niel. Summer quarter additions to the faculty were Victor E. Hall and Charles V. Taylor of Stanford; Tracy E. Hazen of Barnard College; Alfred C. Redfield of the Harvard Medical School; and Max W. de Laubenfels.
During the spring quarter, Dr. Becking conducted a class in elementary physiology and supervised the work of a graduate student for three quarters and of two graduate students for one quarter. He gave informal evening lectures and seminars throughout the year.
Dr. Fisher, during the summer quarter, gave a course in marine invertebrates, supervised the work of several special and of two graduate students, and during the spring quarter collaborated informally with Professor MacGinitie in a course on marine zoology.
Dr. Heath gave two quarters of embryology and supervised the work of a graduate student for two quarters and of two others for the summer quarter.
Professor MacGinitie, during the spring quarter, gave a course in marine zoology for elementary students and during the summer one for advanced students, namely, Shore Ecology (545).
During the spring and summer quarters, Dr. Mestre gave a special course, Problems in Physico-chemical Biology (536), and during the summer a new course in physico-chemical biology, besides supervising the work of an Independent Study Plan student for three quarters.
Dr. Skogsberg, during the spring quarter, gave a course in vertebrate zoology; during the summer, one in marine invertebrates; and, in addition to four graduate students through three quarters, supervised the work, during the summer, of four others, and of two special undergraduate students.
Dr. van Niel gave a course, during spring and summer, in General Microbiology (530).
Dr. C. V. Taylor, during the summer quarter, supervised the work of six graduate and special students in the field of biology of protoplasm.
Dr. M. W. de Laubenfels assisted the Director during the summer quarter.
During the summer quarter, teaching in physiology was under the direction of Dr. Hall and Dr. Redfield, who also assisted several advanced students and visiting collaborators.
Dr. Hazen gave the regular course in Algae (521).
RESEARCH
The hydrobiological study of Monterey Bay has gradually evolved into a major project of the Hopkins Marine Station—the one program in which all members of the staff may, if they wish, profitably take part. The work, begun early in 1929, is being prosecuted in co-operation with the California Fish and Game Commission, and during the present year has been further developed. The field work, absolutely essential to the project, has been carried out on board the "Steelhead," a thirty-two-foot motor launch belonging to the Commission. At the end of the present year —namely, in August—the "Albacore," a fifty-eight-foot motor boat, also belonging to the Commission, was put at the disposal of the Survey.
The field work consisted partly of taking water samples which were analyzed for temperature, salinity, phosphate, and silica, with the object of ascertaining seasonal variations in the hydrography within the southern region of Monterey Bay; partly of taking plankton samples for the double purpose of establishing the seasonal variations in the productivity of this Bay and of securing material for the research work carried out by individual students.
Since semiweekly expeditions were undertaken throughout the year, each expedition yielding on the average about forty samples, the amount of data bearing on the hydrography accumulated so far is very considerable and the analyses of the material promise significant results and have proven very helpful in planning the program for the near future.
It may be added that an oceanological library is being organized. A nucleus of such a library has already been brought together partly through the generous response to our solicitations of researchers in this field. The books and pamphlets have been classified and card catalogued.
Finally, it is appropriate to emphasize that the interest, generosity, and fine spirit of co-operation evinced by the California Fish and Game Commission will go a long way toward insuring the expansion and permanence of the oceanological research of the Hopkins Marine Station.
The Director was in residence for four quarters and published the third and concluding part of a monographic revision of North Pacific sea stars, a quarto of 356 pages and 93 plates, issued as Bulletin 76, Part 3, of the United States National Museum. Dr. Becking continued his work on environmental factors. Mr. E. Wayne Galliher worked in his laboratory for three quarters, Mrs. Evelyn Howard Miller during the winter and spring quarters, and Dr. Herbert Warren during the summer quarter. Three papers (one in collaboration with E. W. Galliher) are in press. The van't Hoff Fund of the Royal Academy of Amsterdam contributed $40 toward the work on salt solutions.
Dr. Danella Straup Cope, research assistant, continued work on a study of natural brines at various concentrations. Certain physical properties of these solutions have been determined, together with their chemical composition, as the solutions were concentrated by evaporation under constant conditions.
In addition to this, a series of chemical analyses of brine solutions from the Marina ponds was made.
During the summer quarter, Dr. Victor E. Hall, with the assistance of Mr. C. H. Watson, investigated the general bodily activity of an echiuroid worm, Urechis caupo, as measured by the volume of water pumped through its tube, in relation to feeding cycles, to the partial pressure of oxygen in the incoming water, and to the rate of oxygen consumption. The existence of a definite increase in volume during feeding has been confirmed and measured. Results in relation to oxygen do not yet warrant conclusions.
The work of Mr. T. Hashimoto, research chemist, may be summarized as follows:
1. Work on the chemical constituents of diatom extract was continued.
a) A red pigment (soluble in chloroform), containing manganese, was discovered and isolated. This is the first time that manganese has been found as an organocompound in nature.
b) Phytosterols, in six (or seven) compounds, were isolated as chemical individuals, from the phytosterol fraction of the oil.
c) A yellowish-red pigment, which is found in the crude fatty acids prepared in the usual manner, was isolated. Whether this be identical with the color substance always found in the fatty acids from the marine animal oils is not yet known.
d) A paper on the constituents of the fatty acids and of the hydrocarbons is being written for publication.
2. Decomposition of the unsaturated oil and of the saturated fatty acids, after absorbing atmospheric oxygen, is being studied.
3. Some work is being done on the squalene of the basking shark liver, to confirm the actual existence of the three isomers reported.
4. The paper on "Liguoceric Acid Series of the Saturated Fatty Acids" is ready for publication, establishing the new series, which is quite comparable with that of the stearic acid series.
5. A preparation of carbonic nitrite, the final de-ammonation product of the ammonia system (of Dr. Franklin's), was completed for Dr. Franklin.
Professor Heath has investigated the innervation of the various organs of certain species of decapod crustaceans. He has worked on the development of the nervous system of the Amphibia. His work on the origin of termite castes, from the experimental standpoint, is well advanced. Under his direction, the following students carried on graduate work: Miss Eleanor Boone has made a study of an extensive collection of flatworms from the California coast; Miss Mary R. Cravens investigated the development of the urinogenital system of various amphibians; Mr. Ludwig Herz studied the development of some barnacles of the California coast; Miss Shirley Witt practically completed her work on the early development of the sea star, Patiria miniata.
Professor George E. MacGinitie's work may be summarized as follows : continued ecological investigations at Elkhorn Slough (Monterey Bay) and at Newport Bay (especially breeding seasons) ; published two papers: "The Natural History of the Mud Shrimp, Upogebia pugettens-is," and "Notice of Extension of Range and of New Species of Various Invertebrates"; designed and constructed photographic apparatus to be used in connection with mud-flat surveys; completed paper on "Anatomy and Natural History of the Mud Shrimp, Callianassa californiensis."
During the past year, Dr. Mestre has continued his study of the pigments of plants, with particular reference to those of the green, red, and brown algae. Through the kindness of the Mount Wilson Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, it has been possible to secure a concave grating and photographic spectrophotometric apparatus, with many improvements, which is being installed in a special laboratory where work can proceed without interruption. An analysis of the available data relating to the penetration of radiant energy into the ocean has been made and the physical theory formulated as a preliminary to a spectrophotometric study. The necessary apparatus has been tentatively designed and it is hoped that experimental work can be carried on during the coming year. With Mr. George Browning, the effects of quartz mercury arc radiations on the eggs of Urechis caupo have been studied. It has been found that parthenogenetic development can be induced, and this fact is being used for the investigation of the nature of the photochemical processes involved. With Mr. Royce Skow, the eggs of Urechis have been subjected to very high frequency electrostatic fields and there are some indications that there may be effects not due to heating by the induced currents.
A paper on the "Pigments of the Living Photosynthetic Cell" was read by invitation at the December symposium of the Western Society of Naturalists; and at the invitation of Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan a talk on the penetration of light into the ocean was given at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This latter was made possible by a grant of University funds to cover transportation expenses.
The following report is from the laboratory of Dr. van Niel:
"The investigation of the purple sulphur bacteria and green bacteria has been continued. A brief summary of the most important results from a biochemical viewpoint was read before the midwinter meeting of the Western Society of Naturalists, December, 1929, and will be published in the Contributions to Marine Biology. The field covered now comprises the culture methods of the purple sulphur and the green bacteria, a study of the morphology of the pure cultures obtained under varying conditions, the chief physiological properties of these organisms in relation to their occurrence in nature, and a study of their biochemical properties. A detailed publication of the results obtained thus far will appear in the near future.
"The study of the organisms occurring near the hot springs of Yellowstone Park was continued in the laboratory with the collaboration of Mr. Lewis A. Thayer. A report of this work has been sent to Dr. E. T. Allen, of the United States Geological Survey, and to the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park. Since the results obtained during this investigation are of a preliminary character, the formal publication will be postponed until more work has been carried out. This, however, involves another trip to the Park, and it is hoped that this may take place in 1931.
"Mr. Thayer's work on the mass-development of the diatom species Aulacodiscus kittoni has led to the working out of an improved method for determination of silica in small quantities, since it was found that the accepted method gives values which are greatly influenced by the presence of both phosphates and iron in the solution, this influence having' been overlooked by previous workers on this subject. The improved method has been published in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Analytical Edition, (Vol. II, pp. 276-83, 1930). The application of this method in the diatom cultures has led to the result that a development of Aulacodiscus kittoni can only take place if the silica-content of the water rises above 2 milligrams of silica per liter, thus giving a definite proof for the idea that any mass development of this diatom species must be necessarily preceded by a large supply of silica to the sea water, since the normal concentration of this compound in the ocean is about 1 milligram per liter. As a source of this supply, we must chiefly consider the ample supply of river water soon after the heavy rainfalls.
"The bacteriological decompositions which might lead to the formation of hydrocarbons have been studied from two different angles. As a consequence of the fact that a decomposition of acetates with the formation of the corresponding hydrocarbon, methane, has been described, a thorough study was made of the anaerobic decomposition of the higher fatty acids. The results of this investigation are fully convincing: methane and carbon dioxide are the only products formed during the decomposition under anaerobic conditions of the higher fatty acids under natural conditions, i.e., with mixed cultures. The second line of attack, the possible formation of higher hydrocarbons by sulphate-reducing bacteria, especially in the absence of sulphates, has been started.
"The work on the sulphur purple bacteria will be continued this year, also, by Mr. F. M. Muller, who intends to study the relationships of the organisms developing in the crude cultures of these purple bacteria, in addition to the metabolic properties of the sulphur bacteria in media containing organic compounds."
Dr. A. C. Redfield has been investigating the respiratory properties of the blood of Urechis caupo. This study is of interest because in Urechis the hemoglobin occurs in corpuscles, thus representing a forerunner of the condition found generally in the vertebrates, but not generally in the lower animals. Urechis affords a unique opportunity for the study of a primitive blood from the chemical point of view, because of the relatively large volume of fluid obtainable which permits the employment of standard methods of analysis not practical in the case of such worms as have been worked upon heretofore.
The observations which have been made include measurements of the spectrum of the hemoglobin, of the tension and concentration at which oxygen and carbon dioxide occur in the blood, and of the conditions determining the equilibrium between the blood and these gases. The data provide an essential basis for understanding many aspects of the respiratory physiology in this species, and indicate that the hemoglobin of this form has certain unique properties.
Opportunity has presented itself for making similar measurements on the blood of the sea lion, providing data not heretofore available concerning the blood of an aquatic mammal.
In these studies, Dr. Redfield has enjoyed the collaboration of Dr. Marcel Florkin, of Liege, Belgium, now a fellow of the C.R.B. Educational Foundation; and of Mr. C. H. Watson, a student in the course in comparative physiology.
Dr. Redfield wishes to express his appreciation of the consideration which the permanent staff of the Station has shown in assisting in this work; for, without their co-operation and the excellent facilities which the Station affords, it would have been very difficult to carry out this investigation in such a brief period.
Dr. T. Skogsberg has been in direct charge of the oceanological program, and has made semiweekly trips to sea on the "Steelhead" for the collection of data. In this field work he has been assisted by Mr. Rolf Bolin and Mr. E. C. Scofield. Miss Lucina Stanford has done routine chemical analyses. Mr. Scofield has investigated the spawning, early embryology, drift of spawn and fry, and the migration of the sardine, having been stationed during the spring and summer quarters at San Pedro, California. The fact that the sardine is the most important food fish of California makes the solution of these problems of the greatest importance in connection with conservation of sea products.
Assistants and students working with Dr. Skogsberg are as follows :
Mr. Rolf Bolin is continuing his studies of the Cottoids of California from the viewpoints of their taxonomy, spawning habits, early embryology, and ecology.
Mr. Gregory Kranzthor has been studying a species of the amphipod genus, Paraphronvma, largely from the viewpoint of its taxonomic position and morphology.
Miss Harriet Baker has been studying the planktonic Cladocera of Monterey Bay, placing emphasis on a physiological analysis of these forms with the ultimate aim to reach an understanding of their ecological peculiarities.
Besides doing the routine chemical analyses of the Survey, Miss Lucina Stanford has been studying the Ctenophora of the Monterey region. Although in the beginning, Miss Stanford's work of necessity has been taxonomic and morphological, the emphasis of her research will become increasingly ecological, aiming at an understanding of the seasonal and diurnal migrations of these forms as well as of their general behavior.
During the summer quarter, four additional students took up work connected with the Survey. Mr. Li Sun Tai is studying certain genera of the unicellular Dinoflagellates. The morphological study which marked the beginning of his work will be followed by an attempt at analyzing the striking morphological changes in these forms as correlated with the physical and chemical changes in the hydrographical conditions in the Bay. Mr. Joseph Wales has for some time been studying the taxonomy of the extremely difficult fish genus Sebastodes. This work is being continued at the same time as more intensive studies of the life history of a selected species of this genus is being carried through. Mr. William A. Dill, who has spent his summer making himself familiar in general with the fish fauna of Monterey Bay, intends to specialize on the flatfishes of the Monterey region, stressing the study of their life histories. These three students will continue their work during 1931. Mr. Fred H. Dale made a morphological analysis of a species of the amphipod genus, Streetia.
Dr. C. V. Taylor and graduate students have, during the summer, investigated by experimental means the protoplasmic differentiation in various living cells, including several marine ciliates, and the eggs of Urechis caupo during their cyclic changes of maturation, fertilization, and cell division, under controlled and variable conditions.
Work begun last summer, on centrifuging the eggs of Urechis caupo, has been continued and previous results in essentials have been confirmed. A detailed analysis of these eggs, previous to and during early development, has been made, to the end of properly interpreting the results of centrifuging. Miss Vesta Holt sought for a means of identifying polarity in the egg before its fertilization. The results, thus far, have been negative. H. B. Hess studied sperm entrance and its relation to polar body formation. The two processes appear to have no correlation. E. D. Torreblanca investigated temperature effects on time of polar-body formation, from +2°C. to + 12°C., comparing the results with those obtained in the centrifuging temperatures in normal and centrifuged eggs. W. H. Furgason has continued his research begun here two years ago on protoplasmic reorganization in Diophrys, sp., during fission, encystment, and regeneration. Miss Helen Rathbun has investigated division and induced encystment, noting any resulting reorganization in marine ciliates.
The California Fish and Game Commission, apart from its co-operation in the hydrobiological program, maintained its laboratory in the Alexander Agassiz Laboratory. Research was continued on the natural history of the sardine.
Dr. J. LeRoy Conel, professor of anatomy, Boston University Medical School, spent the summer quarter in working on the anatomy and embryology of the hag fish, a primitive vertebrate.
Dr. J. H. Ashworth, professor of natural history, University of Edinburgh, in June spent a brief period in investigating early stages in the development of the lug-worm, Arenicola cristata.
As noted previously in this report, Dr. Marcel Florkin, of Liege, Belgium, a fellow of the C.R.B. Educational Foundation, worked in Dr. Redfield's laboratory.
Dr. Paul S. Galtsoff, of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, made a study of the effect of temperature on the feeding of Olympia oysters (Ostrea luridd) and Japanese oysters (O. gigas). The maximum rate of feeding of Japanese oysters (4 liters per hour) occurs at the temperature of 25°C.; the optimum temperature for feeding of Olympia oysters is between 20°C and 30°C. The highest rate of feeding of Olympia oysters is between 500 and 600 cubic centimeters per hour. Japanese oysters cease feeding at the temperature of from 6°C to 7°C.; Olympia oysters stop feeding at from 8°C to 10°C.
Mr. W. Albert Hetherington worked under Dr. van Niel on nutrition of ciliate infusorians. They succeeded in rearing Colpidium in a bacteria-free yeast extract.
Miss Arliner Young, a graduate student of the University of Chicago, investigated the effects on sea urchin eggs, of radiations, using an ultraviolet lamp.
The midwinter meeting of the Western Society of Naturalists was held at the Station, December 19 to 21, 1929. Papers presented at this meeting have been published in book form by the University Press.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
The research activities of the department were as follows: Acting Associate
Professor Redfield^ in collaboration with M. Florkin, a fellow of the C.R.B. Educational Foundation, investigated at the Hopkins Marine Station the respiratory processes in the interesting echiuroid worm, Urechis caupo. They applied to this invertebrate the same methods of investigation as are in vogue for studies of the respiratory exchange in man, and were able to obtain a comprehensive picture of the respiratory process.
Assistant Professor V. E. Hall, who was in charge of instruction at the Hopkins Marine Station during the summer quarter, made a series of studies of the same worm complementary to those of Redfield and Florkin. He studied the rate at which the worm removes oxygen from the sea water in which it is immersed, and also made quantitative studies of the muscular activity of the organism. Urechis is particularly well adapted to investigations of this type since its normal habitat is a burrow in the mud underlying a salt-water lagoon which, for experimental purposes can be replaced by a U-shaped glass tube in an aquarium of sea water. As a result of the joint studies of Messrs. Redfield, Florkin, and Hall it is believed that more complete information concerning the respiratory exchange in an invertebrate has been assembled than was previously in existence.
CHARLES VINCENT TAYLOR
Herzstein Professor of Biology
The libraries at Pacific Grove (Hopkins Marine Station and Jacques Loeb Laboratory), although not directly under the administration of this office, have been visited twice during the year. Both were found to be in excellent physical condition and well administered.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN FIFTH SERIES, No. 121 NOVEMBER 1931
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
FOR THE FOUTIETH ACADEMIC YEAR
ENDING AUGUST 31, 1931
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1931
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
Anonymous, $3,500.00 to the salary account.
California State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Game, $1,500.00 toward the expenses of a hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay.
Royal Academy of Amsterdam, 100 florins, as a contribution toward the work on salt solutions being carried on at the Jacques Loeb Laboratory.
Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation, of San Francisco, one Model 226 Milliammeter, valued at $288.75.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Harold Heath, George E. MacGinitie, Harold Mestre, Tage Skogsberg, and Cornelis B. van Niel. Summer quarter additions to the staff were James P. Baumberger of Stanford; Elisabeth Deichmann of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; Lawrence Blinks and Leonor Michaelis, members of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
Dr. Fisher and Dr. Deichmann during the summer quarter gave two sections of the regular course (541) in Marine Invertebrates. The former supervised the work of three graduate students.
Dr. Heath gave two quarters of embryology and supervised the work of four graduate students.
Professor MacGinitie during the spring quarter gave a course in Marine Zoology for elementary students and during the summer one for advanced students, namely: Shore Ecology (545).
During the summer quarter Dr. Mestre gave a special course, Problems in Physico-chemical Biology (536).
Dr. Skogsberg during the spring quarter gave a course in Vertebrate Zoology; during the summer, one in Oceanic Biology (543) ; and, in addition to three graduate students during the year, supervised the work of three additional students during the summer quarter.
Dr. van Niel gave a course during the summer quarter in General Microbiology.
The resident staff participated in a lecture course in Oceanography open to all students (The Ocean, 500).
Dr. Michaelis conducted a seminar on the subject of oxidation and reduction, with special reference to the blood pigments, including their spectroscopic properties. He collaborated, with Dr. Baumberger in directing the work of several research students.
Dr. Lawrence Blinks gave several lectures on the subject of bioelectric phenomena of plant cells.
Dr. Gilbert M. Smith during the summer quarter gave the regular course in Algae (521).
With the aid of Mr. N. B. Scofield of the State Fish and Game Commission a bill was introduced at the last meeting of the Legislature to create a marine-life refuge of the Station point and 1,000 feet seawards. This bill became a law August 14, 1931. The reservation created is known as the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge and is intended to conserve and protect the shore and shallow-water life which has suffered greatly from depredation during the past ten years.
RESEARCH
The Director attended the annual meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union at Salem, Massachusetts, in October. He consulted the collections of Hydrocorallinae at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard, the Peabody Museum of Yale, and the United States National Museum. The last institution presented a small collection to the University for purpose of comparison with West Coast forms on which the Director is working. A paper involving two new genera and a new species of Pacific hydrocorals is in press, and a second paper describing four new deep-sea species from off the Aleutians was completed. A paper on South American sea-stars was published. Opportunity was afforded to visit the zoological laboratories of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Chicago.
Mr. Robert Hays has been working under Dr. Fisher on the postembryonic development of several species of hermit crabs.
Professor Heath continued his experimental work on caste formation in termites with most satisfactory results. He also continued the investigation of certain problems relating to the nervous and circulatory systems of various invertebrates with a view of determining their possible relationships.
During the winter and spring quarters Miss Helen Katherine Rathbun studied under Dr. Heath the anatomy of the ammocoetes larva of the western lamprey.
Mr. W. W. Newby worked under Dr. Heath on the normal development of the echiuroid, Urechis caupo.
Professor MacGintie continued his investigations of the ecology of Elkhorn Slough and carried on comparative studies with similar environments at Humboldt Bay, Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County), and on the coast of northern Lower California. Incidentally, this resulted in the finding of several new species of animals and in the extension of the range of about fifteen others. On Station point, where the new Hopkins Marine Life Refuge has been established by act of legislature, he started study of a section where yearly check will be made on numbers, growth rates, reproductive cycles, and succession of animal species. Considerable progress was made on a working collection of the invertebrate animals of Monterey Bay. Three articles were published, two others completed, and two started.
Dr. Mestre has continued the development of the photographic spectrophotometric technique for the study of pigments of plants in situ, and has extended it to include the fluorescence spectra. Work on the pigments of Ulva is in progress.
With Mr. Harold Sugarman the color change to green, which takes place on heating brown algae, has been studied. The time required for this change has been found to be a function of the temperature and the relationship can be represented by a logarithmic curve characteristic of the material. The nature of this change is being investigated in detail spectrophotometrically.
With Miss Vesta Holt the study of the effects of quartz mercury arc irradiation on the unfertilized egg of Urechis caupo has been continued. It has been found that radiation at the extreme limit of quartz transmission is an important factor in the production of parthenogenetic development, and that an extremely thin filter of cellophane is sufficient to inhibit membrane elevation. Also with Miss Holt a serial photomicrographic study of the early development of the normally fertilized egg of Urechis was undertaken. The data secured indicate the great potentialities of micromotion- picture methods in this field.
By the utilization of the photoelectric cell and the vacuum tube amplifier, apparatus has been constructed with which wholly objective colorimetric determinations can be made. In collaboration with Dr. Danella Straup Cope this apparatus has been applied to a study of the colorimetric determination of silica. The method is being studied with particular reference, to its use in the analysis of sea water. The apparatus has proved to be of great sensitivity, which can be increased if desired, and to give reproducible readings. Preliminary experiments have shown that a similar apparatus can also be applied to the colorimetric determination of phosphorus.
The following is a report of Dr. Skogsberg's work:
"The work on the hydrobiological survey which was initiated in the fall of 1928 was continued along lines previously described. The physicochemical
investigation of the water of Monterey Bay which at first was limited to the upper 50 meters was extended to include the upper 100 meters. This study has revealed that this region is characterized by very complex and intense changes which to a certain extent reflect what is taking place in the open waters off the California coast. According to plans, the first phase of this work will be brought to a conclusion in the course of this coming year. Miss Lucina Stanford, who was in charge of the chemical work on the sea water, graduated last winter and left the institution. She was replaced by Dr. Danella Straup Cope, who in conjunction with Dr. H. Mestre, has begun a series of experiments to improve the current methods of determining the phosphates and silica dissolved in sea water in addition to the routine of collecting chemical data to determine the changes which take place in the bay water in the course of the year.
"Preliminary work on the plankton of the bay has revealed that there are profound changes, not only in the quantity but also in the quality, of these organisms in the course of the year. Another fact that has become evident is that the plankton is made up of forms which are largely undescribed, and a tremendous amount of work must be done in the field of taxonomy before this community can be attacked from an ecological point of view.
"Mr. Rolf Bolin continued his work on the taxonomy and life history of the California cottoids.
"Miss Lucina Stanford concluded her investigation of the Californian Ctenophores, and her paper will be sent in for publication in the course of this fall. It is interesting from the viewpoint that it is the first treatise on a plankton group from this region which has been finished at Hopkins Marine Station.
"Mr. E. C. Scofield has continued his work on the biology of the spawning of the California sardine. For this purpose very extended cruises have been carried out along the coasts of California and Lower California and these expeditions have yielded results that allow us to state that the main features of the problem are fairly established.
"Mr. Li Sun Tai continued his^ work on the morphology and taxonomy of certain elements of the Dinoflagellate group, and Miss Harriet Baker continued her work on the Cladocera of Monterey Bay.
"Mr. Joseph Wales has studied the ecology and rate of growth of a shallow-water fish, Sebastodes mystinus, basing his age determinations largely on scale readings, while Mr. William A. Dill has subjected a flat fish, Orthopsetta sordida, to a similar study, using the otoliths instead of the scales as the main basis for age determinations.
"Mr. W. Harlan Taylor, a student of fossil ostracods (a group of primitive Crustacea), devoted the summer quarter to an intensive study of the life history of a single species of marine ostracods, in order to understand fossil material better. He centered attention on the variability of the external structures, within the various instars, and on the rate of growth."
The following is contributed by Dr. van Niel: "The investigation of the purple bacteria has been continued. A complete publication of the results obtained so far, and covering the morphological and physiological characteristics of these micro-organisms, is in print, to appear in the next issue of the Archiv fiir Mikrobiologie.
"Mr. F. M. Muller, who left the United States July 24, 1931, has studied the metabolism of pure cultures of the purple sulphur bacteria in the presence of organic compounds. This investigation, which will be used as a Doctor's thesis in the University of Utrecht, Holland, has shown that these bacteria convert the organic substances only by means of a photochemical process into cell-substances. A report of this work was read before the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Pasadena, June, 1931.
"Mr. Lewis Thayer has published the results obtained in his study of the bacterial fermentation of fatty acids ('Bacterial Genesis of Hydrocarbons from Fatty Acids,' Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Vol. XV, pp. 441-53, 1931). This work has been actively continued during the summer quarter, 1931, including also a further study of the sulphate reducing bacteria.
"Mr. H. C. Godsil has started a study of the decomposition of hexosephosphates by vinegar bacteria of the type Acetobacter suboxydans Kluyver and deLeeuw.
"Mr. R. E, Hungate has started an investigation of cellulose-decomposition by termites on the basis of the idea that the only organisms known to be active in the decomposition of this polysaccharide are molds and bacteria, so that the contentions of Cleveland, who claimed to have proved the role of intestinal protozoa as the active agencies in the breakdown of the cellulose, may not be considered as a priori the most probable. If the difficulties connected with the study of the bacterial cellulose-digestion are kept in mind it becomes evident that Cleveland's experiments need not be considered as conclusive. The experiments carried out so far have shown the presence of a large number of different types of bacteria in the intestinal tract of the termites. Also various molds and Actinomycetes have been isolated from the same source, some of which can bring about the decomposition of cellulose in pure culture."
During the first two months of the past fiscal year, Dr. Danella Straup Cope made efforts to complete work previously started under Dr. Decking's direction. This included check analyses on some marine brines and further work on the evaporation series. Since December, 1930, she has undertaken a critical investigation of the chemical methods used in sea-water analyses. A study is being made of the chemistry involved in the analyses of silicon and phosphorous in an effort to work out more reliable methods for the determination of these two substances in sea water.
Work for the Hvdrobiological Survey also included a supervision of the routine chemical analyses of sea-water samples and preparation of standard solutions for these analyses.
The following is a report of the work of Mr. T. Hashimoto, research chemist: "The controversy between Heilbron and his co-workers and Andre and Cavol on the composition of squalene, especially on the question of homologous members and the isomers, has been carefully studied. "The formula C30H50 for squalene as originally given by Tsujimoto and also by Heilbron and others, and also the presence of isomeric dodecahydrochlorides, m.p. 145° and 114°, were established. The lowest melting dodecahydrochloride of Heilbron, m.p. 107-8°, is probably not the single compound, and some evidences of the existence of other members were found.
"While working for the federal government with Dr. H. W. Morse, as expert chemist to study the nature and the origin of the organic black substance found in the Lament Cut of the Elk Hill oil land, the opportunity was given to investigate the nature of old asphalts of authentic origin and the oxidation products of the heavy oil residue from the near-by oil wells, as well as the paraffin hydrocarbons. It was found that ordinary commercial definitions of the asphaltic substances (for instance Graham's) do not hold for the old asphalts; that is, classification by solubility in organic solvents, in water, in acid, and in alkali. "The reducing substances, including pentose in some cases, are found after the hydrolysis of old asphalts with hydrochloric acid. "The mother substance of these reducing compounds is found to be a gel-forming substance (like agar) containing nitrogen and sulphur. "The larger part of the old asphalts after saponification with dilute alkali consists of series of organic acids (apparently not straight chain), and the quantities of these different acids differ according to the age and the different conditions of the surroundings.
"When the oil or paraffin was oxidized in air at 100° or in dilute H2O2 they produce reducing substances by acid hydrolysis and the series of acids by saponification not unlike those found in the old asphalt."
Dr. Baumberger has contributed the following account of his research during the summer quarter:
"1. A study of the granules in the blood corpuscles of Urechis, in conjunction with Dr. L. Michaelis, will be published shortly.
"2. A study of the effect of dyes of known redox potential on the ciliary activity of Mytilus, with the assistance of Mrs. Kathleen Bardwell. It was definitely shown that the ciliary Activity is inhibited by various dyes after an exposure time inversely proportional to the potential of the dye employed. Change of pH affects the exposure time of a dye to an extent proportional to the resulting change in redox potential (E'o). Dyes were found to inhibit ciliary activity much more rapidly when exposed to light prior to the introduction of the tissue. The results of this investigation will be published shortly.
"3. Mr. R. K. Skow, a graduate student, with the advice of Dr. L. Michaelis, Dr. H. Mestre, Dr. L. R. Blinks, and Dr. Baumberger, constructed a glass electrode potentiometric apparatus with the view of measuring the pH of the blood, tissues, and cyanide solutions.
"4. With Mr. R. K. Skow a study was made of the effect of the redox potential of the external milieu on the conduction of the nerve impulse in the nerve chord of the Urechis.
"5. With Mr. H. A. Barker, assistant in physiology, and Miss Edith Dickinson, a student, a study was made of the penetration of cyanide into Artemia. It was definitely shown that the killing time of cyanide solutions is proportional to the concentration of undissociated hydrocyanic acid molecules (HCN) and is practically independent of the cyanide ion (CN~). This study has a bearing on the theories of permeability and tissue oxidations in general. The results of this investigation will be published shortly.
"Mr. H. A. Barker, assistant in physiology, carried on a study of the stimuli which induce the excystment of the ciliate Colpoda cucullus from its permanent cysts. Mechanical, osmotic, and electrical stimuli have been found not to be effective for inducing excystment. The aqueous extracts of all of a considerable variety of plant and animal materials are effective in dilutions as great as one part of solid material in 500,000 parts of water. No single purified organic or inorganic compound has been found which will stimulate the ciliates to excyst. A quantitative study of the excystmen inducing activity of various fractions of dried yeast is in progress. "In every way the students and I have greatly profited by the advice and active interest of Dr. L. Michaelis."
Dr. L. R. Blinks, staff member of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, spent the summer quarter as lecturer in plant physiology. His research concerned the measurement of bioelectric potentials and currents across the protoplasm of very large plant cells (multinucleate algae). The use of such cells with a volume up to one cubic centimeter or more, and a large continuous surface of protoplasm, makes it possible to measure the normal bioelectric potential, between two known solutions (the cell sap and the outside solution, sea water), and the variations in it produced by definite changes in the environment. It has been found possible to increase, decrease, or reverse the potential, by certain small changes of salt content, in connection with controlled values of acidity. Similar changes can be produced by the flow of electric current across the protoplasm, the effects depending upon the current, density, and direction. By these studies a much better understanding of bioelectric effects is gained, both of such phenomena as action currents and currents of injury, and of electrical polarization and breakdown. The information gained on the penetration of ionized and molecular substances into the protoplasm further indicates the character of the protoplasmic surface, as a non-aqueous, probably lipoid, film.
Mr. R. M. Bond, supported by a fellowship from the Bishop Museum of Honolulu, spent part of the autumn quarter and the winter and spring quarters in putting Putter's Theory to a careful experimental test. This theory—that many aquatic animals absorb an important part of their food from the true solution—is of very great ecological interest. It seems to help explain a large number of confusing and conflicting facts and observations. At the same time, new difficulties are brought up by the theory itself. Since experimentation had proved hard, and interpretation had proved harder, a wide field was open for further work. The experimental forms easiest to control and observe were found to be the crustacean, Artemia salina, and the protozoan Colpidium colpoda, but a number of other species were used to some extent.
Dr. Victor Burke, of the State College, Pullman, Washington, spent the summer quarter in working in the field of marine bacteriology. Experiments were carried out to determine the interchange of bacteria between the ocean and fresh-water streams entering it. The results of the experiments suggest that many bacteria carried into the sea from the land survive, and that bacteria found in the sea survive when carried into fresh water. A large number of bacteria were isolated from sea water, and these will be studied during the winter. This work is simply preliminary to an intensive study of the role the bacteria play in the biology of the sea. Their value as food for the zooplankton and the part they play in the nitrogen and other cycles of the elements in the sea, so important to the phytoplankton, have not been thoroughly investigated. The species involved and the factors determining their activity need investigation. The possibility of using bacteria as indicators of the fish crop for any season should be considered. These and certain other problems connected with marine bacteriology will be investigated if opportunity permits. Dr. Burke states: "I appreciate the privilege of being permitted to start these investigations at the Hopkins Marine Station."
Dr. Elisabeth Deichmann, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University, continued a study, begun in 1924, of the littoral and shallow-water sea-cucumbers, and procured material for an investigation of the embryology of a shallow-water species, Thyonepsolus nutriens.
The following is a report of work on submarine sedimentation in Monterey Bay by Mr. Wayne Galliher, a graduate student: "Approximately 150 samples of bottom deposits have been collected and examined. Both tube and clam-shell type dredges have been used. Examination of the sediments has given the following results:
"1. Mechanical composition and distribution: A lithologic chart showing the distribution of the various grade sizes of sediment has been prepared. The interesting points are: (1) an accumulation of coarse material in the south corner of the bay, presumably due to wave action; (2) the occurrence to a depth of 500 fathoms of a layer of sand and gravel over silt and clay in the central portion of the submarine channel. Such stratification is a definite indicator of a somewhat recent change in condition of sedimentation in the basin.
"2. Chemical analyses of the sediments have been undertaken with respect to hydrotroilite, carbonate, phosphate, and organic carbon. Results show a correlation of organic carbon and iron sulphide (hydrotroilite) contents, both diminishing with increase in depth. Phosphates are to be measured in tenths of one per cent P2O5 as contrasted with inclosed basins such as L'Etang de Thau; described by Sudry (Annales Flnstitut Oceanographlque, 1910), where the P2O5 content ranges as high as 4.1 per cent. Carbonates are concentrated around jutting points and submarine rock ledges. The calcium carbonate content reaches 86 per cent in places. Such sediments as these are, of course, potential limestones.
"Mineralogical examination is directed with attention to determination of assemblages and variation of percent 'heavies' with depth. This phase is of importance mainly to this particular basin, while the other aspects mentioned above are of more general value in the interpretation of shallow water sedimentary rocks."
Dr. Ernest Gellhorn of the University of Oregon during the summer quarter continued his work on ion antagonism in spermatozoa of the echiuroid worm, Urechis caupo. The observations favor the theory that ion antagonism is based on changes in permeability.
Dr. F. G. Gilchrist of Pomona College spent part of the summer quarter in an experimental study of Scyphistoma larvae, probably of Chrysaora. This study covered the behavior (food reactions, locomotion), budding, and regenerative capacities. Scyphistomas are very resistant to variations in sea-water concentration, to vital staining, and to fragmentation. Pieces may be grafted readily and regeneration is highly developed. He also studied the cell lineage of living Urechis eggs up to the beginning of ciliation, giving special attention to the changing form and position of cells.
Dr. Torsten Gislen of the University of Upsala spent the period between December 14 and April 7 in an intensive study of the ecology of the intertidal zone as part of a comparative survey, made in different parts of the world, of the productivity of the littoral fauna and flora.
Dr. Tracy E. Hazen, associate professor of botany in Columbia University, during his term as acting professor of botany at Hopkins Marine Station for the summer quarter of 1930, found this region so favorable for his research interests that he returned for the summer quarter. He has continued his investigations on the morphology and phylogeny of primitive green algae, his main interest for the past ten years. He has obtained here valuable new material, which makes possible important additions to his researches. He has spent considerable time in study of a new and apparently undescribed organism which raises perplexing problems in connection with schemes of phylogeny accepted recently by most botanists.
Miss Vesta Holt, a graduate student, during the summer quarter investigated polarity in Urechis caupo eggs. She also studied normal embryology of early stages; centrifuged eggs from the two-cell through the twenty-four-cell stage; and tested eggs with vital stain to ascertain if the egg might be marked by this method. With Dr. Mestre she worked on parthenogenic development induced by ultraviolet light.
Dr. A. E. Hopkins, aquatic biologist, United States Bureau of Fisheries, spent the winter quarter in work on chemical sensitivity in the oyster (Ostrea gigas}.
Studies were made of the physiology of stimulation by chemicals in the oyster. The tentacles of the oyster are sensitive to odorous compounds, such as cumarin, and to salts, acids, alkalis, and quinine, but show no clear reaction to cane sugar. Graphs plotted to show the relationship between concentration and latent period indicate that the effect, as represented by the reciprocal of the latent period, is directly proportional to the concentration. However, in order for this to be the case it is necessary to subtract a constant from the latent period values; this constant is supposed to represent the impedance due to mucus covering the receptors. In certain cases it was found that the latent period fluctuated between two levels, and for a series of concentrations the values would fall along two well-separated and distinct curves. This appears not to be due to fatigue or to variations in temperature. The oyster is sensitive to very low concentrations of certain substances. It reacts to 0.0004 per cent quinine, which is about one-eighth the threshold for man. The threshold concentration for sodium chloride is M/100, while that for potassium nitrate is M/40,000. Both cations and anions may be arranged in ascending series according to their stimulating effect.
Dr. L. Michaelis, member of the Rockefeller Institute, spent July and August principally in work on the blood of the echiuroid Urechis caupo, which bids fair to become classic material for physiological research. Last summer Dr. A. C. Redfield investigated the respiratory properties of the blood. In collaboration with Dr. Baumberger, Dr. Michaelis investigated the chemical and histological properties of the blood, the behavior of which is unlike that of any other blood. An outstanding characteristic of this blood is the fact that the cells contain not only hemoglobin but also, in variable amounts according to age or season, hematin accumulated within granules specific for these blood cells. The result of this study will soon be published.
In collaboration with Dr. H. Mestre, Dr. Michaelis continued some spectroscopic studies on dyestuffs, which though not ready for publication, will have a considerable bearing on his later research.
Miss Lois T. Martin, a graduate student, made a study of the Foraminifera of the intertidal zone of Monterey Bay. The problem concerns the relation of the intertidal Foraminifera to their environment, particularly in regard to the substrate, and their rate of growth. Studies were made on six species.
Dr. Gilbert Morgan Smith during the summer quarter worked on his treatise on the fresh-water algae of the United States. Mr. G. J. Hollenberg, a graduate student, continued studies on the life history of Haliclystis, and Mr. C. H. Quibell, a graduate student, continued research on floral morphology.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN FIFTH SERIES, No. 142 DECEMBER, 1932
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1932
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Harold Heath,
George E. MacGinitie, Harold Mestre, Tage Skogsberg, and Cornelis B. van Niel. Summer quarter additions to the staff were Felix Eugen Fritsch, of the University of London; Gilbert M. Smith and Douglas M. Whitaker, of Stanford.
RESEARCH
Except for four weeks of the autumn quarter, the Director was in residence during the academic year and continued studies on Hydrocorallinae of the North Pacific and on Sipunculoidea. In the basement of the Alexander Agassiz Laboratory a small museum was established to house the study collection of Pacific Coast marine invertebrates, an indispensable adjunct to the teaching and research activities of the Station. Mrs. Nettie M. MacGinitie has acted as curator and placed the collection in excellent condition.
Professor F. E. Fritsch, of the University of London, was associated with Professor Smith and devoted his major attention to the giant kelps of the region.
Professor Heath continued his experimental studies on the development of the various castes in termites. He also is engaged on a study of the anatomy of several species of protobranchs, or primitive clams, whose long geologic history is of exceptional interest to the morphologist.
Miss Anne Anderson has undertaken a report on the anatomy of the sea hare, Alpysia.
Miss Eleanor S. Boone continued her work on the anatomy and classification of the polyclad flatworms of the California coast.
Mr. Ludwig Herz completed his study of the development of the barnacle, Balanus glandula, from the time of hatching to the assumption of the adult form.
Mr. Kenneth Hobbs investigated the development of various stages in the embryology of two species of bats from Arizona caves.
The research activities of Professor MacGinitie covered the following:
(1) the winter habits of the fiddler crab, Uca crenulata; (2) the feeding method of the tube mollusc, Aletes squamigerus; (3) the role of bacteria as food for bottom animals (paper1 in press); (4) cataloguing the marine invertebrates of Monterey Bay. This includes localities, nature of habitat, abundance, breeding periods and habits, seasonal variations in distribution, with notes on behavior and, whenever possible, distinguishing characteristics for identifying species in the field. He published "Animal Ecology Defined," in Ecology (April, 1932), and has in press Notice of Extension of Range of Various Species of Invertebrates of the Pacific Coast. II, and The Role of Bacteria as Food for Bottom Animals. He supervised the work of Mr. Willis Hewatt, a student with a "Ph.D. problem" in the field of marine ecology.
Dr. Mestre has continued his study of the in vivo pigments of the green, brown, and red algae, and has developed a photoelectric-cell photometer, with which it is now possible to follow continuously and objectively many of the reactions which occur when the algal tissues are subjected to the action of heat, solvents, acids, and other reagents. Much new evidence has been obtained and important correlations have been made with the spectrographic data. The photographic spectrophotometer has been further improved, and a novel electrical timer for controlling the exposure has been devised and constructed. Observations begun during the summers of 1930 and 1931 on the photic responses of a large nocturnal Epeirid spider have been continued with the aid of a photoelectric-cell photometer.
With Miss Elizabeth Hines (graduate student) and Miss Jane Scribner, the remarkable acid content of the brown alga Desmarestia herbacea has been investigated. With Mr. Ralph Benton and Miss Elizabeth Hines (graduate students), and Miss Clare McGee, studies have been made on the zonation of Pelvetia fastigiata, and on phases of growth and reproduction in Nereocystis Luetkeana and Macrocystis integrifolia.
The following is a report from Dr. van Niel: "Since September, 1931, the study of the purple bacteria has been continued from the viewpoint of their importance for a better understanding of photosynthesis in general (cf. van Niel and Muller, Recueil des Travaux botaniques Neerlandais, XXVIII, 245-74, 1931).
"Experiments have been carried out in which the metabolism of the sulphur purple bacteria in white and red light has been compared. These have shown that in all probability the red pigments of these purple bacteria are not photochemically active; the only pigments which have a direct photochemical function are the green ones. "The mechanism of photochemical carbon dioxide reduction is being studied with the sulphur purple bacteria by using media containing formats and oxalates besides and instead of carbon dioxide in order to find out whether these theoretically possible intermediate products in the conversion of carbon dioxide into organic matter can be attacked by this group of photosynthetic organisms, and, if so, in what way. This investigation is as yet incomplete and will be continued.
"Also, the group of non-sulphur purple bacteria, or Athiorhodaceae, has been investigated from the viewpoint of their relationships with the sulphur purple bacteria. A number of important contributions have been added to the collection of pure cultures of the purple bacteria, including bacteria with brown pigments which, as fair as the experiments show, also seem to belong to the photosynthetie bacterja. The metabolism of the Athiorhodaceae has been studied only qualitatively; the results are, however, important, because they show that quantitative investigations on this group can be carried out, using the Warburg technique.
"During the spring quarter I gratefully accepted the invitation of Dr. H. A. Spoehr to use the facilities of the Carnegie Laboratory for Plant Biology for making a beginning with the study of the chemistry of the red pigments of the purple bacteria.
"Mr. H. C. Godsil continued his work on the decomposition of dextrose and the hexosephosphates by bacteria of the group of Acetobacter suboxydans. Owing to the difficulties connected with the procuring of hexosephosphates, this investigation is, as yet, far from complete. The results obtained so far show that none of the available preparations of hexosephosphates are decomposed by these bacteria. "The isolation of a strain of Hanseniaspora Gmllermondii with a. strikingly great tendency to form ascospores led Mr. Godsil to carry out a preliminary study of the factors which may lead to the often observed fact that this yeast, as well as many others, rapidly loses the ability to form spores under laboratory conditions. It was hoped that this study would furnish a method of handling pure cultures of yeast which would leave the spore-forming capacity intact. A decrease of spore-forming capacity has been observed, but it cannot yet be correlated definitely with the composition of the culture medium.
"Mr. R. E. Hungate is continuing his work on the decomposition of cellulose by termites. The results show that bacteria are of little or no importance, but that molds may play a very important role. Cultures of termites, especially defaunated specimens, on sterile cellulose and on sterile, fungus-digested cellulose are under way, and it is hoped that these will finally settle the question of how termites in nature are capable of feeding on cellulose.
"Miss M. Terwilliger started an investigation of the anaerobic breakdown of pure amino acids by bacteria. This investigation should furnish valuable information concerning the fundamental mechanism of decomposition of this group of compounds. The main work carried out so far has been the isolation of a number of pure cultures of bacteria capable of decomposing various amino acids under anaerobic conditions."
The following is a report from Dr. T. Skogsberg, in charge of the oceanological program:
"The work dealing with the hydrography of Monterey Bay was continued and extended. While in the previous year the investigations were limited to the southern end of the bay and to the upper one hundred meters, this year stations were established over the entire bay, and water samples were taken as far down as nine hundred meters. The reason for this extension was that during former years extremely complex water movements had been established and the underlying causes of these were now to be investigated. In this connection particular emphasis was placed on the role played in the local hydrography by the deep submerged valley which divides the bay into two nearly equal parts. The extensive vertical and
horizontal water movements found during the previous years were ascertained to be limited to the upper two hundred meters, that is, to the strata affected by the winds. The deeper strata, as far down as nine hundred meters, are also characterized by decided shifts, but these apparently are exclusively horizontal, or nearly so. Current investigations by means of floats proved that the water movements of the inner regions of the bay are not only very extensive but also complicated by the fact that the various strata move in different directions. On account of the fact that the changes in the upper strata are limited to depths affected by the winds, the hydrographical data obtained so far were subjected to an analysis from the viewpoint of correlating them with the meteorological phenomena over the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. In this work Dr. A. Breese, of the United States Weather Bureau at Fresno, has been co-operating. It was also attempted to bring the hydrographical observations into correlation with the commercial fisheries, on account of the fact that the California Fish and Game Commission is co-operating in this undertaking. Miss Pearl Murray carried out the routine chemical analysis; Mr. Rolf Bolin assisted in the field work.
"Mr. E. C. Scofield, of the California Fish and Game Commission, working in co-ordination with the program of the Hopkins Marine Station Hydrobiological Survey, concluded his investigations of the spawning of the California sardine. Four years of intensive work on this problem, during which many thousands of miles were covered at sea, gave consistent results, forming a very important link in the general investigations of the extensive migrations which characterize this species. His work can well be ranked among the most significant investigations in the annals of fisheries research.
"Mr. Li-Sun Tai concluded his work on the morphology and taxonomy of the armored Dinoflagellata of Monterey Bay. His results are quite extraordinary and undoubtedly, in the future, will serve as the foundation for the taxonomy of this group. After having finished his studies Mr. Tai returned to Tsing-H'ua University, Peiping, China.
"Dr. Wayne Galliher, of the Department of Geology, working in conjunction with the Survey, concluded his investigations of the bottom sediments of Monterey Bay. As a result of these studies the California Division of Mines has published an excellent sedimentation chart of this region, and a part of Dr. Galliher's report was published in Mining in California. It is the first work of its kind to be carried out on this coast.
"Mr. W. Harlan Taylor, also of the Department of Geology, concluded his investigations on the recent Ostracoda, preparatory to future work on the fossil members of this group, forms which play an important part in the geological analyses during oil drilling. His report, which will be published, received considerable attention during a meeting held recently by geologists in Oklahoma.
"Mr. Joseph Wales concluded his studies on the life history of Sebastodes mystinus, a shallow-water member of the rock cod group. One of the more interesting results of his work is the establishment of the fact that this species shows but slight rhythm in its growth. This may be correlated with the fact that the shallow waters do not have distinct seasonal thermal changes. The members of this genus which live in deeper waters, with pronounced seasons, exhibit a very decided rhythm in their growth.
"Miss Harriet Baker also brought to a conclusion her studies on the planktonic Cladocera of Monterey Bay. The work involves a careful revision of this group and is based not only on Monterey Bay material but also on material from a great number of localities from various parts of the world. This work, as well as that by Mr. Tai, forms a link in a general program to make the plankton of this region known.
"Among the investigations still in progress, those by Mr. Rolf Bolin and Mr. W. A. Dill should be noted. Mr. Bolin is working on the taxonomy and life history of the California cottoids; Mr. Dill on the life history of a flat fish, Orthopsetta sordida. Both of these investigations are parts of a program aiming at the publication of a handbook on fishes of California."
Professor Smith's research activities were devoted to a general survey of reproduction in the red algae of the marine flora, where several promising leads were uncovered.
Mr. G. J. Hollenberg, a graduate student working with Professor Smith, continued his investigations on Halicystis, paying particular attention to the method of germination of this alga.
During the spring and summer quarters Dr. D. M. Whitaker continued investigation of the changes in the egg cell at fertilization, especially the changes in respiratory rate, and the relation thereof to the nature of the inhibition of the unfertilized egg. The work immediately in progress is upon the eggs of Urechis caupo. Means have been found which greatly extend the fertilizable life of the unfertilized egg. The relations to the metabolism of the egg are being investigated.
Mr. J. S. Darling is working under Dr. Whitaker on the effects of anesthetics and food substances upon the longevity of unfertilized sea urchin and sand dollar eggs.
Miss Vesta Holt is investigating the effects of prolonged centrifuging of the Urechis egg, and especially the function of certain parts of the cell, notably the nucleolus, which can be segregated by means of the centrifuge.
During the summer quarter Dr. Robert Emerson, of the California Institute of Technology, assisted by Mr. M. C. Sargent and Mr. W. A. Arnold, occupied a research laboratory.
The following is Dr. Emerson's report :
"Mr. Arnold made measurements on the heating effect of light on thin layers of photosynthesizing cells, with a view to determining what sort of cooling would be adequate to maintain such cells at constant temperature during an investigation of their metabolism. "He also made measurements on the scattering of light by microscopic particles of oil suspended in water, in order to estimate the probable loss due to scattering when a beam of parallel light passes through a suspension of cells. "Mr. Sargent and I made some progress in working out a technique of cultivating blue-green algae in suitable condition for metabolic studies. It is desirable to measure the photosynthesis of these organisms, since their chlorophyll is dispersed throughout the cell, instead of being concentrated in plastids, as it is in green plants.
"My own time was spent largely in preparing the results obtained during the preceding year for publication, and in calibrating and setting up, in co-operation with Dr. C. B. van Niel, apparatus for the measurement of photosynthesis and respiration."
Mr. H. W. Graham, of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution, by invitation, made the Station his headquarters during an investigation of the plankton samples gathered on the last cruise of the "Carnegie," of the staff of which Mr. Graham was a member. His report follows:
"During the months of September to January investigations were started on the Dinoflagellata in a collection of plankton samples obtained on the last cruise of the non-magnetic vessel 'Carnegie.' The collection comprises about one thousand tow-net and pump samples taken over a large area of the northern and tropical Atlantic, and the northern, tropical, and southeastern Pacific at 0-, 50-, and 100-meter levels. The study of the Dinoflagellata is being carried out principally from the standpoints of taxonomy and geographical distribution. Other work in progress on the group includes detailed skeletal morphology and a study of the evolutionary significance of skeletal variations in the Peridinioidae. The results of water analyses accompanying the specimens make possible some ecological studies which will be taken up upon completion of the systematic work. The investigations are being carried out under the direction of Dr. T. Skogsberg."
During the same period Mrs. Ruth T. Graham began, under the direction of Dr. Skogsberg, a taxonomic study of the Chaetognatha in the plankton samples collected by the "Carnegie." About four hundred and fifty samples of specimens from plankton samples taken at 0-, 50-, and 100-meter levels throughout the cruise comprise the collection.
During the latter half of August, Professor James E. Lynch, of the University of Washington, continued investigation, begun several years ago, on the entozoic fauna of the large sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, concerning which he has already published several papers.
Professor Liang Ching Li, of Peiping, China, spent two weeks during the summer quarter in collecting marine algae.
Professor J. Murray Luck, of the Department of Chemistry, during the summer quarter, studied the distribution of arginine in invertebrates, with the object of determining whether arginine or phosphorine is uniformly present in muscle tissue, and of studying the quantitative relationships. Thirty-nine different species from various phyla were examined. Arginine was found most abundantly in arthropods and molluscs. It was present in smaller but significant quantities in echinoderms and flatworms. None could be found in coelenterates, echiurans, and annelids.
During the summer quarter Professor F. M. McFarland continued his work on the nudibranch molluscs of the region.
Professor A. R. Moore, of the University of Oregon, continued his experiments, with echinoderm eggs, on the problem of cell bridges, concerning which he has already published several papers. During the summer quarter he was associated with Dr. M. M. Moore, and with Miss Shirley Witt and Miss Winifred Bradway, assistants.
Miss Lois Martin, a graduate student, continued her study of the Foraminifera of the intertidal zone of Monterey Bay.
Mr. W. W. Newby, of the University of Utah, during August worked on the normal development of the echiuran, Urechis caupo.
Mr. J. B. Phillips continued work on the Sardine Program under the auspices of the California Fish and Game Commission. This included seasonal sampling of the commercial sardine catch at Monterey and osteological studies of the sardine. He also worked on the Mackerel Program with gonad maturity studies and first-year otolith readings.
Dr. Laetitia M. Snow, of the Department of Botany, Wellesley College, spent the summer quarter in a study of the bacterial flora of local sand dunes, as a continuation of similar work in other localities.
Among the visitors for short periods may be mentioned the following:
Mr. John Colman, Commonwealth Fellow, Farnaham, Surrey, England (marine ecology) ; Dr. A. von Bonde, director of Fisheries Survey, Union of South Africa; Dr. A. J. Kluyver, Technische Hoogeschool, Delft, Holland, who gave an address entitled "Redox Potentials in Bacterial Cultures"; Dr. Yaichiro Okada, of the Tokyo Normal College (sponges); Count Y. Tsugaru, Tokyo, Japan (Rotifera) ; Dr. R. Woltereck, Leipzig, Germany, editor of the Revue der Hydrobiologie (hydrobiology).
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
A revision of the courses of instruction was undertaken by the staff during the autumn quarter and completed for the Announcement of Courses for 1932-33. Specified requirements for graduation comprise a group of foundation courses and a minimum of elective courses in the department on the campus and at the Hopkins Marine Station, together with certain introductory courses in botany, chemistry, and physics. Some important changes were made also in plans of prescribed studies and research leading to the advanced degrees in animal science. The teaching activities of Professors Fisher, Heath, Skogsberg, and MacGinitie in both course instruction and the supervision of advanced students were carried on at the Hopkins Marine Station.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN FIFTH SERIES, No. 161 NOVEMBER, 1933
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1933
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
ADDITION TO THE LIBRARY FUND FOR THE HOPKINS MARINE STATION
Under date of September 8, 1932, the Board adopted a resolution, as follows: Resolved, That, in order to match the $20,000.00 appropriated in April, 1930, by the Rockefeller Foundation to Stanford University as a Library Fund for the Hopkins Marine Station, the Acting President be authorized to use the following funds:
$4,154.24, already contributed by President Wilbur to the Hopkins Marine Station Library Fund;
$ 500.00, covering the Mary Matilda Storey bequest;
$ 100.00, from T. H. Morgan;
$3,500.00, from the equipment and expense funds of the Jacques Loeb Laboratory;
$2,500.00, from the Equipment and Expense funds of the Hopkins Marine Station.
The balance required to make up the sum of $20,000.00 to be covered by setting aside the necessary amount from the income of the Jewel Fund of the University Library.
BOTANY
Professor G. M. Smith was on duty during the summer quarters of 1932 and 1933 at the Hopkins Marine Station giving courses on the algae. There were no courses in botany "on the Quad" in either summer. On the other hand, by the courses on the algae by Dr. Smith, on the bacteria by Dr. van Niel, and on the physiology of marine plants to be given by Dr. Blinks, the department believes that it is making its best contribution under present conditions to the promotion of science and the training of interested students. The department believes, however, that the summer quarter should be financed on the same scale as the other quarters as soon as the income of the University permits. The department also wishes to acknowledge with appreciation the improvement of the summer quarter in aim and accomplishment during the last two years.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L. Bolin, Harold Heath, Harold Mestre, Tage Skogsberg, Cornells B. van Niel, Douglas M. Whitaker. Summer quarter additions to the staff were Gilbert M. Smith and Frank W. Weymouth, of Stanford, and Elisabeth Deichmann, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
RESEARCH
The Director continued his study of the hydrocorals of the North Pacific. The autumn quarter was spent in going over the considerable collection of hydrocorals in the United States National Museum, Washington, D.C.
Rolf L. Bolin, teaching assistant in zoology, continued his studies on the morphology, embryology, and classification of the cottoid fishes of California. He has also undertaken a systematic report on the cottoids of Lower California and the Tres Marias Islands, collected by the California Academy of Sciences' Crocker Expedition to the Galapagos Islands.
Professor Heath, associated with Professor Schenek, studied the anatomy of a comprehensive collection of primitive pelecypods closely allied to ancient types. With a more perfect knowledge of the internal organization of living species, together with the shell characters of ancestral types, it is probable that a substantial advance can be made toward establishing the relationships and classification of the group.
Miss Anne Anderson, working under Professor Heath, completed the study of the anatomy of the giant marine snail, Tethys californica, an inhabitant of the shallow coastal waters of California.
Miss Eleanor S. Boone continued her studies of the morphology and relationships of the polyclads of the California coast.
Miss Margaret Storey investigated various methods whereby planktonic molluscan larvae may be reared to a point where their relationships can be established.
The Hydrobiological Survey, in cooperation with the California Fish and Game Commission, under the direction of Dr. Skogsberg, was continued throughout the year. Owing to conditions brought about by the depression, it appeared for a while as if this enterprise would have to be discontinued, but this misfortune was avoided by the efforts and faith of the officers of the Commission. The nature of the records collected by this Survey makes continuity necessary. In the future they will form invaluable information bearing on a variety of scientific as well as practical problems. It is appropriate to extend the appreciation of the University to the officers of the California Fish and Game Commission for what they have done.
Once a week throughout the year seven stations representative of Monterey Bay were visited and records made with reference to temperature, salinity, phosphates, and silica. One such station, over the deepest part of the submarine valley which bisects the bay, extended to 900 meters depth. The aim of these observations was not only to establish the circulation of the water in this bay but to obtain information in regard to more or less long-range changes. The data collected during the previous years were subjected to analysis, the results of which are in many respects very interesting.
During the year the upbuilding of the hydrobiological library made considerable advance. More than 4,000 titles are now included in this library, all of them having been classified and indexed.
The following students worked under Dr. Skogsberg's direction:
1. Mr. William A. Dill continued his work on the life history of one of the two species of sand dab occurring in Monterey Bay. Throughout the year monthly samples of this fish were taken from the California Fish and Game patrol boat "Albacore." The field work is now nearly completed.
2. Miss Harriet Baker brought her work on the marine cladoceran crustaceans of Monterey Bay to a conclusion. In the course of this study a very large amount of material was carefully analyzed and compared with material from various parts of the world. It was by far the most extensive and careful work of its kind hitherto carried out on these organisms.
3. Mr. Herbert Graham, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is making his work, noticed elsewhere, the basis of a thesis for the Ph.D. degree.
4. Investigations of the ecology of the rocky shore of the Hopkins Marine Station carried on by Mr. Willis G. Hewatt during the last couple of years are approaching completion.. Mr. Hewatt's work implies a more careful analysis of animal and plant associations along the shore than has hitherto been made at any place along the West Coast of this continent, and his work will be of great importance to the future teaching activities of the Station.
During the summer quarter Dr. Gilbert M.. Smith continued a survey of the algal flora of the Monterey Peninsula. This material will eventually be incorporated in an illustrated treatise on the marine algae found in the vicinity of the Station.
Mr. G. J. Hollenberg, working under Professor Smith, completed his investigations of the germination of the alga Halicystis.
The work of Professor C. B. van Niel may be summarized as follows:
1. An investigation of the apparent absence of Azotobacter" in soil samples of the Monterey Peninsula showed conclusively that the failure to obtain this organism is due to the absence of sufficient molybdenum in these soils.
2. The problem of the metabolism of the purple bacteria in the dark has been investigated, using the Warburg manometer methods. These experiments have led to the unexpected result that in the absence of light these organisms appear to take up considerable quantities of oxygen, used in a respiration process. The establishment of this fact opens up possibilities for the quantitative study of the mutual interdependence of photosynthesis and respiration, studies which have so far been impossible with other photosynthetic organisms (higher plants, algae, etc.).
3. The study of the chemical constitution of the pigments of the purple bacteria has been continued.
Much time has been spent in obtaining a sufficiently large amount of material for this investigation. The chemical investigation was carried out during the spring quarter in the Laboratory for Plant Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford University.The chemical analyses carried out in collaboration with Dr. J. H. C. Smith and Mr. H. Milner have shown definitely that the purple pigment of these bacteria is a new member of the carotinoid pigments, with the formula (C16H22O), and its correct formula is probably C48H66O3. Per molecule there are present fifteen double bonds, so that the final elucidation of the chemical constitution depends entirely upon establishing the nature of the type of combination in which the oxygen is present.
4. Studies (with J. O. Thomas) on pure cultures of Glaucoma pyriformis have shown that this organism has an anaerobic sugar metabolism, resulting in the formation of acid only. No gas is produced during this process.
5. Miss M. Terwilliger has continued the investigation of the anaerobic breakdown of pure amino-acids by micro-organisms; the efforts have been concentrated on the decomposition of glutamic acid.
6. Mr. Milton Silverman started work on the condensation of formaldehyde in statu nascendi.
During the summer quarter of 1933 Professor F. W. Weymouth, with the assistance of Dr. H. A. Barker, gave for the first time the course in comparative physiology required by the revised course of study in Zoology. An attempt was made to study the functions of a group of representative animals readily available at the Station and which are studied in their morphological and systematic aspects in other courses. This attempt emphasized the opportunity for physiological research on the Pacific Coast, since satisfactory information was not available for a single form. During the summer Professor Weymouth collected data upon and made a preliminary analysis of relative growth in the kelp crab, Pugettia producta. Particular attention was devoted to those characters in which the species shows sexual dimorphism, namely, the width of the abdomen and the size of the chelae. This form was selected because of the occurrence in it of parasitic castration by Sacculina in which the secondary sexual characters of the male are profoundly altered toward the female type. He also supervised the work of John P. Gifford on the structure and life history of a little-known isopod of the group Epicarida, parasitic on shrimp of the genus Crangon in San Francisco Bay.
The following investigations by Professor D. M. Whitaker have been in progress: Measurements of certain metabolic changes in the Urechis eggs at fertilization; the effect of different exposures of unfertilized eggs of this same species to potassium chloride, an agent which initiates development in the absence of spermatozoa (and to other agents as well), in causing different numbers of polar bodies to be given off by the egg cell, and the relation of the resulting different nuclear contents to cleavage and development; the effect upon the fertilization mechanism of the egg cortex of various degrees of partial digestion of this structure by the digestive juices taken from the stomach of a rock crab; the removal of the outer membrane of the egg by the same digestive agency in order to render the egg accessible for microsurgery.
The following students have been working under Dr. Whitaker's direction:
1. Mr. Hyman Chase, fellow of the General Education Board, from Howard University, has been determining the effect of temperature upon the rate of elevation of the fertilization membrane in four species of eggs which fall into two categories of types of fertilization membranes. The temperature rate curves correlate with the types of membrane formation. Mr. Chase has been studying the nature of the membrane formation in the sand dollar egg.
2. Miss Vesta Holt, head of the Department of Biology at Chico State Teachers College, has continued the investigation of the effects of removal of the nucleolus from the nucleus of the Urechis egg in an effort to determine the function of that cell body. She has been attempting to remove the nucleolus and all of its fragmented parts by means of an especially designed ultracentrifuge and a microdissection apparatus.
3. Mr. W. W. Newby, of the University of Utah, has been continuing investigation of the embryological development of Urechis. His work has been under the direction of Professor Heath, now retiring, and is being continued under the joint direction of Professors Skogsberg and Whitaker.
4. Mr. E. W. Lowrance has been investigating factors determining the developmental axis of the egg of a marine alga, Fucus. He has been establishing first a steep temperature gradient across the egg.
5. Mr. E. T. Erickson has been making preliminary studies of means of fertilizing and rearing the eggs of a hermaphroditic clam, and is studying the polar lobe formation and the early development of organs to the end of investigating organ-forming regions of the egg cell.
6. Miss Lillian Harris has been determining the effect of temperature upon the rate and type of early development of the sand dollar egg, and limits of temperature tolerance of this form.
Dr. H. A. Barker, of Stanford University, and Dr. K. V. Thiman, of the California Institute of Technology, worked on an analysis of the factors governing the excystment of Colpoda cucullus, with particular reference to (1) the activity of the plant-growth hormone, (2) the identity of the plantgrowth hormone with the excysting substance in hay infusions, (3) the quantitative relations determining the response of the organism to the excysting stimulus, (4) the influence of external environmental factors on the rate and extent of excystment, (5) the bearing of the results upon the mechanism of the action of the plant hormone on plants, and on the mechanism of excystment in protozoa.
Dr. Winnefred Bradway, of the University of Oregon, made studies on the experimental alteration of the rate of metamorphosis of the tunicate, Clavellina. A publication on this work is to be made before next summer.
Dr. Robert Emerson, of the California Institute of Technology, assisted by Mr. Lowell Green, made measurements of the photosynthesis of several species of red algae, especially one of the Gigartinas, in order to make comparisons with the photosynthetic mechanism of green plants. They also started some cultures of marine diatoms obtained from the running sea water of the laboratory. If they are successful in isolating and growing these diatoms in pure culture, they will be used for studies in photosynthesis.
Dr. Emerson also worked out methods for culturing Allomyces javanicus (Kniep, 1929). Pure cultures have been obtained and are being studied from the viewpoint of their sexual and asexual reproduction.
Dr. Louis Giltay, of the Royal Natural History Museum, Brussels, touring America as an advanced fellow of the C.R.B. Educational Foundation, spent several weeks at the Station studying the local fauna, with special reference to fishes and general ecology.
As a member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution, Washington, Mr. Herbert W. Graham was engaged throughout the year in a continuation of his studies of the Dinoflagellata of the plankton collections made by the ship "Carnegie" of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. His studies of this group of organisms from the standpoints of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and evolutionary significance of skeletal variations were continued. About six hundred fifty camera lucida working sketches were made to be used in the final organization of the results. Sixty-eight more species were recorded and their distribution in the Atlantic studied. It was found that considerable of the taxonomic difficulties which have been ecountered in the genus Peridinium may be attributed not only to the fact that there is frequently a wide variation within a species but also to the lack of thoroughness in the descriptions and figures published in the past. Too frequently only the grosser features were observed and reported. For this reason a detailed study of the skeletal morphology was started on one of the commonest and most variable groups of the genus, the formenkreis, Peridinium depressum s. lat. A careful dissection is being made of all skeletal units so that not only the plate pattern but also the details of the more obscure apical, girdle, and sulcal regions will be brought to light. Exact information of the genus will be of the utmost importance in the study of the entire group Dinoflagellata.
Dr. Charles W. Greene, of the Department of Physiology, University of Missouri, spent the spring quarter in a study of the physiology of light production in the midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus.
Miss Lois T. Martin, of Stanford, during the spring and summer quarters continued observations of the living Foraminifera from the intertidal zone of Monterey Bay, with special attention to the construction of a satisfactory aquarium for the organisms, and the preparation of two reports on cretaceous Foraminifera from the Selma Chalk of Alabama and from Standard Oil wells of Tonalapa, Tehuantepec, Mexico.
Mr. J. B. Phillips continued work on the sardine program under the auspices of the Division of Fish and Game of California. This included seasonal sampling of the commercial sardine catch at Monterey and osteological studies of the sardine. He also commenced work on the albacore program at Monterey, preliminary work of which consisted of offshore scouting. He also made summary surveys of minor fisheries of importance, in and off Monterey Bay, at various times.
During the academic year Dr. Laetitia M. Snow, of the Department of Botany, Wellesley College, continued her investigations of the bacterial flora of windblown sand with the study of the Pacific Coast dunes near Asilomar and the dunes in the upper part of Death Valley. As these studies are comparative, conclusions cannot be drawn until the data are tabulated with those previously obtained in other sections of the country. The question of nitrogen fixation will be continued at Wellesley.
During his short visit to the Hopkins Marine Station, Dr. G. van Iterson, professor of technical botany at the Technical University of Delft, Holland, made a study of the cell-wall structure of Halicystis ovalis.
Dr. F. W. Went, in collaboration with Mrs. F. Dolk, both of the California Institute of Technology, studied the penetration of dyestuffs in marine green algae, pursuing his extensive studies on the polarity of plants. Mrs. Dolk is also continuing the measurements on the diameter of leaves of epiphytes.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
Professor Weymouth, of the Department of Physiology, co-operated in the revised plan of instruction in the department by giving, during the summer quarter at the Hopkins Marine Station, a new course in comparative physiology utilizing a variety of forms there available, and collaborating with Professor Rich in a new course in biometry as well as the continuation of the seminar in fisheries biology.
Professor Whitaker continued at the Hopkins Marine Station investigations of changes in the egg at fertilization and of the nature of the natural inhibition of the unfertilized egg. Problems upon which progress has been made include: the change in metabolic rate at fertilization in the Urechis egg; the effect of certain digestive juices and enzymes upon the egg surface which cause the egg to fail to take in a sperm while yet remaining subject to parthenogenetic activation; the removal of certain outer membranes of the Urechis egg by digestive agents without harming the egg, which is thus made available for microsurgery; the relations between length of exposure of Urechis eggs to certain activating agents, polar body retention, and the development of the artificially activated egg; the effect of certain nutrient agents upon the length of life of the unfertilized egg. An ultracentrifuge suitable for segregating materials within living cells which are embedded in agar or gelatin has been devised with the kind aid of Dr. Morse, of the Department of Chemistry.
Under Professor Whitaker's direction: Miss Lillian Harris studied the relations between temperature and the rate of cell-division in the egg of Urechis. The following problems have been pursued as theses for the Doctor's degree: Miss Vesta Holt applied the ultracentrifuge to remove the nucleolus from the Urechis egg to test certain functions of this cell structure; Hyman Chase, of Howard University, fellow of the General Education Board, has determined the temperature coefficients of the rate of formation of the fertilization membrane in a comparative study of several forms in which the morphological formation of this structure differs, his object being to see what general type of process is involved and what functional similarity exists in the corresponding reactions of the diverse types; E. W. Lowrance began the study of the effect of a temperature gradient upon the determination of the plane of cell-division and the developmental axis of the egg of a marine alga; E. T. Erickson began studies upon the development of amputated parts of the rotifer egg, a problem which is expected to lead to the identification of organ-forming materials, separation of which will be attempted by means of the ultracentrifuge; A. W. Newby has continued studies, which he began with Professor Heath, under joint direction by Dr. Skogsberg, on the normal development of the echiuroid worm Urechis.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION LIBRARY
The Hopkins Marine Station Library this year became an integral part of the Stanford University Libraries system. Its future development is assured by an endowment of approximately $35,000.
The existing collection of 693 volumes has been accessioned and cataloged.
The present quarters are adequate, and room is available for the extension of the book-stacks when additional space is needed.
The possession of an adequate library in the fields of marine zoology and botany, oceanography, biochemistry, biophysics, and related subjects will of course be of great importance to the staff and students at the Hopkins Marine Station. Cards for all of the books and journals in this library will be found in the central catalog of the University libraries.
Purchases are handled by the Order Division, and the cataloging is completed before the books are sent to Pacific Grove. The library has been visited several times by the Director of University Libraries and the Reviser of the Bibliography Division. Everything possible is being done by the University libraries staff to meet the library needs of the Hopkins Marine Station.
It is a privilege to acknowledge here the cordial welcome and fine spirit of co-operation shown by the Station staff during this period of preliminary organization.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 2 DECEMBER 31, 1934
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1934
NEW FUNDS
E. S. Pillsbury Endowment Fund for purchase of books, Hopkins Marine Station 15,250.00
BOTANY
Professor Blinks spent the autumn and winter quarters on the campus and the spring and summer at the Hopkins Marine Station. As this was his first year at Stanford, he devoted the autumn and winter quarters to organizing and teaching the courses in plant physiology and reorganizing the laboratory. Some new apparatus for the courses and for research purposes was purchased and several changes and enlargements were made in the laboratories, including a new dark laboratory room, which can be used if necessary as a constant-temperature room at higher temperatures to supplement the new cold rooms in Jordan Hall. During the spring and summer quarters, he continued his researches on the electrical properties of large plant cells; these are described in the report of the Hopkins Marine Station.
In collaboration with Dr. Blinks, Mr. R. D. Rhodes has begun work on the physicochemical properties of the anthocyan pigments, especially while still in the living cell. These studies involve the use of both optical and electrical instruments, with a microcolorimeter to determine the concentration of pigment in a given part of the cell, and a microspectroscope to register the absorption bands, and their shift, if any, during the flow of electric current through a single living cell. The grating spectrograph constructed by Dr. Mestre at the Hopkins Marine Station has been employed for this latter purpose.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L. Bolin, Cornelis B. van Niel, Tage Skogsberg. Additions to the staff were Mrs. Ruth Thompson Graham, spring quarter; Lawrence R. Blinks, Willis G. Hewatt, Gilbert M. Smith, Kenneth V. Thimann, H. N. Violette, and Frank W. Weymouth, summer quarter.
RESEARCH
The Director received from the British "Discovery" expeditions a large collection of antarctic sea stars for study. Progress was made on this collection. During the autumn quarter he spent two weeks at the United States National Museum working on North Pacific hydrocorals and in supervising the making of photographic illustrations.
Dr. Blinks continued research during the spring and summer quarters on the physiology of the marine alga, Halicystis, which he has previously employed both here and in Bermuda. Its large multinucleate cells render it peculiarly valuable for certain studies, such as bio-electric effects, and the penetration of substances, across a single layer of living protoplasm. By means of special perfusion tubes inserted into the cells it is possible to substitute entirely new solutions for the natural cell sap, and to study the effects of these upon the inner surface of the protoplasm. The latter proves to be remarkably insensitive to such changes, so that even when sea water is so perfused a large bio-electric potential persists. Inherent gradients within the protoplasm must therefore be responsible for the potentials, rather than gradients of salts such as KQ, between the sap and sea water. The protoplasmic gradients cannot yet be specified; important evidence is supplied, however, by the behavior of ammonia, which causes a reversal of potential; and by low oxygen tensions, which reduce the potential to low values or zero. The effect of oxygen deficiency, present in the dark, disappears on illumination, probably owing to the production of oxygen in photosynthesis. A new method of measuring the latter is thus supplied by the bio-electric effect.
The new course on the physiology of marine plants conducted by Dr. Blinks ranks as research, since in many cases the Pacific Coast forms have not yet been studied physiologically; an important part of the work thus consists in locating appropriate material for experimentation. The wealth of algae on the Monterey Peninsula has not been disappointing in this respect, and, for almost every type of experiment, material as good as, or excelling, the Atlantic or Mediterranean forms has been found. In addition, new material, problems, or methods have emerged for future study which the resources of the Marine Station are well adapted to further. The class performed many of the well-known experiments of American and European workers on marine algae. Principles of general physiological interest have been, and continue to be, worked out with such material, but the field is still sufficiently small to permit a reasonably complete survey.
Rolf L. Bolin continued his studies on the systematics, morphology, embryology, and ecology of the cottoid fishes of California. The systematic and morphological work on the genera Chitonotus, Iselinus, Artedius, Orthonopias, Oligocottus, and Leptocottus was completed and presented in thesis form. A new course in the ecology of marine organisms necessitated considerable research for materials and appropriate stations. In this Dr. Bolin was aided by Mr. Willis G. Hewatt, who has become familiar with this field during the progress of his work on a doctoral dissertation.
The, following is a report of the work of Dr. van Niel:
1. A continuation of the work on the purple bacteria. Careful quantitative studies of the metabolism of the available strains of Athiorhodaceae, using the Warburg technique, has shown that they all behave fundamentally similarly. In the light and in the complete absence of oxygen organic substances are utilized in a photosynthetic process. In the dark the only type of metabolism so far disclosed with certainty is a true respiration process. Owing to existing experimental difficulties, the study of the interdependence of photosynthesis and respiration with these organisms has not yet been completed. The experimental work has, however, shown a possible way to conduct such investigations.
These preliminary studies also showed that there are quantitative differences in the rate of photosynthesis with different organic compounds by different strains or types of bacteria belonging to this group. The differences appeared to open up possibilities for the working out of methods for selectively culturing the various representatives of the group. Experiments on a large scale have been carried out in which mixed inocula were submitted to different environmental conditions. As a result of the occurrence of sulphate reduction during the first stages of these experiments, members of the purple and green sulphur bacteria developed abundantly and were only gradually replaced in the culture bottles by the true Athiorhodaceae. About ten additional strains of Athiorhodaceae have finally been isolated in pure culture from these crude cultures, but the results are as yet very incomplete, and a clear correlation between composition of the medium and type of Athiorhodaceae developing has not yet been established.
In connection with the work on the pigments of the purple bacteria much time was spent in devising a cheaper culture medium for growing large quantities of the organisms in pure cultures.- The yeast-extract medium used in previous work, although entirely adequate, is rather expensive and requires much labor for its preparation. As a result of these experiments an almost equally satisfactory medium has been developed which costs only about one tenth as much and which can be prepared in about one-seventh of the time required for the yeast-extract medium.
2. A few preliminary observations were made on the occurrence, isolation, and behavior of Sarcina ureae, which was discovered by Beijerinck in 1902, but had never again been isolated until 1933, when Gibson obtained several cultures from soil samples by direct plating on selective solid media (private communication). Gibson's results were easily corroborated. Strains of this organism isolated from soil samples of the Monterey Peninsula have been added to the pure-culture collection because the organism is of special importance for studies on bacterial taxonomy on account of its exceptional morphological properties.
3. Mr. S. F. Cahen started an investigation on the oxidation of higher fatty acids by bacteria with a view to finding out the complete mechanism of oxidation. This scheme, developed by Knoop and Dakin, is clear only as far as the understanding of the first stages is concerned. Work with special strains of bacteria, capable of selective oxidation of special fatty acids, should enable one to obtain experimental evidence also for the further stages of the gradual decomposition. The work so far has been entirely preliminary in nature, and has been devoted to isolation of suitable strains of bacteria and to the development of methods for the analysis of the culture liquids.
4. Mr. G. Bartlett has started a study of micro-organisms involved in the retting of the Guayule shrub. This retting process results in higher yields of extracted rubber, while the product also has decidedly more desirable properties than that obtained from the shrub which has not been subjected to the retting process.
5. Miss E. Dickinson has isolated pure cultures of marine luminous bacteria, and has started experiments on their biochemical properties. These strains will in the near future also be used for a study of problems in connection with photosynthesis.
Dr. T. Skogsberg continued his work on the Hydrobiological Survey of Monterey Bay. The fifth year of this Survey has now been completed, and the material is being analyzed and treated for publication. In the course of the first five years more than fifty thousand observations and determinations were made. It is planned to bring to completion the first part of the five year report in the course of the autumn of this year, 1934.
Mrs. Lillian Clayton began work on certain species of Copepods living in the brackish waters of Elkhorn Slough. The species are studied from several viewpoints, taxonomic, embryological, and ecological. The possibility of parthenogenetic development of the eggs has been subjected to special study.
Dr. Skogsberg also supervised certain parts of the work of Messrs. Graham, Hewatt, and Newby noticed elsewhere in this report.
Dr. Gilbert M. Smith continued, during the summer quarter, field work in the gathering of data for a guide to the marine algae of the Monterey Peninsula. This has been supplemented by collecting trips during the winter months. It was hoped that the data will be sufficiently well in hand within the next two years to begin preparation of the manuscript.
Professor F. W. Weymouth continued the collection of data for the analysis of relative growth in the Brachyura. Extensive measurements were made of Pugettia producta and of various species of Cancer, and records were obtained of molting increases in these forms. Dr. Weymouth's course in comparative physiology has required considerable research on account of the pioneering nature of the work.
Dr. D. M. Whitaker investigated the effect which animal cells exert (when near) upon the differentiation and the developmental axis of the eggs, of the seaweeds, Pelvetia and Fucus.
During the summer quarter, Mr. H. L. Andrews, of the Municipal College of the City of Chicago, studied the distribution of animals in the holdfasts, of the giant kelps, Nereocystis and Macrocystis, in the Monterey Bay region.
Dr. H. Albert Barker, National Research fellow, has been studying the culture and physiology of dinoflagellates and diatoms. Several representatives of both groups of organisms have been obtained in pure culture. Factors controlling the development of dinoflagellates in nature and in laboratory cultures have been studied. Photosynthesis in diatoms, both marine and fresh water, has been investigated by the Warburg manometric technique and comparison has been made with photosynthesis in green algae.
During the summer quarter Miss Winnefred E. Bradway investigated the action of various chemical and mechanical conditions on metamorphosing larvae of the tunicate, Clavellina.
Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Buchsbaum, of the Department of Zoology, University of Chicago, have been studying the relation between variation in osmotic pressure of the sea water and the time to first and second cleavage of the egg of the Echiuroid worm, Urechis caupo. The experiments were run at temperatures of 10°, 15°, 20°, and 25° C, in an effort to analyze the nature of the retardation of cleavage in hypotonic and hypertonic sea water.
Mr. Hyman Y. Chase, of Howard University, made a comparative study of the formation of the fertilization membrane in four species of marine eggs: Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Dendraster excentricus, Patiria miniata, and Urechis caupo.
Dr. Robert Emerson and Mr. Lowell Green of the California Institute of Technology, during the summer quarter, studied the process of photosynthesis as carried on by various marine red algae, with a view to determining the physiological importance of the red pigment. As a necessary prerequisite to the satisfactory investigation of this problem, they were chiefly occupied with a study of carbon dioxide provision in natural and artificial sea water.
Mr. Everett Erickson attempted to shift, by means of the ultracentrifuge, materials in certain regions of the sea star egg which give rise to the digestive tract of the embryo.
Throughout the year Mr. Herbert W. Graham, as a member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, was engaged in a continuation of his studies of the dinoflagellates of the plankton collections made by the ship "Carnegie." A floristic study of the collection is being made from the standpoint of the taxonomy and morphology of the group.
The studies on the detailed morphology of Peridinium depressum Bailey and the taxonomy of that and related species were completed on the basis of the "Carnegie" samples from the Atlantic. The routine examination of the plankton samples and the sketching of contained organisms were carried out for 49 more samples; 22 additional species were found; 610 more drawings were executed.
Mr. C. A. Dawson assisted for nine months in the routine examination, and prepared line and wash drawings of specimens.
Mrs. Ruth T. Graham during the past year has -continued with a taxonomic study of the Chaetognatha from the plankton collections made by the "Carnegie." Mrs. Graham served as a staff member during the spring and summer quarters.
Dr. Tracy E. Hazen, associate professor of botany at Columbia University, New York, has been continuing, during the summer quarter, work on which he was engaged during his residence at the Station three and four years ago on the morphology of certain relatively primitive green algae. He has found at Point Pinos and Asilomar three (or perhaps four) undescribed species of the genera Platymoiias and Prasinocladus, which, together with the one type species in each genus, have made possible a much more comprehensive research in these genera than has been made previously. By having these five species under constant observation, in the field and laboratory, interesting conclusions on their ecology and probable interrelations have been reached, and also suggestions bearing on the phytogeny of the lower Ghlorophyceae. It is hoped that the results of this investigation may be put into shape for publication during the coming winter.
During the summer quarter of 1934, Willis G. Hewatt continued, under the general direction of Dr. Skogsberg, his ecological investigations on the littoral fauna of a selected region located along the southern margin of Monterey Bay. This study was begun in 1931 and was presented in the form of a doctoral dissertation at the end of the summer of 1934. The report included a qualitative and quantitative survey of an ecological transect, one yard wide and 108 yards long, across the intertidal area adjacent to the Hopkins Marine Station. Upon the basis of the accumulated data the littoral of this area was divided into four vertical zones. The physicochemical environment was studied and was found to be very monotonous except in the case of the tidal variations and exposure to surf action. The physical and biotic factors which appear to cause the zonation of the organisms were pointed out. The specific ecology of several species of animals was also presented, with particular emphasis upon the interrelationships which limit the species within the intertidal area. Notes on the breeding habits and the dates of the spawning periods of fifty-two species of intertidal animals were presented.
Miss Vesta Holt, of the Department of Biology, Chico State Teachers College, investigated the effect of temperature upon the rate of development of the egg of Urechis.
During the winter quarter Dr. Aubrey E. Hopkins, of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, carried on experiments on spawning of oysters under controlled conditions.
Dr. H. S. Jennings, professor of zoology, Johns Hopkins University, spent the summer quarter working on the manuscript of a new book.
Mr. W. W. Newby, of the Department of Zoology of the University of Utah, continued his work on the normal embryology of the Echiuroid, Urechis.
Dr. Austin Phelps, National Research fellow, continued research of the previous year on the growth of populations of the ciliate infusorian, Glaucoma pyriformis, in a perfectly reproducible medium free of all other organisms. This work has been done both on the campus under the direction of Dr. C. V. Taylor and at the Hopkins Marine Station under the direction of Dr. C. B. van Niel. For the first time it has been possible to study the growth curves of a protozoan under conditions which are strictly analogous to those which obtain in the extensive experimental work on the growth of bacteria and yeasts. A comparison of the growth of Glaucoma with that of bacteria and yeasts shows several similarities and several marked dissimilarities in the various phases of the growth curve. Robertson's theory of allelocatalysis has been tested on Glaucoma and the results have been negative, an initial inoculum of one animal in 700 cc. of medium producing a population which has the same rate of growth as has a population started with an initial inoculum of 2,500 animals per cc. The results above have been sent to the Journal of Experimental Zoology for publication.
Research at present is dealing with the question of the effect upon the growth curve of altering the concentration of the medium, and with the question of the effect of temperature upon the growth curve. The investigation of these questions has led to an experimental study of some aspects of protozoan genetics.
Mr. J. B. Phillips of the State Fish and Game Commission, who has been stationed at the Hopkins Marine Station since 1929, continued his study of the fluctuations in the supply of sardines in the Monterey region. Sampling of the commercial catch is carried on during the season, the object being to detect signs of a lessening of the supply; and also to suggest remedial means for conservation for the purpose of appropriate legislation. During the year Mr. Phillips has also carried on trammel net experiments in Monterey Bay to determine the advisability of allowing the use of these nets for the capture of flatfish.
During July and August Professor F. P. Shepard of the Department of Geology, University of Illinois, made a detailed survey of a portion of Carmel Bay. In a small area 1,300 soundings were made and in addition a collection of bottom sediments was taken. The purpose of the detailed survey was to obtain an accurate picture of the inner portion of the remarkable submarine canyon which has been discovered in the bottom of Carmel Bay. The plotting of the survey is not yet complete, but it is evident that the canyon is a submerged river valley, as it contains all of the characteristics of river canyons on land, such as branching tributaries entering the main valley at grade, sinuous trends, and continuous outward slope of the floor. The walls of the canyon are very deep, much steeper than those of the San Jose Canyon, which is the shoreward continuation of this sea-floor trench. Also the gradient of the canyon is much steeper than that of San Jose Creek. It seems evident that erosion on land has greatly altered the inner end of the submerged canyon, while little has happened to the submerged portion. Deposits on the bottom except at the very head are of fine sand and silt, indicating relatively quiet conditions and the absence of strong currents.
Dr. David Spence, formerly of the B. F. Goodrich Company, in charge of research and development, has occupied a laboratory since January. He has been making a study of certain factors which influence the physical character (elastic qualities) of the rubber hydrocarbon. The behavior of this material in the cortical tissue of Parthenium argentatum (guayule) has been investigated, particularly in reference to the action of light on the same. The presence of a definite "protective" or polymerizing agent has been demonstrated. A study is also being made of changes brought about in the physical characteristics of the hydrocarbon by the action of micro-organisms on the cortical tissue of the same plant.
Dr. Kenneth V. Thimann of the California Institute of Technology, acting assistant professor of biology during the summer quarter, studied the effect of external conditions upon the germination of bacterial spores. In view of the work done last year with Dr. Barker on the germination of protozoan cysts, it was of interest to find out whether the development of spores was controlled by special substances or merely by the presence of ordinary nutrients. It has been proven that the former is the case, and some indication of the nature of the substance concerned has been found. It has also been necessary to select a suitable organism and to develop a standard technique for the continued study of the process; this has finally been obtained. The effect of high, but sublethal, temperatures on the sensitivity of the spores to the germination stimulus has also been studied.
During the spring quarter Dr. Harry Beal Torrey, professor of biology, investigated the effect of thyroxin on the oxidative metabolism of invertebrate cells. For the purpose of a preliminary or exploratory series of experiments, the egg of the sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) was chosen. Thyroxin, which so strikingly stimulates the oxidative metabolism of the higher vertebrates, also depresses the division rate of various invertebrate cells. This suggested the possibility that the reactions fundamental to cell division might not be oxidative in type. Since data were not available on the effect of thyroxin on the oxidative metabolism of invertebrate cells, the preliminary work, not yet completed, was undertaken.
Dr. H. N. Violette, assistant professor of anatomy, Stanford University, was a staff member during the summer quarter. His research was concerned with (1) the preparation of frog larvae in experiments on the middle ear, begun during the previous quarters in the Department of Anatomy; (2) preparation of a review of the literature of the embryology of certain parts associated with the labyrinth of Verletrata.
Visitors for short periods included Dr. E. Wayne Galliher, of the State Geological Survey, and Dr. Carl Hubbs, of the University of Michigan.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
Mr. Hyman Y. Chase, fellow of the General Education Board, has completed a comparative study at the Hopkins Marine Station of the formation of the fertilization membrane in four species of marine eggs: Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Dendraster excentricus, Patiria miniata, and Urechis caupo. He finds that in the first two species the membrane does not pre-exist before fertilization but comes into existence as a product of the fertilization reaction. In D. excentricus, he was able to move a gelatinous precursor substance to one end of the egg by means of the centrifuge so that following fertilization the membrane formed only at this end. In Patiria and Urechis, in contrast, the fertilization membrane pre-exists on the unfertilized egg and is elevated following fertilization. His study of the effect of temperature upon the rate of the reactions leading to membrane formation reveals that the reactions are not limited by metabolic rate throughout most of the viable temperature range. He has also determined the temperature limits of fertilization and the effect on eggs and sperm of exceeding these limits.
Mr. Chase has been appointed acting head of the Department of Zoology, Howard University, Washington, D.C., for the year 1934-35.
Miss Vesta Holt, head of the Department of Biology at Chico State Teachers College, abandoned her attempt to completely remove the nucleolus from the Urechis egg by ultracentrifuging. She has made progress at the Hopkins Marine Station investigating the effect of temperature upon the rate of development of the Urechis egg. She apparently finds strikingly different effects of temperature upon the rate of development of different parts or organs of the embryo, a phenomenon of considerable theoretical significance.
Mr. W. W. Newby of the Department of Zoology of the University of Utah has continued on the campus and at the Hopkins Marine Station his investigation of the normal embryology and some of the histology of Urechis.
In this work he has also received advice and guidance from Professor MacFarland of the Anatomy Department and from Professor Skogsberg. Mr. Edward Lowrance has continued his study of the effect of a temperature gradient upon the polarity of the Fucus egg. His results are not yet conclusive but appear to show a determination of the developmental axis.
Mr. Everett Erickson is attempting at the Hopkins Marine Station to shift by means of the ultracentrifuge materials in certain regions of the starfish egg which give rise to or induce the formation of the digestive tract of the embryo. If he succeeds, he will throw light upon the nature of these materials.
CHARLES VINCENT TAYLOR
Herzstein Professor of Biology
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 20 DECEMBER 31, 1935
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1935
BOTANY
Dr. Blinks continued researches on the electrical properties of plant cells. Those with marine algae are described in the report of the Hopkins Marine Station. At the campus, work was begun with a new organism for such studies, a very large-celled species of the fresh water alga Hydrodictyon, discovered by Professor G. M. Smith several years ago. Its bio-electric potential, across a single layer of protoplasm, was determined, as well as the effects of current flow upon it. Preliminary chemical study of its cell sap was made, and a large quantity was collected for more thorough analysis. Attempt is being made to maintain it in permanent culture, to be independent of its natural occurrence which is limited to very wet years. It promises to be an interesting addition to the small list of such large-celled plants, since it belongs to a different order from any previously studied. Its behavior is intermediate in some respects between the well-known plants Valonia and Nitella.
A second organism, also new for such work, is the terrestrial alga Botrydium. Its habitat makes it particularly interesting, but likewise greatly increases the technical difficulty of working with it, on account of its delicate rhizoids. Electrical study was begun under Dr. Blinks's direction by Mr. Marvin L. Darsie, Jr., but the technique did not develop to the point of definite results. Mr. Darsie also isolated and cultured in the laboratory a myxomycete very useful for physiological study of naked, streaming protoplasm.
Mr. Robert D. Rhodes continued, under Dr. Blinks's direction, the study of electrical effects on plant cells bearing the natural indicator anthocyan. As in most biological work, choice of the proper organism is important, and Mr. Rhodes has found, after extended trials, nearly ideal material in the calyx hairs of salvia. These consist of chains of living cells, rich in anthocyan, which can be isolated for study without the damage inflicted by stripping epidermis from underlying tissue. They are very hardy, and show the desired effects of current flow very beautifully. Spectrographic recording of the absorption spectrum of a single cell is under way to determine objectively the claims previously made as to color changes, due to acidity changes. The conspicuous migration of pigment, giving direct visible evidence of the passage of electric current through the cells, is being measured quantitatively by a comparison colorimeter, at different distances along a single cell.
SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Dr. Austin Phelps, National Research fellow from Yale University, continued a second year of studies on problems of population in a ciliate reared in sterile yeast-extract medium. During the latter part of the year, these researches were carried on with the aid of Dr. C. B. van Niel at the Hopkins Marine Station.
Dr. Donald P. Costello, National Research fellow from the University of Pennsylvania, undertook investigations on some effects of extreme centrifugal forces, using the air-driven ultracentrifuge, on early developmental stages of the eggs of various species of nudibranch mollusks in Monterey Bay. His work was done mainly at the Hopkins Marine Station.
Professor W. W. Newby, under the direction of Professor Whitaker, has continued investigations on the normal development of Urechis at the University of Utah. He is continuing this work at the Hopkins Marine Station for the summer quarter. Miss Vesta Holt, head of the Department of Biology at Chico State College, is continuing investigations at the Hopkins Marine Station of the type of development of Urechis eggs at different temperatures.
Professor Hyman Chase of Howard University, Washington, D.C., is continuing investigations during the summer quarter at the Hopkins Marine Station on fertilization in several marine eggs. This is a continuation of work which Dr. Chase presented last year as a doctoral dissertation.
CHARLES VINCENT TAYLOR
Herztein Professor of Biology
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L. Bolin, Cornells B. van Niel, Tage Skogsberg. Additions to the staff were Lawrence R. Blinks, Mrs. Ruth Thompson Graham, A. R. Moore, and Gilbert M. Smith, spring quarter; Victor E. Hall, Paul L. Kirk, Frank W. Weymouth, and Douglas M. Whitaker, summer quarter.
RESEARCH
The Director has been identifying for report a large collection of antarctic sea stars submitted by the British government. In addition to a revision of the systematics of the group, which is in a confused, over-elaborated condition, it is hoped that an intensive study of a highly characteristic antarctic fauna will throw light on the origin of antarctic faunas in general, and their relation to the existing arctic faunas.
Two weeks of the autumn quarter were spent in examining material at the United States National Museum, Washington.
Dr. L. R. Blinks was in residence at the Station from April through July, offering the course in the Physiology of Marine Plants during the spring quarter. Under his direction Miss Iris Forsyth made a survey of iodine containing algae of the region, and Mr. M. L. Darsie began an investigation of growth and tropisms in the branched unicellular alga Bryopsis. Dr. Blinks continued his own research on the origin and nature of the bio-electric potential in Haljcystis, which will be pursued at the Station during the coming year under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Dr. Rolf L. Bolin continued his studies on the cottid fishes, completing the first of a contemplated series of papers on the material collected by the "Albatross" in Japanese waters in 1906. Two months were spent visiting Eastern museums with periods of study at the Museum of the University of Michigan and at the United States National Museum, Washington.
Mr. David B. Horsburgh, studying with Dr. Bolin, completed and published a paper on the fishes of the genus Vinciguerria.
The following is a report by Dr. Paul L. Kirk, acting assistant professor of physiology, assisted by Mr. W. H. Brown:
The general nature of research carried on during the period given involved the use of ultra-microchemical analytical methods in the study of marine invertebrate physiology. Two lines of investigation were followed, viz., study of methods for determination of minute amounts of copper and of reducing sugars, and their use in the study of the physiology of certain marine forms.
A method was developed for the quantitative determination of amounts of copper ranging from 2 to 15 micrograms, corresponding to the amount in from 1 to 3 drops of blood from hemocyanin-bearing marine forms exemplified by most Crustacea, mollusca, and certain other organisms. The application of the method to the survey of the copper content of crabs common to the Monterey Bay area was started, with a view to determining whether there is any correlation of the hemocyanin, as measured by its copper content, with the physical and respiratory activity of the various species. A method was developed for the quantitative determination of from 1 to 15 micrograms of reducing sugars in blood and other physiological fluids. This represents a small fraction of the smallest amounts hitherto determinable. Studies were started in the application of the method to the coelomic fluids of certain echinodermata, with a view to establishing the normal sugar level of this type of material, and its variation with feeding conditions.
The applications of both methods are as yet incomplete, but are being continued.
Dr. A. R. Moore, acting professor of biology (spring quarter) and lecturer in general physiology, conducted experiments on the functional significance of cytoplasmic structure in the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum, which serve to establish the fact that comminution lowers the oxidative activity of the tissue and at the same time renders it less resistant to anaerobic conditions. A comprehensive paper on the subject, with detailed evidence supporting the view that, in its simplest essentials, cytoplasm contains structure more complicated than an emulsion, will appear in the October number of the Journal of Cellular and Comparative Physiology. In addition, he completed the greater part of the work on a monograph entitled "The Physiological Basis of Individuality in the Early Embryo and Simple Forms."
Dr. C. B. van Niel's work for the year was as follows:
1. The studies on micro-organisms connected with the retting of Guayule shrub, in co-operation with Dr. D. Spence, have been continued. A number of pure cultures of anaerobic spore-forming bacteria have been obtained. These have shown striking differences in their action on sterilized shrub. Only one of the strains used has caused changes which ultimately appear in an improvement of the quality, and possibly also of the yield, of the extracted rubber. As a side line of the general problem of rubber-biochemistry, experiments have been conducted with a view to isolating micro-organisms capable of decomposing rubber. Four strains of Actinomycetes which possess this ability were obtained in pure culture. With two of these a complete destruction of 80 per cent rubber and a considerable change in the remaining 20 per cent was realized in the course of three weeks. So far the decomposition products have not been studied.
2. The "chance-isolation" of a motile lactic-acid streptococcus (the first motile streptococcus ever described, and not without importance from the point of view of bacterial taxonomy) has led to some studies on its physiological and biochemical activities. When these demonstrated that this bacterium rapidly ferments pyruvic acid, it was decided to use it for a quantitative study of this process on account of its intimate connection with the rather confusing ideas on muscular metabolism existing since 1932. So far, these experiments have only been preliminary; the fermentation products have been identified qualitatively, and some not yet conclusive quantitative experiments have been completed.
3. Studies on the purple bacteria have been continued. As a result of large scale cultivation, 2,900 grams of pure culture of air-dried Spirillum rubrum have been obtained. A relatively small portion of this material has been worked up so far for the purple pigment. Four hundred milligrams of this component of the pigment complex were obtained in crystalline, but not yet chemically pure, form. With the material remaining after the extraction of the purple pigment preliminary experiments have been carried out in order to develop methods for the isolation in pure form of the green component of the pigment complex of the purple bacteria. Quantitative experiments on photosynthesis by purple and green bacteria and green algae, especially on the effect of small quantities of hydroxylamine, have been conducted. The results of these experiments have conclusively demonstrated the incorrectness of the explanations so far advanced for the effect of this substance on photosynthesis.
Dr. Austin Phelps, assistant to the oceanographic program, during the first half of the year conducted experiments on the growth of the ciliate Glaucoma pyriformis to test the effect of the concentration of nutrient medium upon the rate and extent of growth. It was found that within wide limits the number of animals at the end of the period of logarithmic growth, as well as the total yield of each culture, was directly proportional to the concentration of food employed.
During the second half of the year a start was made on the tabulation and interpretation of the chemical data obtained by the Hydrobiological Survey from the water of Monterey Bay during the years 1932 and 1933. In addition, the scope of the present chemical investigation was enlarged, and two of the methods of testing the water were revised.
The Hydrobiological Survey of Monterey Bay, under the general direction of Dr. T. Skogsberg, completed its sixth and began its seventh year. The co-operation between Stanford University and the California Department of Natural Resources, on which the Survey depends, was strengthened in the course of the year. The field work was carried out according to program during the autumn of 1934 and the following winter months; in the spring and summer of 1935, it suffered a partial disruption due to the breaking down of the engine of the investigation boat, the "Albacore," put at the disposal of the Survey by the Department of Natural Resources. In order to compensate for this interruption, the Department allowed their largest patrol boat, the "Bluefin," to be used by the Survey in oceanographic exploration during the latter part of the summer of 1935. The seaworthiness of this vessel made it possible to extend the investigations into waters as far as two hundred miles off the coast.
The work in chemical hydrography was intensified and broadened in scope under the direction of Dr. Austin Phelps, whose assistance was secured through the generous contribution of the Department of Natural Resources.
The analysis of the data collected during the previous years was carried on by Dr. Skogsberg and Dr. Phelps, the former investigator concentrating on the temperature records and Dr. Phelps on the chemical data. Dr. Skogsberg concluded the analysis of the thermal records gathered during the first five years of the Survey, viz., from 1929 to 1933, inclusive. The report is ready for press. The completion of this report may be regarded as a milestone in the development of the science of hydrography of the West Coast of North America. A broad foundation for future work has been laid. A previously unknown seasonal rhythm in the hydrography of central California has been revealed, a rhythm characterized by pronounced and unusual features. The previously known upwelling phenomenon has been subjected to a careful and successful study, revealing its seasonal progression and magnitude, as well as its relation to the coast. The accumulated material demonstrated that the causes which had been suggested for this phenomenon by previous investigators were not sufficient but that additional causative factors had to be brought into consideration. The seasonal variations of the Davidson Current and the effects of the California Current on the coastal waters were treated as were also the variations in the general hydrography from year to year. In general, the basic circulation of the water in the region of Monterey Bay was described for the first time and the underlying causes of this circulation were re-evaluated. Finally, examples were given, taken from the field of the commercial fisheries, of the effects of the hydrographic changes on the oceanic biology of the central California waters.
The Hydrobiological Survey also put its resources at the disposal of Dr. F. P. Shepard, of the Department of Geology of the University of Illinois. Dr. Shepard is an authority on problems pertaining to the configuration of the bottom of the oceans and in particular to the configuration of the continental shelf. This year, as last year, he visited the Station for the purpose of gathering observations on the submarine valleys of Monterey and Carmel bays. He has recently completed a valuable map of the bottom in the general vicinity of the Monterey Peninsula. This map, which is based on values and records of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and of Dr. Shepard, reveals in clearer detail than previously known the features of the extraordinary system of submarine gorges which characterizes our coast.
Under Dr. Skogsberg's direction Mr. Herbert Graham continued his studies of the dinoflagellate material collected during the last expedition of the "Carnegie." The genus Ceratocorys was submitted to a careful revisional study.
Mrs. Lillian Clayton pursued during a part of the year her studies on the life histories and ecology of certain Copepods from the brackish water of Elkhorn Slough.
Dr. Gilbert M. Smith continued during the spring quarter his work on the marine algae of the Monterey Peninsula. He has in view the preparation of a guide to the local flora.
Professor Weymouth had the assistance of Professor Hall during the summer quarter in developing methods and obtaining information on the physiology of forms used in the course in comparative animal physiology.
Specifically Professor Hall, aided by Mr. Charles D. Armstrong and Mr. Harold Miller, has worked on the development of an apparatus for the measurement of the rate of oxygen consumption of small marine animals, such as crabs. The apparatus consists of an oil-sealed respiration chamber, through which is drawn a stream of aerated sea water, the effluent of which is collected under oil. Determination of the oxygen content of the incoming and outgoing water by the method of Winkler, together with the rate of flow, permits calculation of the oxygen consumption rate. The oxygen partial pressure of the water in the respiratory chamber may be varied by regulation of the rate of flow. The method is being applied to a study of the influence of sex and body size on the oxygen consumption of Pugettia producta.
In connection with the course and under the direction of Professor Weymouth and Professor Hall the following studies have been made: An investigation, with the assistance of Mr. C. A. Brown and Miss P. Steffan, of the peristaltic movements of the body-wall musculature in Urechis. The points being studied include the origin of the movements, whether myogenic or neurogenic; the existence of pacemakers and their localization; and the effect of section of the ventral nerve cord upon the co-ordination of these movements.
Mr. Culbertson has studied the ciliation of several species of echinoderms, chiefly sea stars, and found a widespread and complex pattern of currents subserving a variety of functions which varies with the habits of the animals.
Mrs. Rachel Leib and Mr. Richard J. Winzler have investigated the conditions under which the excised mantle muscle of Mytilus exhibits rhythmic contractions and some of the factors that influence its tone.
Mr. James Culver has worked on preparation and action of the proteolytic enzymes found in the digestive gland of Pisaster.
In addition, Professor Hall has supervised the writing of an A.M. thesis by Mr. W. W. MacGregor on the subject of factors influencing the rate of urea secretion by the kidney of the cat. In this examination of the data, there has come to light a previously unrecognized relation in the ratio of kidney weight to body weight, such that in animals of high body weight the kidney weight is relatively larger than in those of intermediate body weight. This relation is shown by our data for the cat, but also appears in published data of other workers on the dog and the rabbit. It may be of some importance in connection with tests of kidney function.
Professor Weymouth has continued the collection of data on the growth and form in the local Brachyura.
Dr. D. M. Whitaker, assisted by Mr. Edward Lowrance, concluded experiments which establish the fact that one per cent ethyl alcohol or one percent dextrose in normal sea water will prolong the period during which the unfertilized egg of the echiuroid worm Urechis caupo remains in a fertilizable condition. In pure sea water the period is from two to three days, while with alcohol or dextrose the period is increased to twelve or thirteen days, or more than four hundred per cent. These simple nutrient substances are in this case a substitute for a complex hypothetical substance known as "fertilizin," which has been assumed to be responsible for maintaining eggs in the fertilizable state.
Working under the direction of Dr. Whitaker, Mr. W. W. Newby, assistant professor of zoology in the University of Utah, has continued his investigation of the normal development of Urechis caupo. Miss Vesta Holt, head of the Department of Biology, Chico State College, has continued experimental studies of the effect of temperature on the rate and type of development of Urechis. Dr. H. Y. Chase, assistant professor of zoology in Howard University, Washington, D.C., has completed the manuscript of a second forthcoming publication of experiments on the effect of temperature on the fertilization reaction. The researches were included in his doctoral dissertation of last year.
Mr. H. L. Andrews, of the Junior College of the City of Chicago (Westside), continued a study of the ecology of animals in the kelp beds of Monterey Bay. Collections were made throughout the year 1934-35 to determine the seasonal distribution of forms inhabiting the kelp beds. The study shows a downward extension of forms formerly thought to be tidepool animals. The kelp holdfast seems to be a nursery for many species in their early stages. Food, protection, current, are factors in the habitat. There is a definite zonation in the holdfast. Certain forms migrate to the holdfast during the egg-laying period. Some forms carry eggs throughout the year, indicating a longer breeding season than was previously known.
Dr. H. Albert Barker, National Research fellow, studied the metabolism of the colorless alga Prototheca sopfii. The alga has been shown to convert glucose quantitatively into 1-lactic acid anaerobically. The oxidative metabolism of the organism is distinguished by the high efficiency with which it utilizes the fatty acids and a few of the lower alcohols. These compounds are in small part oxidized to carbon dioxide but are mainly converted into cell material. Progress has been made in the study of the mechanism of the oxidative utilization of organic compounds.
Dr. Winnifred E. Bradway carried out the following projects:
1. "The Experimental Alteration of the Rate of Metamorphosis in the Tunicate Clavelina huntsmani."
2. "The Comparative Inhibitory Influence of Cations on the Dispersion of the Cells of the Sponge Haliclona sp."
3. "The Effects of Salt Cations on the Rhythm and Duration of the Heart Beat in the Tunicate Clavelina huntsmani."
4. "The Minimal Effective Concentrations of Poisonous Substances on the Brittle Stars Amphipholis pugetana and Amphipodia occidentalis."
Dr. Donald P. Costello, National Research fellow in the biological sciences, investigated the effects of prolonged centrifuging on the development of marine eggs and on cell division. This work was undertaken to determine whether the localization which occurs in eggs of determinate cleavage is primarily due to morphogenetic substances located in the ground substance, in the granules, in the egg cortex, or in some other part. The eggs upon which these experiments were performed were those of several nudibranch mollusks of Monterey Bay. These were selected because of the ease of obtaining eggs throughout the winter months, their determinate cleavage, and their capacity, due to heavy capsules and jelly about the eggs, to withstand a great deal of centrifuging. The experiments were done principally upon the eggs of Archidoris montereyeiuis, Diaulula scmdiegensis, and Triopha carpenteri, with additional data from Rostanga pulchra and Discodoris heathli. While the experiments are not complete for any one species, theysupplement each other in such a way that any one experiment is believed to apply equally well to the other forms. The work was done under the direction of Dr. C. V. Taylor, of Stanford University.
Several types of air-turbine centrifuges were used in this work, and were operated upon cylinders of compressed air as well as upon the laboratory air supply. One of these ultracentrifuges (built by Mr. Grebmeyer, of StanfordUniversity) gave centrifugal forces of 260,000 times gravity. Forces of this magnitude are almost a hundred times greater than those used by Dr. E. G. Conklin in a similar study of the eggs of Crepidula, and provided new possibilities for experimental work.
If the eggs of any of these nudibranchs are subjected, after fertilization and before the first cleavage, to a centrifugal force of 20,000 times gravity or greater, under appropriate experimental conditions, they will become completely stratified into three layers in less than four minutes. The yolk is thrown to the centrifugal pole, the fat or oil to the centripetal pole, and between the two lies a clear hyaline zone, containing, at certain stages, the maturation spindle or the nucleus. The relative volumes of the three zones, from centripetal to 'centrifugal pole, are about 1: 20: 64 for the egg of Archidoris; 1:8: IS for the egg of Diaulula; and 1: 11: 14 for the egg of Triopha. In uncentrifuged eggs of this stage, the spindle or nucleus lies in the clearer protoplasm at the animal pole, but in the centrifuged egg these structures may be displaced to any other position with respect to the egg axis.
Nevertheless the eggs continue to develop during and after centrifuging in many cases, and the cleavage pattern is often quite normal. This demonstrates that there has taken place, after centrifuging, either a return of the necessary polar substances or structures to their original position or the establishment of a new polarity. Evidence has been accumulated to show that both of these possibilities occurred in the experiments, depending upon the relation between the polar axis and axis of stratification, as well as upon the magnitude of the force applied.
Evidence has also been accumulated which suggests that whatever polarity and organization are present in the egg at this period are intimately connected with the spindle and with the framework attaching the spindle to the cortex at the animal pole, as Conklin previously suggested. Forces of the magnitude used, however, were great enough to alter the polarity (as indicated by position of cleavage planes and micromeres) in some of these eggs, presumably by breaking the connections of the spindle to the original animal pole.
During the summer quarter Dr. Georges E. P. Coppee, of the University of Liege, Belgium, worked on chronaxie, using several marine invertebrates as material.
During the summer quarter Mr. William A. Dill, of Santa Clara University, continued research on the life history of the sand dab Orthopsetta sordida. Throughout the year Mr. Herbert W. Graham, as a member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, was engaged in a continuation of his studies of the dinoflagellates of the plankton collections made by the non-magnetic ship "Carnegie." He was assisted for six months by Mrs. N. A. Bronikovsky and for one month by Mr. C. A. Dawson.
Mrs. Ruth T. Graham during the past year has continued a taxonomic study of the Chaetognatha from the plankton collections made by the "Carnegie."
Mrs. Graham served as a staff member during the spring and summer quarters.
During the winter quarter Dr. Aubrey E. Hopkins, of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, worked on the life processes of the oyster.
Mr. J. B. Phillips, of the State Fish and Game Commission, who has been stationed at the Hopkins Marine Station since 1929, continued his study of the fluctuations in the supply of sardines in the Monterey region.
Dr. David Spence, formerly of the G. F. Goodrich Company, in charge of research and development, made during the year a study of certain factors which influence the physical character (elastic qualities) of the rubber hydrocarbon derived from the cortical tissue of the Guayule shrub, Parthenium argentatum. An investigation is also being made of changes brought about in the physical characteristics of the hydrocarbon by the action of microorganisms on the cortical tissue of the same plant.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
Dr. Paul L. Kirk served as acting assistant professor during the summer quarter at the Hopkins Marine Station, delivering a series of lectures on "Microchemical Methods and Their Application to Biological Problems." Professors Hall and Weymouth gave the course in comparative animal physiology at the Hopkins Marine Station and Professor Weymouth assisted Professor Rich in the course in biometry given in biology.
Miss Laura Henry has assisted in the analysis of data collected by Professor Weymouth at the Hopkins Marine Station on the relative growth of Pugettia producta, the Pacific kelp crab. Further Work in that connection is recorded at the Hopkins Marine Station.
FRANK WALTER WEYMOUTH
Professor of Physiology
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 28 DECEMBER 31, 1936
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1936
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident teaching staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher and Rolf L. Bolin. Additions to the staff were Lawrence R. Blinks, Hubert Lyman Clark, Elisabeth Deichmann, Ruth Thompson Graham, A. R. Moore, Thomas L. Patterson, Robert A. Phillips, Gilbert M. Smith, Frank A. Weymouth, Douglas M. Whitaker. During the spring quarter Dr. Bolin served as acting director. Dr. Austin Phelps, research assistant, was in charge of the Hydrobiological Survey, January to September. Dr. C. B. van Niel was in Europe on sabbatical leave. Dr. T. Skogsberg was on leave, after January, for reasons of health.
RESEARCH
The Director continued work on a report on the sea stars of the British "Discovery" expeditions to the Antarctic. Two weeks of October were spent in study at the United States National Museum, Washington. Mr. Roland Alden has undertaken a thoroughgoing investigation of the anatomy of the abalone, a commercially important mollusk.
Dr. Blinks's investigations on bio-electric phenomena in the large cells of Halicystis were continued throughout the academic year at the Marine Station, under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Mr. M. L. Darsie, Jr., was in residence as his research assistant during the first three quarters, and Dr. Blinks was at the Station during most of the spring and summer quarters. Research centered on the relations of metabolism to the bio-electric potential. The effects of temperature, oxygen tension, carbon dioxide supply, ammonia, cyanide, dinitrophenol, and other agents affecting metabolism were studied, both alone, in conjunction with each other, and especially in connection with light. The intensity, duration, and wave-length of the latter controlled the results in striking fashion. The electrical response has the advantage of extreme rapidity since it reflects changes within the cell or very close to it. Many time curves were thus obtained as indications of photosynthetic rate and other characteristics. The effect of both light and temperature may be made either large or small, or even reversed in sign, depending upon the treatment of the cells.
Mr. Darsie also continued his own research problem on growth rates of micro-organisms utilizing ethylene glycol. This was started last year with Dr. van Niel.
Through the courtesy of the California Fish and Game Commission, Dr. Rolf L. Bolin spent the early part of September on the patrol vessel "Albacore" engaged in exploratory trawling off the coast of northern California. An interesting collection of fishes and invertebrates was made. During the latter part of February and early March he was engaged in a similar and equally successful expedition to the Santa Barbara Channel.
Studies on Pacific fishes were continued. The first of a contemplated series of generic revisions of the family Cottidae appeared in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum and a short note on a teratological specimen of the California jack smelt appeared in the California Fish and Game. A new method for the rapid preparation of osteological material, utilizing intertidal isopod crustaceans as the skeletonizing agents, was developed and reported upon in Science.
Under the direction of Dr. Bolin, Mr. Paul Budd has undertaken an investigation of the eggs and larval stages of several commercially important California flatfishes.
During the summer quarter, Dr. Hubert Lyman Clark, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, worked on the sea urchins and serpent stars of the region with a view to preparing a manual of these groups for California. In both groups Dr. Clark is the leading world authority.
Dr. Elisabeth Deichmann, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, during the spring and summer quarters continued an investigation, begun in 1924, of the holothurians or sea cucumbers of California. She also gathered material for a report on the Alcyonaria of California. In both these groups she is the leading authority in America.
Mrs. Ruth T. Graham continued work on a report of the Chaetognatha from the plankton collections made by the "Carnegie." Mrs. Graham served as a staff member during the spring and summer quarters.
During the summer quarter, Dr. A. R. Moore completed experimental studies on the migration of nuclei after fertilization, using the eggs of Dendraster excentricus, the sand dollar. He also directed the work of two students: Mrs. Becker on the formation of twins in Dendraster eggs, and Mr. J. W. Hilliard on the production of parthenogenetic pluteus larvae of Dendraster and their variability.
Dr. Thomas L. Patterson has continued his phylogenetic studies on the comparative physiology of the gastric hunger mechanism in the fish (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus). Through surgical procedure a method has been developed for the introduction of a gastric rubber balloon through a stomostomy opening made in the floor of the mouth which does not interfere with the respiratory process. This method also permits of as nearly normal activity and freedom of the fish as can be naturally obtained from such an animal under experimental conditions when placed in a large vivarium provided with running, aerated sea water, in which the fish normally swims about without disrupting the sensitive recording system which registers the gastric hunger contractions. Under these conditions the normal activity of the filled and empty stomach may be graphically recorded on a kymographion by the new ink-recording system developed by Patterson. The hunger contractions recorded from the stomach of Scorpaenichthys exhibit a modified periodicity, the active movements of which are inhibited by the introduction of such substances as weak alkali or acids. Suitable technique for the isolation of the stomach from the central nervous system by sectioning the extrinsic nerves (vagi and splanchnics) has been developed, as well as for decerebration to determine what effects such procedures may produce on the normal physiological response of the stomach.
Dr. Patterson, acting professor of physiology, has also given a series of illustrated lectures on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 P.M. throughout the summer quarter on "The Comparative Physiology of the Mechanics of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Invertebrate and Vertebrate Animals." After a consideration of the biological significance of hunger in animals and plants, the gastric hunger mechanisms of various representative forms of the phyla of the Mollusca and Arthropoda, together with numerous representatives from the various classes of the Chordata, have been considered, the series of lectures being concluded with a discussion of the gastric hunger mechanism in man and its psychophysiological control through hypnotic influence.
Mr. Earl R. Loew, who has done considerable work on the gastrointestinal tract of some of the higher animals, has assisted Dr. Patterson in his investigational studies on the gastric hunger mechanism of the fish (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus). Methods of surgical procedure have been developed for sectioning the vagi and splanchnic nerves to the stomach in order to determine the physiological effects of partial and complete isolation of the stomach from the central nervous system.
Mr. Fink Beckman, working under the direction of Dr. Thomas L. Patterson, has assisted in the physiological investigations on the gastric hunger mechanism in the fish (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus). A graphic method has been developed for the simultaneous registration of the gastric hunger contractions and the secretory flow of the gastric fluid, which on further improvement may become a new and important method for collecting the juice for gastric analysis in aquatic animals.
During this year Dr. Austin Phelps assumed full charge of the hydrographic work connected with the Hydrobiological Survey. All chemical records of the past four years have been tabulated, compared, charted, and brought to date. The first publication of the chemical work, dealing with the silicon content of the water of Monterey Bay, is now ready for publication. The routine work of collection of water samples has gone forward with the minimum of irregularity owing to the fine co-operation of the Division of Fish and Game, Department of Natural Resources, of the State of California. The policy started a year ago of taking occasional trips to a considerable distance off shore for the purpose of obtaining water samples has been continued. An investigation has been started of the part played by micro-organisms in the ecology of the ocean, with particular reference to bacteria. For the first time a technique has been developed for the collection of bacteria from the water at very considerable depths, and methods for counting them have been worked out. A quantitative and qualitative investigation of the bacteria of the local ocean water is now under way.
Dr. T. Skogsberg, during the autumn quarter, began a study of the ecology of mud-dwelling animals from different depths of Monterey Bay. Dr. Skogsberg's report covering an analysis of the thermal records gathered by the Hydrobiological Survey of Monterey Bay, 1929-1933 inclusive, has been accepted for publication by the American Philosophical Society. For reasons of health Dr. Skogsberg was on leave during the winter, spring, and summer quarters, conduct of the Survey being undertaken by Dr. Phelps.
Dr. Gilbert M. Smith during the summer quarter assembled illustrative material of algae and fungi for use in an advanced textbook of cryptogamic botany.
Professor Weymouth was assisted by Dr. Phillips during the summer quarter in the course in comparative animal physiology and in certain minor studies carried out by students in the course. These include, among others, a study of the osmotic changes produced in the sea star Patiria miniata by exposure to hypotonic sea water and the relation of the optimum, for ciliary activity of ciliated surfaces normally exposed to fluids of different hydrogenion concentration in Patiria miniata.
Dr. Phillips continued the study of metabolism in the Brachyura begun by Professor Hall during the previous summer as part of a program to develop techniques and obtain information on the physiology of certain favorable local species looking toward the further development of the course in comparative animal physiology. Refinements developed in the technique of determining the difference in oxygen content of water flowing through a respiration chamber include the use of filtered sea water to avoid errors in the Winkler oxygen determinations, a more accurately controlled temperature and a completely filled respiration chamber eliminating the necessity for seals, a more rigidly regulated rate of flow, and a check of the Winkler technique by an independent electrometric method. Frequent determinations were carried out over long periods to study possible diurnal cycles in metabolism.
Professor Weymouth served with Professor Willis H. Rich as a technical member of a board of review appointed by the California State Division of Fish and Game to consider the adequacy of the proofs of depletion of the sardine which have been put forward by the State Fisheries Laboratory. Details are given in the report for the School of Biological Sciences.
The following is a report of the research carried on by Dr. Whitaker with the assistance of Mr. Edward W. Lowrance, research assistant in biology.
It has been known for a long time that the respiratory rate and the permeability to water and to certain dyes increase greatly when the sea-urchin egg is fertilized. Investigations on eggs of Strongylocentrotus franciscanus show that the immature egg, before its developmental activity has become suspended in the resting unfertilized stage, is even more permeable to water and to dyes than the fertilized egg. In other words, the increase at fertilization (when development is re-initiated) is merely the converse of the change at maturation (when the resting stage of developmental inhibition is entered). This is in keeping with evidence previously gained from metabolic studies indicating that, physiologically, fertilization is essentially a release from a state of inhibition.
In continuation of experiments on the eggs of Fucus, which secrete substances which determine at a distance the developmental pattern of neighboring eggs, chloroform extracts have been taken from eggs reared for different periods at constant temperature and illumination. There are reasons for suspecting that the hormone auxine may be involved, and the plant physiologists at the California Institute of Technology have been so kind as to co-operate by testing the chloroform extracts for auxine content by physiological assay on standardized oat seedlings. No auxine has so far been detected.
Mr. Lowrance has continued imposing ellipsoidal shape on Fucus eggs which are normally spherical. Preliminary results indicate that the rhizoid of the embryo originates, instead of anywhere as on the surface of the sphere, only at one or the other end of the ellipsoid. If so, the polarity of the egg has been altered. Mr. Lowrance is also continuing to establish steep temperature gradients across the developing Fucus egg so that metabolism proceeds more rapidly on one side. The developmental consequences appear to be consistent but the proof cannot yet be regarded as complete.
Dr. C. B. van Niel was on leave for the year. The fall and part of the winter were spent in Delft, Holland, in the laboratories of Professor A. J. Kluyver, where many controversial points concerning the metabolism of the. photosynthetic bacteria were settled. In particular the long-debated question of whether or not oxygen consumption is a necessary concomitant of bacterial photosynthesis, which had again been raised, was decided in the negative. Further, the reversal of the oxidation of sulfides to sulfates, which had been claimed by other workers, was shown not to occur in pure cultures of purple bacteria.
The balance of the year was spent in Basle, Switzerland, where, in the laboratories of Professor Arthur Stoll, Dr. van Niel continued the studies of the chemical structure of the pigments of Spirillum rubrum which were begun at the Hopkins Marine Station. In addition a comparative study of the pigments of other species of purple bacteria was carried out. While in Basle, Dr. van Niel was able to give considerable aid in the translation of the lectures on cardiac glucosides to be presented by Professor Stoll at the University of London.
Dr. van Niel attended the Second International Congress for Microbiology in London and led the Section on General Biology of Micro-organisms in their consideration of bacterial photosynthesis.
Dr. Arthur W. Martin, research assistant to Dr. van Niel, was engaged for the most part in the mass culture of purple bacteria. With the co-operation of the Hovden Food Products Corporation of Monterey about four thousand gallons of nutrient medium were sterilized and used for the growth of upwards of seven pounds of air-dried bacteria of several different species, which were shipped to Dr. van Niel.
With the same end in view studies were made of means for growing large quantities of the green sulfur bacteria, which are also photosynthetic organisms.
The experiments on the rubber-decomposing Actinomycetes initiated by Dr. Spence and Dr. van Niel were carried on. In collaboration with Dr. Spence improved methods of growth were worked out and some interesting growth curves obtained. In addition work was begun on the isolation of some of the intermediate and final products of the decomposition of rubber by these organisms.
Miss Winnefred Bradway carried on studies of the swimming behavior of the "tadpole" larva of the tunicate Clavelina huntsmani; of the influence of nicotine on the larvae and adults of some echinoderms; and of the metamorphoses of Euherdmania claviformis, a tunicate.
Dr. Hyman Y. Chase, assistant professor of zoology, Howard University, Washington, D.C., with the aid of a grant from the Committee on Radiation, National Research Council, made a study of the effect of ultraviolet radiation on the development of eggs of Urechis caupo, an echiuroid worm.
Dr. C. M. Child, professor of zoology, University of Chicago, was in residence during the autumn and winter quarters. His work was concerned with an experimental examination of certain aspects of the physiology of echinoderm development. The investigation centered chiefly about two related problems: first, the differential reduction of vital dyes by different developmental stages of the living organisms in water with decreased oxygen content as one line of evidence of differences in physiological activity in different parts of the embryo; second, experimental modification and control of the course of development by means of various agents added to the sea water and by other changes in environmental conditions such as crowding, difference in temperature, etc., and the changes in differential reduction of dyes correlated with the developmental modifications.
The species used as material were the echinoids Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, S. franciscanus, and Dendraster excentricus, and the asteroid Patiria miniata. Each of these species shows a differential in rate of reduction along the polar axis in the earlier stages of development, the relation to the polar axis being the same in all. As development progresses, changes in the reduction differential occur in definite and orderly sequence and at certain stages new differentials appear in relation to particular parts and organs. In their more general features these changes are similar in the four species, but certain differences characteristic of the species are evident.
As regards the second problem with which the work was concerned, it was found that, as earlier work has shown, modifications of early development induced by external agents are not specifically different for different agents. Moreover, a definite relation between the differentials in reduction of dyes and developmental modification appears. In general these regions of the developing organism which reduce dyes most rapidly are most inhibited in their development by agents above a certain concentration or dosage, which differs with the different species. These regions are also most tolerant, consequently least inhibited, by a certain lower range of concentration or dosage of the same agents and recover most rapidly or most completely after a limited period of exposure to injurious agents. In the modified forms, the reduction differentials may be altered in certain definite ways.
The work is regarded as constituting evidence for the view that the reduction differentials are indicators of fundamental, primarily quantitative differences in physiological activity in the developing animals, and that the modifications of development indicated by external agents result from the greater susceptibility of more active regions to the more extreme degrees of action of external factors and their greater tolerance to, and ability to recover from, slight disturbance by external factors. In short, the quantitative differentials indicated by reduction and by experimental modification of development appear to be fundamental factors in determining the orderly and definite character of development.
During the summer quarter Mr. Ira E. Cornwall, of Victoria, B.C., prepared a review of the Cirripedia of the California coast. This work included descriptions and drawings of all species known to occur in the region, as well as of a new species which is common at Monterey Bay.
During the summer quarter Dr. Donald P. Costello, of the University of North Carolina, continued an investigation on which he was engaged at the Station from October, 1934, to May, 1935. This investigation was concerned with the effects of high centrifugal force on the structure and development of the eggs of the nudibranch mollusks of Monterey Bay and vicinity. The results verify and extend those previously reported.
Additional observations were made upon the breeding habits of many species of nudibranchs. These supplement previous data by providing records of copulating and egg-laying activities for the summer months.
Jointly with Helen M. Costello, a study was made of the cell-lineage and development of a species of acoelous turbellarian, which is apparently identical with Polychaerus caudatus Mark. The eggs are exceptionally fine embryological material. They conform in their segmentation to the earlier accounts of the development of the acoeles by Perejaslavtzewa and Bresslau.
Throughout the year Mr. Herbert W. Graham, as a member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, was engaged in a continuation of his studies of the Dinoflagellates of the plankton collections made by the ship "Carnegie." A floristic study of the collection is being made from the standpoint of morphology and taxonomy of the group.
The routine examination of the plankton samples was completed for the southeastern Pacific and continued well into the mid-Pacific.
A detailed morphological study of the genus Ceratocorys was made and a revision of the genus completed on this basis.
Mrs. N. Bronikovski was employed for eight months in the routine examination of samples and in preparing camera lucida sketches of contained organisms.
Dr. Libbie Hyman, of New York City, spent the month of August in gathering material for a new textbook of zoology.
During a part of the spring quarter, Dr. Chin-Chih Jao, of the National Research Institute of Biology, Academica Sinica, Nanking, studied the algae of the Monterey region.
Dr. Edna M. Lind, University of Sheffield, England, visited the Station in August to study algae.
Dr. Alden E. Noble, of the College of the Pacific, Stockton, during the summer quarter studied trematode and cestode parasites of fishes.
Mr. J. B. Phillips, a member of the California State Fisheries Laboratory of the Division of Fish and Game of California, has continued work on the Laboratory Program, which is concerned with the most important species of marine commercial fishes in that the changes in abundance may be discovered and the proper degree of utilization determined. Life histories of species and the characteristics of each important fishery are studied in order that effectiveness of legislation may be gauged and suitable protective measures recommended. Effort is concentrated upon four major fisheries: sardine (pilchard), tuna, mackerel, and the trawl fishery for flatfishes, but, in addition, several miscellaneous studies are carried along as incidental to the major projects.
Mr. Phillips' duties are primarily in connection with the sardine program in the Monterey region. However, studies are carried on in other commercial fisheries from time to time. A great deal of the laboratory work is of necessity carried on jointly with other members of the staff because of the wide range of the more important commercial fishes.
Dr. F. G. Walton Smith, of London, Commonwealth Fellow, spent the autumn and winter quarters in studying the normal embryology of several species of prosobranch gastropod mollusks.
Dr. D. Spence has continued his investigations of rubber. In the July, 1936, issue of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (A.C.S.), communication by D. Spence and C. B. van Niel appeared showing that the rubber hydrocarbon in sterile Latex is readily decomposed by certain forms of micro-organisms (Actinomycetes). Work in this connection has been continued, and in conjunction with A. W. Martin conditions for optimum growth have been studied and growth curves obtained. The gradual breaking down of the complex polymer has been followed by viscosimetric measurements and the production of water-soluble decomposition products of the hydrocarbon determined. Identification of these water-soluble products is now being undertaken.
In conjunction with John D. Ferry conditions affecting the polymerization of the rubber hydrocarbon as it occurs in natural Latex have been studied, particularly the influence of light in connection therewith. A number of new and fundamental observations in this connection have been recorded which have an important bearing on the question of the formation of the rubber by the living plant and on its elastic properties.
The following biologists made brief visits to the Station: Dr. B. A. Houssay, University of Buenos Aires; Dr. W. J. Dakin, University of Sydney, Australia; Dr. Tetsuo Inukai, Imperial University, Sapporo, Japan (lectured on "Customs of the Ainu People of Hokkaido"); Dr. Hiroshi Ohshima, Kyushu Imperial University, Fukuoka, Japan; Dr. George Howard Parker, Harvard University (lectured on "Neurohumors"); Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, of the United States National Museum, Washington (lectured on "The Galapagos Problem"); Mr. V. J. Chapman, Henry Fellow, University of Cambridge, England; Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Buchsbaum, University of Chicago. July 1, 1936, the Station was visited by the scientific staff of the Japanese Fisheries Training Ship "Hakuyo Maru," Captain J. Nakakawa, commanding.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
Dr. Thomas L. Patterson, of Wayne University Medical School, served as acting professor of physiology at the Hopkins Marine Station during the summer
quarter. He delivered a series of lectures on the "Mechanical Factors in Digestion" and carried on investigations on the motility of the alimentary tract of certain Monterey Bay fish.
As evidence of the participation of the personnel in the activities of the School of Biological Sciences it may be pointed out that the following members of the staff gave or assisted in courses not listed in the department. Professor Weymouth gave the course in comparative animal physiology at the Hopkins Marine Station and assisted Professor Rich in the courses in biometry and in fisheries biology; Professor Baumberger gave the course in general physiology; Instructor Phillips assisted in comparative physiology.
Associate Professor Field continued his investigation of the mechanism of action of metabolic stimulants. In collaboration with Dr. A. W. Martin, research associate at the Hopkins Marine Station, and Mrs. Sally M. Field, the comparative activity of several important nitrated phenols as metabolic stimulants was studied. The results of this work were published early in the year.
As detailed elsewhere, certain work of students in the course in comparative animal physiology at the Hopkins Marine Station led to minor studies by Mr. Roland Alden and Mr. Paul L. Budd of the water balance of sea stars (Patiria), and by Miss Ora Bomberger, Miss Eleanor Belknap, Mr. Martin Baskin, and Mr. Alvin T. Levy of the optimum hydrogen-ion concentration for ciliary activity on various external and internal surfaces of the sea star.
FRANK WALTER WEYMOUTH
Professor of Physiology
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 56 DECEMBER 31, 1937
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1937
Mrs. Timothy Hopkins, of San Francisco and Menlo Park, two portraits of Mr. Timothy Hopkins, one painted by Mr. William V. Schevill and placed in the Hopkins Marine Station, and the other painted by Mr. Kenneth Frazier, of New York City, for the Hopkins Room in the University Library.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
California State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Game, $750.00 toward expenses of hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay; and $2,250.00 for reviewing and passing upon the sardine fisheries research carried on during the past sixteen years.
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L. Bolin, C. B. van Niel, Austin Phelps, Tage Skogsberg. Summer quarter additions to the staff were Lawrence R. Blinks, J. M. Crismon, Victor E. Hall, A. R. Moore, Gilbert M. Smith.
RESEARCH
The Director finished a monograph on The Hydrocorals of the North Pacific Ocean, which will be published by the United States National Museum. Two weeks of January were spent in study at this institution. He has continued work on the large collection of antarctic sea stars collected by several voyages of the British ships "Discovery" and "Discovery II."
Dr. Blinks was in residence during the summer quarter, offering the course on Physiology of Marine Plants, and continuing researches on bioelectric phenomena in Halicystis. The relation of these to metabolic factors was under study, with special reference to oxidation-reduction potential, and to photosynthesis. Anomalous effects of the latter, notably emphasized by the presence of ammonia, led to independent methods for following rapid changes in photosynthesis. By applying a glass electrode in direct contact with the cells, extremely rapid changes of acidity were measured and have been recorded, both for Halicystis and for other organisms. This appears to be a most promising new method for studying photosynthesis, especially its so-called "induction period." If this normally exists, it must be shorter than the period of the galvanometer used, or less than one second. Corresponding electrical indicators of oxygen consumption or production were likewise developed. In these researches Mr. Royce K. Skow, under an appointment of the Rockefeller grant, was of great assistance.
Dr. Rolf L. Bolin continued his studies on the marine fishes of the North Pacific. Systematic investigation of the deep-sea fishes of the family Myctophidae known to occur along the western coast, of the United States and Lower California has been practically completed, and in co-operation with Mr. J. B. Phillips, of the California Fish and Game Commission, an attack upon the very difficult family Scorpaenidae has been initiated. In the case of the latter family, attempts to rear post-larval fishes in aquaria are proving successful and should result in needed information concerning the various life-history stages. Experiments are being continued and technique and apparatus developed for the purpose of rearing young marine fishes from artificially fertilized eggs. Some advance has been made, although the difficult problem is still far from solution.
Under the direction of Dr. Bolin, Mr. Paul L. Budd completed his investigation of the eggs and early larvae of four species of California flatfishes and two cottids. The results were presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree and are to be published by the California Fish and Game Commission.
Dr. Victor E. Hall, aided by Dr. J. M. Crismon and Mr. Shannon Allen, gave the summer quarter course in Comparative Physiology from the point of view of energy metabolism. After a determination of the oxygen consumption rates of a number of marine animals, the history of the oxygen atoms has been traced to their utilization by the tissues. Each student, as a general rule, worked on one form, the comparative aspect of the work being developed by conferences.
Dr. Hall supervised a continuation of his work on crab metabolism initiated two years ago. The investigation was conducted by Dr. J. M. Crismon, by means of the kelp crab, Pugettia prodiicta, on the relation of oxygen consumption to body weight. The combined curves indicate that there is a progressive though not linear decrease in oxygen consumption per unit of body weight as the body size increases. There is some suggestion of a higher rate of oxygen consumption in the males.
The work of Miss Margaret Lindsay in preparation for publication of the material of her Master's thesis (influence of the rate of metabolism on the spontaneous activity of the rat) has also been supervised. During the summer, papers on the following topics, the laboratory work for which had been finished in the Department of Physiology during the past year, have been written and submitted for publication: (1) influence of adrenal cortical hormone on reproductive activities of the albino rat; (2) ketone body excretion in the cat; and (3) the role of the splanchnic nerves in the hyperglycemia produced by dinitrophenol.
Dr. Harold Heath, professor emeritus, concluded an important work on the comparative anatomy of bivalve mollusks of the order Protobranchia. Comparisons were made of thirty-two species of Nucula, Acila, Yoldia, Goldiella, Malletia, and Leda, and the results have appeared as one of the quarto Memoires du Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique.
During the summer quarter Dr. A. R. Moore continued his studies on the factors concerned in the movement of the nucleus through the cytoplasm following fertilization, and on the physico-chemical basis of membrane formation with especial reference to the role of electrolytes in the phenomenon.
Dr. C. B. van Niel returned from Europe early in November and spent the next two months in preparing the manuscript on the biochemistry of bacteria for the sixth volume of the Annual Review of Biochemistry. From January to the end of the academic year he conducted experiments on the following problems:
1. Photosynthesis by Purple Bacteria. Previous experiments had shown that the photosynthetic activity of non-sulfur bacteria can best be interpreted as a photochemical reduction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen obtained from various organic substances. Since hereby the latter are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water the final analytical data are of necessity limited to the determination of the difference between the amount of carbon dioxide used in photosynthesis and that produced from the organic compound. Hence the interpretation of such data with respect to the intimate mechanism of the process is impossible. Some experiments with the Thiorhodaceae had shown, however, that an accurate determination of the rate of carbon-dioxide uptake in the presence of different organic compounds might be useful for such an interpretation. Because of the greater range in organic substances used by Atiorhodaceae, experiments were carried out in which the rate determinations of disappearance of carbon dioxide and of organic substance were made with various fatty acids. These experiments have disclosed that an interpretation of the mechanism on the basis of such data is impossible as far as the breakdown of the organic molecule is concerned. The results obtained show that anumber of different enzymes must be involved in the oxidation of even such closely related substances as acetic, propionic, and butyric acids. In addition, they substantiate the previously developed idea (1937) that the dehydrogenation of the inorganic and organic substrates by the purple bacteria takes place in one or more "dark reactions" and give the first experimental and direct evidence for the correctness of this hypothesis.
In these studies the quantitative discrepancies between the behavior of even- and odd-numbered fatty acids, previously noted by Gaffron, was fully substantiated. In addition to the lack of agreement between the theoretical and observed carbon-dioxide reduction for the odd-numbered fatty acids it was established that during photosynthesis of these compounds acid(s) is formed. An explanation of this anomaly has been attempted and experimentally tested. The results to date are, however, inconclusive, and this study will be pursued.
This investigation has also led to the discovery of the existence of purple bacteria which cannot use formic acid for a photochemical carbon dioxide reduction. The importance of this observation lies in the fact that it disproves definitely the generally accepted theory that formic acid would be an intermediate product in photosynthesis.
For the experiments of Dr. Arnold on the quantum efficiency and chlorophyll unit in purple-bacteria photosynthesis a method was needed for the accurate quantitative determination of bacterio-chlorophyll. In contrast with the chlorophylls a and b of the green plants, which are relatively stable after extraction from the organism, the green, photochemically and photosynthetically active pigment of the purple bacteria is so extremely unstable that most of the extracted pigment is destroyed during the colorimetric determination.
Based upon the studies in Professor Stoll's laboratory, Basle, on the chemical constitution of the bacterio-chlorophylls a method could be developed which allows of the accurate quantitative determination of this pigment by rapid conversion of the extracted bacterio-chlorophyll into the stable derivative bacterio-pheophytin.
2. Hydrogen Bacteria. For the purpose of comparative studies on the biochemistry of hydrogen oxidation by the photosynthetic purple bacteria and by the chemosynthetic hydrogen bacteria, pure cultures of a number of the latter have been isolated, partly in collaboration with Dr. Arnold. An experimental study of their physiology has just been initiated.
3. Propionic Acid Bacteria. At the request of the committee in charge of Bergey's Manual for Determinative Bacteriology a revision of the genus Propionibacterium has been completed, involving the comparative study of various strains of organisms belonging to this group. Mr. S. F. Cahen has been working on the physiology and biochemistry of this group of organisms, chiefly from the point of view of determining whether or not these organisms are capable of reducing carbon dioxide in the dark, as claimed by Wood and Werkman in 1936. The evidence presented by these authors is far from conclusive, partly due to badly controlled conditions of experimentation, and to the use of analytical methods which cannot be considered accurate enough for the purpose. In view of the far-reaching theoretical importance of a more complete understanding of the process of carbon-dioxide reduction, a carefully repeated investigation of the possible occurrence of such a reaction in the propionic-acid bacteria seemed necessary.
So far, the work has dealt with the development of methods for culturing the organisms under rigorously controlled conditions, and for accurate quantitative methods for determination of the various compounds used and produced in the metabolism.
4. Metabolism of Protozoa. Mr. J. O. Thomas has continued his study, interrupted in 1932, on the anaerobic metabolism of certain protozoa in absolute pure culture. The present results indicate that carbohydrates are fermented without the production of gas, but with formation of only one molecule of acid per molecule of hexose-sugar. The study is still incomplete, because the exact nature of the acid produced has not yet been established. The present evidence tends to show that it might be pyruvic acid. In that case there must of necessity be another product, reduced with respect to carbohydrate, and such a substance has not yet been found.
It may be expected, however, that in case the1 present ideas on this metabolism can be substantiated, further light could be thrown on the mechanism of the anaerobic phase of muscular metabolism. Much time has been spent in working out methods for obtaining the protozoa in a state of glycogen depletion, which is necessary because stored glycogen seriously interferes with the uptake and decomposition of added carbohydrates.
During the summer quarter Dr. R. E. Hungate started an investigation of the metabolism of the protozoa found in the hind-gut of termites (Zootermposis) with a view to elucidating the nutritional interrelationships between the host and its intestinal fauna.
Since it has been definitely established that only the protozoa are responsible for the decomposition of cellulose, the main food of the termites, it is obvious that the protozoa must produce substances which the termite can utilize.
Using the manometric technique, Dr. Hungate has shown that the decomposition of cellulose by the protozoa proceeds with the formation of both gaseous and acidic substances. The gas consists of a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in about equal proportions; the acid fraction proved to contain only volatile fatty acid. The latter could be identified with acetic acid.
The total quantity of these metabolic products recovered indicates that one or more reduction products still remain undetermined. Tests for glycerol and alcohols as the most probable ones have so far given completely negative results.
5. Variability and Adaptability of Bacteria. Mr. M. Doudoroff has started a study of experimentally induced variations in bacteria, especially from the point of view of demonstrating whether adaptations can occur throughout the life-cycle of the bacteria, or whether these may be restricted to certain phases.
The environmental factors so far studied as inducing adaptation comprise temperature and salt concentrations; the techniques of obtaining conclusive results have been practically completely worked out.
The results of preliminary experiments seem to show that there exist definite phases, coinciding with the period of logarithmic growth, during which adaptability and variation is practically impossible.
These experiments are particularly valuable because they may lead to an appreciation of the factors operating in the organisms which are either responsible or necessary for the occurrence of such adaptations.
Dr. Austin Phelps, Research Associate in Oceanography, has been in charge of the collecting, at sea, of data involved in the Hydrobiological Survey. Weekly hydrographic analysis of the water of Monterey Bay has been continued almost without interruption, the water being studied for fluctuations in temperature, chlorinity, oxygen content, and in the concentration of several of the more important nutrient salts. Three trips to our station "L," 150 miles offshore, added valuable data for making a comparison of the water of Monterey Bay with that of the open ocean.
A study of the fluctuation in the number of bacteria in the surface water, which was commenced last year, has been continued this year, and a series of experiments has been undertaken to clear up certain problems in the ecology of the marine bacteria.
One paper has been accepted for publication by the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, entitled "The Variation in the Silicate Content of the Water in Monterey Bay, California, during 1932, 1933, and 1934." Dr. Skogsberg's report on the thermal and circulatory conditions of the waters in and off Monterey Bay from 1929 to 1933, inclusive, was published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Through this work a foundation for an understanding of the fundamental features of the complex circulatory phenomena of the coastal waters of central California has been established. The systematic observation of our waters begun in 1929 is still carried on. It is of interest to note that the data collected following 1933 fully confirm the conclusions presented in Dr. Skogsberg's report. This fact strongly suggests that the basic rhythm characteristic of the period covered by the report is at least of semipermanent nature. However, even though each year is characterized by a sequence of distinct seasons peculiar to our waters, the hydrographic picture varies from year to year. These annual differences exhibit features which suggest that they express complex and long-range fluctuations in the "climate" of our waters. Systematic data covering many years to come will be needed to allow us to carry out a mathematical analysis of these long-range changes.
Two manuscripts were also concluded by Dr. Skogsberg: one pertaining to the California species of the marine fish family Sciaenidae; the other, carried out in co-operation with Miss Olga Harmann of the University of California, Berkeley, dealing with certain California species of Polynoidae, a family of annelid worms. Except in so far as the description of species is concerned, the California fishes are to a very large extent unknown. At the same time, there is in our state an unusual interest among the general public in our fish fauna, as is shown by the extraordinarily large number of sport fishing licenses issued each year. Dr. Skogsberg's report on the Sciaenidae is intended to be the first contribution toward a handbook on the California fishes, to be carried out co-operatively. The various species will be dealt with not only from the point of view of systematics, but their ecology and their economic and sport significance will also be analyzed and described. The annelid worms of California, although very numerous, are as yet very little known. Dr. Skogsberg's work on the Polynoidae was undertaken to alleviate in some measure this situation. Work preparatory to an extensive investigation of the ecology of sand- and mud-living organisms of Monterey Bay was also initiated.
Under the general direction of Dr. Skogsberg, Mr. Herbert Graham of the Carnegie Institution of Washington continued studies on the marine dinoflagellates. The report is developing into a comprehensive monograph which undoubtedly will be one of the most important, if not the most important, contribution in this field.
Miss Lillian Clayton continued during the summer quarter, her work on the Coelenterata, concentrating her efforts on the hydroid genus Aglaophenia, which is being studied from the viewpoint of systematics and morphology as well as that of the early life history and ecology.
During the summer quarter Dr. Gilbert M. Smith carried to completion a treatise in two volumes on Cryptogamic Botany.
Dr. William Arnold, General Education Board Fellow, working under the direction of Professor C. B. van Niel, has been making a study of the quantitative relation between photosynthesis and bacterio-chlorophyll in the purple bacteria in order to determine if the ratio is comparable with that found in green plants. An investigation has also been made on the efficiency with which light-energy is used by both the green plants and the purple bacteria.
Dr. J. P. Baumberger, of the Department of Physiology, spent the summer quarter in writing several papers for which the Station library was a useful aid.
Dr. Hyman Y. Chase, assistant professor of zoology, Howard University, Washington, D.C., continued work, begun last summer, on the effect of ultraviolet radiation on the development of eggs of Urechis caupo, an echiuroid worm.
During the summer quarter Dr. Donald P. Costello, of the University of North Carolina, and Dr. Helen Miller Costello continued their study of the anatomy and development of an acoelous turbellarian, Polychoerus carmelensis. There was also begun an experimental study of the effects of centrifugal force upon the structure and development of the Polychoerus egg.
Professor Tracy E. Hazen of Columbia University has been continuing his studies on the morphology and reproduction of unicellular green algae carried on during previous seasons at the Station, with particular reference to the forms growing in brine pools. He has been successful this season in finding again, in the original station at Marina, Monterey County, the species Dunaliella peircei L. B. Becking, named to commemorate the pioneer work of Professor G. J. Peirce on brine organisms.
Professor W. W. Newby of the University of Utah continued his investigation of the embryology of Urechis caupo, an echiuroid worm. The rearing of larvae and the cell-lineage studies were carried on at the Station during previous summers. The study of the trochophore and the metamorphosis of the trochophore into a young worm were completed during the current summer quarter.
Daniel C. Pease, graduate assistant, California Institute of Technology, during the summer quarter made the following investigation: Dendraster eggs were ultracentrifuged and studies made of the relation of the axis of centrifuging to the determination of the plane of bilateral symmetry as well as the stratification of organ-forming substances. Partial embryos have also been reared and the relation of the cut surface to the dorso-ventral axis studied. Combining these data with those of other workers, particularly the effect on the ventral determination produced by stretching eggs in a capillary pipette, it has been possible to suggest an inclusive theory of the factors that are involved in the determination of the ventral side and the consequent bilateral symmetry in echinoderm eggs.
Mr. J. B. Phillips, Senior Fisheries Researcher, California Division of Fish and Game, continued his work in connection with the commercial marine fishes of the state. Much of his time has been devoted to the sardine program, as in the past. However, other fisheries have been studied as time has permitted.
Recently, a study of the Scorpaenidae (rockfishes and scorpionfishes) has been inaugurated in co-operation with Dr. Rolf L. Bolin. This large family constitute one of California's most important market fishes, but our knowledge concerning them is limited.
During the past year, Mr. Phillips has written articles on rockfishes, sculpin and cabezone, crabs, abalone, and squid for publications of the Division of Fish and Game of California. He has completed Fish Bulletin Number 50, which is now in press, entitled The Size of Sardines in the Different Areas of the Monterey and San Pedro Regions.
Investigations, by Dr. David Spence, on the chemistry and biochemistry of natural rubber have been continued. With Dr. John D. Ferry, studies have been made of polymerization of the rubber in the latex of Hevea brasiliensis. Enhanced polymerization, or depolymerization, according to experimental conditions, has been effected by both photochemical and thermal reactions with a variety of reagents, including quinones, aldehydes, quinone imides, and metallic salts. These results have been reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry (London). The investigations are being expanded with reagents related to substances occurring naturally in the rubber plant as well as to "accelerators" used in the vulcanization of rubber.
Among the visitors to the Station for short periods were: Professor W. Astbury, University of Leeds, England; Dr. C. H. Best, University of Toronto, Canada; Dr. H. V. Sverdrup, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Professor A. J. Goldforb, College of the City of New York; Professor Muneshige Watanabe, Hakodate College of Fisheries, Japan; Professor Francis E. Lloyd, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 74 DECEMBER 31, 1938
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1938
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L. Bolin, C. B. van Niel, Austin Phelps, Tage Skogsberg. Additions to the staff were Douglas M. Whitaker, spring quarter; Lawrence R. Blinks, John Field II, Donald C. G. Mackay, A. R. Moore, Gilbert M. Smith, Frank W. Weymouth, summer quarter.
RESEARCH
The Director published a monograph on The Hydrocorals of the North Pacific Ocean, in connection with which he spent two weeks at the United States National Museum. An extensive memoir on Antarctic sea stars, based on material collected during several voyages of the British ships "Discovery" and "Discovery II" is nearing completion.
Dr. Blinks was at the Station through most of the spring and summer quarters, being assisted by Mr. R. K. Skow. Bioelectric studies were continued, with special success in referring the effects of low oxygen tension to definite lowering of ionic mobility in the protoplasmic surface. This also led to a thorough study of sulfate solutions. Owing to the low mobility of the sulfate ion, very large and constant changes of potential are produced when sulfate is substituted for chloride at the outer surface; but the vacuolar surface is almost indifferent. This situation with respect to other immobile anions could well account for the normal potential of the cells.
Measurements of respiration were made on single cells of marine algae in the Fenn microrespirometer, with attention on the temperature coefficient and on the effects of impaling the cells.
Mr. Marvin L. Darsie, Jr., continued studies on the polarity and tropisms of the marine alga Bryopsis, finding it well adapted for extending the hormone explanation of these effects to a single uninterrupted cell of large size.
Dr. Rolf L. Bolin continued his studies on the taxonomy and life history of California fishes. These studies are concerned with several bathypelagic families and with the commercially important family Scorpaenidae. Since the investigations deal with problems of considerable magnitude no important section of the work was concluded. One paper describing a new Argentinid fish from California was published in the California Fish and Game, and a report on the reappearance of the southern sea otter, previously thought to be practically extinct, is to appear in the November issue of the American Journal of Mammalogy.
Co-operation with the California State Division of Fish and Game has been established whereby specimens of rare and unknown fishes collected during the Division's fishery investigations are to be donated to the Hopkins Marine Station in return for information as to their specific identity.
Several valuable specimens from southern and Lower California have already been acquired in this way. It is planned that, after an initial series has been retained at Hopkins Marine Station, all duplicates are to be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Stanford University.
Mr. Ira E. Cornwall, technical assistant, published the description of a new species of barnacle in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London.
During the summer quarter Dr. A. R. Moore carried on the following investigations:
1. A study of the factors involved in gastrulation in the larvae of Dendraster. It was found possible to reverse the action of lithium ;(in causing exogastrulation) by osmotic pressure of a number of substances. Dissection experiments (carried out by Miss Burt) proved that the integrity of the blastula wall is not essential to invagination. The evidence obtained by the various means used pointed to the conclusion that the invagination of the gastrula is determined by forces acting within the endodermal plate, and that stability of this plate, with regard to such function, is disposed as a radial gradient being highest at the center.
2. A study of restoration of function in the nerve ring of the starfish Patiria was made by severing the ring at two points and watching recovery. In a month there was complete healing of the wound, but dysfunction of the nerve ring persisted even after seven weeks.
Miss Pearl Murray, technical assistant, performed the routine chemical analyses of sea-water samples in connection with the Hydrobiological Survey.
During the year Dr. C. B. van Niel conducted studies on the following subjects: (1) studies on purple and green bacteria, photosynthesis; (2) variability and adaptability of micro-organisms; (3) propionic acid bacteria; (4) metabolism of protozoa; (5) growth factors for micro-organisms; (6) bacterial decomposition of agar.
Work on each of these subjects will be reported on under the respective headings.
1. Studies on purple and green bacteria, and the general problem of photosynthesis.—(a) The quantitative determination of bacteriochlorophyll, reported on last year, appeared to give erratic results when applied to some strains of brown bacteria. This might have been due to the existence of differences in the green pigments of these organisms and that of the purple bacteria used previously. Hence a careful study was made of the bacteriophytm— a stable derivative of the bacteriochlorophyll—of these strains. Comparative studies have shown the complete identity of phyophytin from different purple and brown bacteria. Since the phyophytin differs from the bacteriochlorophyll only in the absence of a magnesium atom in the former, it must be concluded that also the bacteriochlorophyll in all purple and brown bacteria thus far studied is identical. It was found that the irregularities mentioned above are due to the presence of considerable amounts of waxy materials in the pigment extracts of some strains, the wax causing a greatly decreased solubility of the phyophytin. Based upon these results a number of modifications of the original method for the estimation of bacteriochlorophyll have been tried out, and a final simple and rapid method adopted. (In press, joint paper with Dr. W. Arnold.)
Connected with these studies are determinations of the absorption spectrum of the green pigment of Thiorhodaceae, Athiorhodaceae, and green bacteria, in the living cells, by the use of an auxanographic method. A long tube, filled with an agar medium, and evenly inoculated with a suspension of the strain under investigation, is exposed to a spectrum of wide dispersion, produced by a 1000-Watt filament lamp and-a large diffraction grating. Also these studies have proved the identity of the spectrum of the green pigment of various purple and brown bacteria.
On the other hand, a determination of the absorption spectrum of the green bacteria pigment by this method has shown that it occupies a position intermediate between that of the chlorophyll of green plants and that of the purple and brown bacteria.
This finding has resulted in a desire to study more closely the chemical constitution of this new chlorophyll. Up till now, however, the growth of the green bacteria has not been very satisfactory. It seems that the culture medium used lacks certain essential constituents, because growth can be improved considerably by the addition of crude salt, not of chemically pure sodium chloride. It is hoped that a further study of the growth requirements of the green bacteria may not only shed light on this problem, but that it will in addition lead to collecting sufficient material for a further study of the new chlorophyll.
b) Renewed attempts at determining whether also in the purple bacteria photosyntheses a "chlorophyll unit" exists have been seriously handicapped by certain unexpected difficulties involved in measurements of the rate of carbon dioxide utilization.
If purple bacteria carry out photosynthesis with organic substrates, the net result is the uptake of a measurable amount of carbon dioxide in all those cases where the substrate is sufficiently reduced. However, this amount of CO2 is not necessarily the quantity actually used for photosynthetic processes, since it is at least equally possible that the conversion of the organic substrate involves the production of CO2 therefrom. In that case the measured uptake of CO9 represents only the difference between CO2 used and produced. As long as the intermediate mechanism of such photosyntheses has not been established beyond a doubt, it is impossible to draw conclusions from this determined difference only. Actually the amount CO2 that has been involved in photosynthesis may be many times as large.
Because the determination of the existence of a "unit" involves an accurate knowledge of the amount of CO2 used in the photosynthetic reaction, determinations were attempted in a system containing molecular hydrogen and CO2, thus excluding the use of organic substances from which carbon dioxide might be produced. In this case the determination of gas-uptake involves both CO2 and hydrogen, and for an interpretation of the results it was necessary to establish conclusively the ratio in which the two gases disappear.
Two independent methods were used; the results showed a complete lack of agreement. It was then found that by mere dilution of a suspension of purple bacteria with the suspension liquid the rate of photosynthesis per unit quantity of bacteria is considerably reduced. Since this might mean that by dilution essential components of the photosynthetic apparatus can be extracted from the cells, experiments have been carried out in which extracts of cells were added. In this way it has become possible not only to offset the reduction in the photosynthetic rate by dilution, but even to increase it considerably. However, it is possible that the addition of such extracts leads to a continued growth of the organisms, which would, of course, account for an increasing rate of metabolism if compared with that of a suspension in which growth is excluded. No conclusive experiments have as yet been carried out in this respect. If it would prove possible to show that an increased rate of photosynthesis can be obtained without a corresponding increase in growth of the organisms, then this would mean that finally a method had been found for accelerating photosynthesis by the addition of (as yet unknown) substances, and thus it might become possible to analyze more closely the part of the photosynthetic mechanism involved. This study will be pursued as soon as possible.
c) So far, the relationship between light intensity and rate of photosynthesis of purple bacteria has not been studied in any detail. This became important when Franck and Herzfeld in 1937 published a theory of photosynthesis in which an important part was played by photo-oxidations at higher light intensities—this in order to explain the long observed fact that photosynthesis of green plants reaches a maximum at relatively low light intensities. Because purple, bacteria do not produce oxygen in their photosynthetic metabolism, measurements of the relationship between rate of photosynthesis and light intensity can here be carried out in the complete absence of oxygen, thus eliminating completely the possibility of the occurrence of photo-oxidations. Hence a determination of the above-mentioned relationship has been carried out.
The results are in complete agreement with those obtained for green plants: light saturation is reached at very low intensities and there is no further increase in the rate of photosynthesis when the intensity is increased tenfold.
d) While the previously mentioned investigations have all been carried out in collaboration with Dr. W. Arnold, the study of the energetic relationships in photosynthesis to be described now are entirely his own work. He has continued to work on the perfection of his method for determining the quantum yield or energy efficiency of photosynthesis by the use of calorimetric methods, but the results have not shown a distinct improvement of the quantum yield over last year's measurements. Indications have been obtained which would lead one to conclude that the main difficulty with the method so far has been in providing the cells with enough oxygen, so that the respiration during the dark periods—which must be used as a correction factor for the determination—does not fall below that in the light. Attempts at avoiding this difficulty by mixing dead and living cells in certain proportions seem to be successful, but the number of experiments is as yet too small to draw very definite conclusions.
e) Although the studies on the discrepancies between the behavior of even- and odd-numbered fatty acids in photosynthesis by Athiorhodaceae (see report for last year) have been continued, the interpretation of this phenomenon is not yet clear. Also this phase will be continued as soon as possible.
2. Variability and adaptability of micro-organisms.—(a) Mr. M. Doudoroff has collected a mass of experimental data on the adaptability of bacteria to changes in the environmental factors of the medium in which they are grown, fully corroborating the statement made last year.
The evidence and the conclusions to be drawn from it will soon be available for publication.
b) In studies on the luminous bacteria Mr. Doudoroff has contributed the important observation that certain dark variants can temporarily be made to luminesce more brightly as a result of the addition of lactoflavin (vitamin B2), thus furnishing the first experimental evidence that this substance plays a fundamental role in the luminescence reaction. (In press.)
3. Propionic acid bacteria.—Mr. S. F. Cahen has continued his studies on the propionic acid fermentation, and found that succinic acid production in this process is greatly enhanced by the presence of carbonate in the medium. Comparative experiments on fermentations carried out in the presence of phosphate and of carbonate buffers have given consistently high yields of succinic acid only in the latter. In view of the importance which attaches to succinic acid in some of the recent ideas on respiration, and of the recently reported succinic acid formation by other organisms under similar conditions, this phase of the investigation promises to become of wide interest. It should be mentioned here that the striking influence of carbonate makes it tempting to suggest a direct functioning of CO2 in the metabolism. And elucidation of this role may greatly influence our views on the function of the same substance in photosynthesis.
4. Metabolism of protozoa.—In continuing his studies on the anaerobic metabolism of protozoa in pure culture Mr. J. O. Thomas has obtained the remarkable result that succinic acid occurs in rather large amounts among the end products of the sugar breakdown. It is not yet certain whether the formation of this substance, also in this case, is influenced by or dependent upon the presence of carbonate in the medium.
Great improvements have been made in the methods for handling the protozoa, so that now large amounts of added carbohydrate can be completely decomposed, thus facilitating the establishment of carbon balances. Those determined to date still leave one in doubt as to the correct interpretation.
5. Growth factors for micro-organisms.—Mr. E. Anderson has started an investigation into the nature of the growth factors required for the development of two groups of micro-organisms (colorless algae of the genus Prototheca, and purple bacteria belonging to the group of Athiorhodaceae). It is known that these organisms can develop in media of accurately known composition only when small amounts of such complex materials as yeast extract are added (see H. A. Barker, 1936). A knowledge of the exact chemical nature of the substance(s) in the yeast extract which are needed for rapid and maximum development is necessary for rigorously defining the nutritive requirements of the organisms. But in addition such studies may aid in elucidating the function of these growth factors by studying the metabolic activities of the organisms when grown in the presence of insufficient, or submaximal quantities of these substances. The possibility of controlling the growth factors experimentally may make it possible to culture strains of the organisms in which one or more of their normal functions are lacking or suppressed. If these substances are known, then their role, on the basis of such metabolism studies, can be inferred. The results so far obtained show that it is possible to use media in which the growth is directly proportional to the quantity of yeast extract, although exceeding it in weight. It has been found that the f actor (s) present in this complex solution which govern the amount of cell production are insoluble in ether and in chloroform or carbon tetrachloride, but soluble in ethyl alcohol. This has led to some preliminary attempts at purification of the active principle(s). The results are too incomplete yet to even speculate concerning their nature.
6. Bacterial decomposition of agar.—Mr. R. Stanier has carried out some studies on the bacterial decomposition of agar. Among many strains of micro-organisms isolated by means of 'enrichment cultures are a few which are able to liquefy agar much as other bacteria are known to liquefy gelatin. A study of the optimum conditions for growth and agar decomposition of these strains is under way. One of the major factors seems to be the use of media in which agar is the only organic compound. Evidence has been obtained that the liquefaction of agar by these bacteria is in large measure composed of an initial hydrolysis during which much acid is produced. This hydrolytic process can also be duplicated with pieces of agar-plates on which the bacteria have grown, but which are so cut out that the agar contains no bacteria. This shows that the enzyme which causes the liquefaction must diffuse out of the cells and into the agar plate. It seems possible to obtain solutions of the enzyme with which a much more logical and simple approach
to the biochemistry of agar decomposition can be made than with the entire bacterial culture.
Definite evidence has been obtained that among the early decomposition products of the agar are reducing sugars.
In connection with the work of the Hydrobiological Survey, Dr. Austin H. Phelps continued the routine sampling of the water of Monterey Bay. During the winter, the use of the state boats, upon which the Hydrobiological Survey is dependent, was curtailed. The State Patrol launches appeared at Monterey less and less frequently during the spring, and in May it was decided to suspend operations of the Hydrobiological Survey indefinitely.
During August and September, 1937, a series of offshore stations were occupied, extending considerably our knowledge of conditions both in the California Current, and in the region between the California Current and the local area of upwelling water which extends along the California coast.
Investigation of certain aspects of marine bacteriology was continued, and the importance of surfaces as the cause of the tremendous burst of bacterial activity which occurs whenever a sample of sea water is brought in contact with a container was confirmed. It was further demonstrated that the nature of the surface producing this phenomenon was of negligible importance, and that therefore much of the criticism which has been leveled at previous experiments of Zobell are not tenable.
Two papers have been prepared for publication: "Variation in the Phosphate Content of the Water of Monterey Bay from 1932-1936"; "Relation of Phosphate to Oxygen in the Northwest Pacific, with Especial Reference to the Oxygen Minimum Layer."
In addition to work on various phases of the Hydrobiological Survey, Dr. T. Skogsberg investigated marine ostracods, a group of small crustaceans. One report was completed and accepted for publication. Another is still in process of preparation.
Under Dr. Skogsberg's direction Miss Doris Clayton continued her investigations on the California species of Aglaophenia, a genus of hydroid. Most of the summer was devoted to a statistical analysis of the material for the purpose of reaching an understanding of the effect of the environment on various characters.
Mrs. Frances Becker began preliminary work toward a thesis on the reproduction and embryology of Physcosoma agassisi, a sipunculoid worm.
During the summer Dr. Gilbert M. Smith resumed work on a systematic account of all of the marine algae found on the Monterey Peninsula. Considerable progress has been made in the collection of drawings and the preparation of illustrations, but it is not expected that this investigation will be completed before 1941.
In continuation of a program designed to give a comprehensive knowledge of the physiology of selected invertebrates of Monterey Bay, a group of studies were carried out on the kelp crab (Pugettia producta) during the summer. Professor F. W. Weymouth and Assistant Professor Donald C. G. MacKay followed the seasonal size frequency of the crab by numerous collections from the kelp beds in an attempt to determine the age and rate of growth. They also added to data previously collected for the study of form as related to sexual maturity and other physiological epochs, by the method of relative growth.
Associate Professor John Field with the assistance of Professor Weymouth and Mr. Shannon Allen initiated a study of the respiration of excised tissues from the kelp crab, using the Warburg method. This included the development of technics adapted to crustacean tissues suspended in nonnutritive, filtered sea water with and without buffer systems added. The experiments were carried out in an atmosphere of oxygen at 15°C. Under the conditions employed, the tissues or organs studied showed a decreasing rate of oxygen consumption in the order: midgut gland, cardiac muscle, ovary, striated muscle of legs. It is proposed to continue this work next summer with the addition of experiments on aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis.
Ultimately it is intended to correlate these observations with the findings on the life-history of the animal to give a picture of the relation of respiratory rate, aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis to the phases of the molting and reproductive cycles and to the age. It is hoped also to determine whether the summated oxygen consumption of the several organs for a unit time will equal the previously determined respiratory rate of the intact animal if reasonable allowance is made for minimal functional activity.
Acting Assistant Professor D. C. G. MacKay gave a series of Friday evening lectures on the behavior of marine organisms. He traced the history of the subject and considered at some length the behavior of Amoeba, Euglena, the sea star and fishes as well as the evidence bearing on the tropism and trial-and-error hypothesis. With the assistance of Professor Weymouth he also studied the interpretation in relation to form changes and rate of growth of extensive data collected in England on the European Edible Crab, Cancer pagurus.
During the spring quarter Dr. D. M. Whitaker, with the assistance of Dr. Lowrance, found that the polarity of eggs of the brown alga Pelvetia is determined by ultracentrifuging the eggs until protoplasmic inclusions are segregated. Attempts, by ultracentrifuging, to shift materials in the starfish egg known to determine the formation of the digestive tract in the embryo failed because the eggs burst when very high forces were applied. Experiments were started to find the conditions of salinity which determine encystment and excystment of the resistant, dried embryos of Artemia, the brine shrimp.
During the year Miss Amy Elizabeth Blagg of Grinnell College carried on an extensive systematic and ecological study of the Bryozoa of Monterey Bay and vicinity. A large, well-arranged collection is one of the results of her work.
Professor Eleanor Boone of Mills College continued her study of the polyclad flatworms of Monterey Bay.
Miss Agnes Sanxay Burt worked on the effect of the alkaloid colchicine on the early cleavage stages of the sand dollar Dendraster excentricus. It was found that it invariably inhibited cell division, a result of interest because in some organs of some laboratory animals the drug is believed to speed up mitotic activity. Under Dr. Moore's direction, she performed some microdissection experiments on Dendraster blastulae in order to analyze some of the forces bringing about gastrulation.
Dr. C. M. Child combined studies on differential modification of echinoderm development, with the sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus as material, particular attention being devoted to exogastrulation. The evidence obtained confirms and extends evidence from earlier work supporting the conclusion that the differential modifications of early embryonic development resulting from exposure of the whole egg embryo to external inhibiting agents depends primarily, so far as general form and proportions are concerned, on quantitative rather than specific or qualitative regional differences in relation to the embryonic axes.
Even the modifications produced by lithium chloride, though regarded by many as indicating a regionally specific action of this agent are found to depend primarily on quantitative differences involving metabolic activity rather than on regionally localized specific substances.
Dr. H. Gaffron, guest of the Station, with the aid of a Rockefeller Fellowship continued his investigations on photosynthesis of green algae. After a long dark period photosynthesis always begins at once. But it was found that the shape of the so-called induction curve depends on the metabolic conditions which prevailed during the preceding dark period. These not only influence the rate at which photosynthesis starts but change the photosynthetic quotient to a great extent. This new fact may be of importance, or may be a solution of the problem as to the formation of intermediate compounds when carbon dioxide is reduced to carbohydrate.
Throughout the year Dr. Herbert W. Graham, as a member of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, was engaged in the continuation and completion of his studies of the dinoflagellates of the plankton collections made on the last world cruise of the "Carnegie." He was assisted by Mrs. N. Bronikowski and Mrs. M. Doudoroff.
On the basis of these studies two reports were brought to completion during the year. One of these deals with detailed morphological features of various genera of the order Peridiniales and with taxonomic relationships within the order. The second report deals with the entire genus Ceratium and stresses the distribution and ecological aspects, placing particular emphasis on the significance of the world distribution of the species in relation to general oceanography. In August, Dr. Graham concluded seven years' residence at the Station and left to take an assistant professorship at the Texas Christian College, Fort Worth, Texas.
Professor W. W. Newby of the University of Utah concluded his investigation of the embryology of Urechis caupo, an echiuroid worm.
Mr. J. B. Phillips, a member of the California State Fisheries Laboratory (Division of Fish and Game), continued his studies in connection with the California sardine program. These studies include periodic examination of the commercial catch in the Monterey region. Aside from this, Mr. Phillips commenced a study of the commercial rockfish fishery for this region. The rockfish group has been of great importance in the fresh-fish markets, for many years. Some time was also spent in co-operation with other studies of the Laboratory, such as tagging of sardines and mackerel, magnetic recovery of tags, and scouting for sardine and mackerel eggs in Mexican waters.
Publications by Mr. Phillips during the year include: "Sizes of California Sardines Caught in the Different Areas of the Monterey and San Pedro Regions," Fish Bulletin 50, Bureau of Marine Fisheries, Division of Fish and Game of California; "Notes on Sardine Gear Changes at Monterey," California Fish and Game (Quarterly), Division of Fish and Game of California; "Red Water, Its Causes and Occurrences" (in conjunction with Paul Bonnot), California Fish and Game (Quarterly).
Dr. David Spence continued investigations on the polymerization and depolymerization of rubber brought about by quinones and related compounds. The changes in the elastic-plastic properties of rubber brought about by these means have been studied and the results are in the course of preparation for publication.
During the summer quarter Dr. Olin Rulon of Wayne University investigated the effects of various agents in the modification of development in Dendraster excentricus. Eggs and early development stages of Dendraster were submitted to a number of agents for varying intervals of time. The results were as follows:
1. Unfertilized eggs placed in NaCNS (100 cc Ca-free sea water plus 10-30 cc .54 M NaCNS) for 12 to 24 hours give forms with reduced or no mesenchyme, gut, or pigment—"animalized" forms of Lindahl when fertilized and allowed to develop in sea water.
2. Fertilized eggs (1-2 cells) in NaCNS (100 cc Ca-free or normal sea water plus 10-40 cc .54 M NaCNS) with return to sea water after 12 to 24 hours give a high percentage of mesenchyme-filled exogastrulae—"vegetalized" forms of Lindahl.
3. Fertilized eggs (1-2 cells) placed in Ca-free sea water will develop approximately as far as the blastula stage before the cells begin to separate.
Return to sea water at this time results in mesenchyme-filled larvae with excess skeleton and extra arms.
4. Early blastulae placed in M/1,000 to M/2,500 pilocarpine nitrate result in flattened plutei with widened oral lobe and reduced anal arms. Fertilized eggs (1-cell) placed in pilocarpine for the first 12 hours of development and then returned to sea water give forms with widened oral lobes, increased angles to anal arms, and, in the more inhibited forms, a large ciliated knob develops dorsal to the anterior end of the oral lobe.
5. Ethyl alchohol, strychnine, caffeine, hypertonic sea water, and hypotonic sea water have been used with partial success in the production of various modifications showing differential inhibition, differential tolerance, and differential recovery.
6. All of the results can be interpreted on the basis of a dynamic differential or gradient along the polar axis of the egg and early embryo with certain secondary dynamic fields or gradients appearing as development proceeds.
Under the management of Dr. van Niel weekly seminars have been held on topics of general interest as well as on phases of research "in progress" by members of the staff and guest speakers.
Several symposia on photosynthesis have been held during the year.
Among visitors to the Station for short periods were: Dr. Max Delbriick, Berlin and Pasadena (California Institute of Technology); Dr. David B. Charlton, Director, Charlton Food and Sanitation Laboratory, Portland, Oregon; Dr. C. H. Edmondson, University of Hawaii; Dr. C. McLean Fraser, University of British Columbia; Dr. James Franck, University of Chicago; Dr. C. P. Haskins, General Electric Company, Schenectady; Dr. Elizabeth McCoy, University of Wisconsin; Dr. K. Miyake,
Imperial University, Tokyo; Professor H. W. Norris, Grinnell College, Iowa; Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Field Museum, Chicago; Professor G. W. Scarth, McGill University; Dr. D. L. Serventy, University of Western Australia, Perth; Dr. Paul Simonart, Louvain; Professor H. J. Van Cleave, University of Illinois; Dr. C. H. Werkman, Iowa State College, Ames; Dr. Fritz von Wettstein, Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Biology, Berlin.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
Associate Professor Field and Teaching Assistant Allen to comparative animal physiology, at the Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove. Dr. Donald C. G. Mackay of Connecticut State College served as acting assistant professor during the summer quarter and delivered a series of lectures on the behavior of marine organisms at the Hopkins Marine Station….
During the summer Associate Professor Field, in collaboration with Professor Weymouth and Mr. Allen, investigated the respiration in vitro of various organs of the kelp crab (Pugettia producta), using the Warburg method. This work constituted a background for an extensive series of studies on the metabolism of excised invertebrate tissue, which is planned for successive summers at the Hopkins Marine Station under the general direction of Professor Weymouth.
Professor Weymouth has been engaged in the following lines of research:
In connection with the work in comparative animal physiology at the Hopkins Marine Station he has been directing a long-time program, having as its aim a comprehensive study of the life-history and physiology of a series of common species characteristic of the Monterey Bay fauna. The first of these is the kelp crab (Pugettia producta). This species, widely distributed on the Pacific Coast and characteristic of the kelp beds of Monterey Bay, presents a number of interesting features, among which is the fact that it is one of the few known herbivorous crabs.
Associate Professor Field, as detailed elsewhere, began an investigation of organ respiration in this crab. His findings will be correlated later with the total metabolism, data on which have been collected during the past three summers. Professor Weymouth, besides assisting in this work, made some determinations of relative organ weight on the basis of which organ metabolism may be summated for comparison with total metabolism.
FRANK WALTER WEYMOUTH
Professor of Physiology
STANFORD UNIVERSITY BULLETIN SIXTH SERIES, No. 92 DECEMBER 31, 1939
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1939
DEGREES IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
The faculty of the School of Biological Sciences has rearranged its program so that it now comprises the following departments of instruction and research: Biology (including the Hopkins Marine Station and Natural History Museum); Anatomy; Bacteriology and Experimental Pathology; Physiology.
Five different programs leading to the A.B. degree are provided as follows:
1. A.B. in Biological Sciences (Biology)
2. A.B. in Biological Sciences (Anatomy)
3. A.B. in Biological Sciences (Bacteriology)
4. A.B. in Biological Sciences (Physiology)
5. A.B. in Biological Sciences (Basic Medical Sciences)
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
The resident staff consisted of Walter K. Fisher, Rolf L, Bolin, C. B. van Niel, Tage Skogsberg, who was On leave November 1 to July 1. Additions to the staff were Elisabeth Deichmann, spring and summer quarters; Harwood S. Belding, John Field II, A. R. Moore, Gilbert M. Smith, Frank W. Weymouth, summer quarter.
RESEARCH
The Director completed an extensive memoir on antarctic sea stars, based on material collected during several voyages of the British ships "Discovery" and "Discovery II." The publication of this report will probably be delayed on account of the war.
Mr. James Heath, as a part of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree continued an intensive study of the nervous system of the kelp crab.
Dr. Rolf L. Bolin continued his studies on the taxonomy and life history of Pacific Coast fishes, bringing to conclusion a report on the family Myctophidae. This piece of work indicated a need for osteological investigations of generic types within the family, and such investigations on material from California were initiated. Further studies are being continued on other groups of deep-sea fishes as well as on the family Scorpaenidae.
As a guest of the California Division of Fish and Game, Dr. Bolin accompanied the new fisheries research vessel "N. B. Scofield" on her first scientific cruise along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America. This was a two months' expedition for the purpose of investigating the commercially important tuna and skipjack, but opportunity was provided for making a large and varied collection of other fishes, including bathypelagic types. After being studied, this collection is to be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Stanford University.
During the summer, Miss Zoe Ann Hill undertook, under the direction of Dr. Bolin, an investigation of the skeletal system of the California surf perches. The small order Holconoti, to which these fishes belong, is of uncertain systematic position and it is thought that careful osteological studies may clarify its relationships.
Several large collections of barnacles were examined and identified for the United States National Museum by Mr. I. E. Cornwall, technical assistant.
Dr. Elisabeth Deichmann worked on sea cucumbers collected by various Hancock expeditions along the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Ecuador.
Dr. A. R. Moore's work during the summer quarter was as follows:
1. Further experiments on the formation of the gastrula in Dendraster excentricus. It was found possible to separate the chemical and physical effects of sucrose in the formation of the pseudo-gastrula. The actual formation of the invaginating cone, after osmotic collapse of the wall of the blastula, is conditioned by physical rather than by chemical processes. It is possible to establish a chemical block, removable at will, (a) to the anatomical differentiation of the intestine, and (&) to the deposit of the calcareous skeleton by the mesenchyme.
2. Experiments on injury, recovery, and function of the circumoral nerve ring of the starfish included: (a) new data on the time required for recovery in adult specimens; (V) the making of a cinema record of the effects of injury to the nerve ring. The pictures were done with the collaboration of Dr. W. S. Hulin, University of Oregon, and are to be shown at the September meeting of the American Psychological Society.
Miss Pearl Murray, technical assistant, performed the routine chemical analyses of sea-water samples.
The following is the report of Dr. C. B. van Niel and his coworkers:
1. Purple bacteria.—In progress is a manuscript on the non-sulfur purple bacteria, embodying the experimental results of studies carried on since 1931. Additional experiments, chiefly pertaining to the isolation, differentiation, and classification of this group of organisms have been carried out in the course of the year, and will have to be continued before a definite appreciation of various characteristics is possible.
2. Hydrogen bacteria.—Mr. Doudoroff has started work on a survey of the group of hydrogen bacteria. About twenty pure cultures have been isolated, and a study of their morphology and general physiology has shown that they belong to a number of distinctive types which m part seem to correspond to previously described species, in part must be regarded as hitherto undescribed. The metabolism of these bacteria is characterized by the oxidation of hydrogen in the presence of air, and the simultaneous conversion of carbon dioxide into cell material. The carbon dioxide reduction, which links this process with photosynthesis, takes place in the dark. It may thus be expected that a closer study of the factors which influence this reduction process will throw additional light on the photosynthetic mechanism.
As a first approach the effect of variations in the ratio of the three gaseous components, CO2, O2, and H2, has been determined. It has been found that within the rather wide limits that could be used together with gas-analytical methods such variations are without effect on the rate of metabolism and on the ratio of hydrogen oxidation and carbon-dioxide reduction. At present it also seems as if this ratio has a characteristic and definite value for each one of the before-mentioned types.
3. Adaptive enzyme formation and sugar metabolism.—Both the propionic acid bacteria and some representatives of the hydrogen bacteria have been shown, by S. F. Carson and M. Doudoroff, respectively, to produce certain enzyme systems in amounts which depend upon the nature of the substrate.
This makes it possible to attempt an interpretation of the curious phenomenon, frequently observed but totally unexplained, that the final acidity reached in cultures with different sugars shows large variations. It has been universally assumed that the cessation of metabolic activity in such cases results from the accumulation of acidic products. Such differences in final acidity are, then, difficult to account for except perhaps on the basis of differences in the rate of the acid production.
As long as the idea was held that di-, tri-, and polysaccharides were acted upon after a previous hydrolysis, and that only the resulting monosaccharides are the actual metabolic substrate, the rate of acid formation in a polysaccharide medium could not be expected to be greater than that in a monosaccharide medium.
The recent studies, in collaboration with Mr. Doudoroff, have shown, however, that this idea is erroneous in so far that micro-organisms, grown in the presence of certain di- and polysaccharides, may decompose these compounds at a rate many times greater than that at which the constituent monosaccharides are attacked.
These new observations, together with a large number of anomalous results of the past, thus make possible an experimental test of the validity of the "rate-theory" for the explanation of the differences in final acidity. They also open up new concepts in the field of general carbohydrate metabolism.
4. Growth factors for micro-organisms.—Mr. E. Anderson has identified the growth factor for the colorless alga Prototheca, present in yeast extract, with vitamin B1 or, more probably, with the thiazole part of this compound. Vitamin B1 is known to be the "active group" of the enzyme which brings about the decarboxylation of pyruvic acid and related keto-acids. According to Barker's studies on the metabolism of Prototheca this alga would, however, be incapable of decomposing pyruvic acid. A further investigation showed that Protofhecas cells grown in the presence of suboptimal quantities of vitamin B1 ("vitamin-deficient cells") responded to added vitamin by an immediate increase in the rate of their sugar metabolism, whereas the rate of metabolism of fatty acids, the only other group of utilizable compounds, was not at all affected. This has led to a reinvestigation of the general metabolic activities of the organism. Although Barker's results have been completely confirmed, it could be shown that the substituted acids can all be utilized provided that the reaction of the medium, is considerably acid (pH about 4) presumably because in less acid media the substituted acids are not present in the undissociated form which alone would penetrate into the cells. These studies have so far provided some justification for the expectation, expressed last year, that a knowledge of the chemical nature of the growth factor may lead to elucidating their role in the general metabolism of the organisms.
5. Spoilage of tuna fish.—The invitation of Mr. Harry Godsil, of the California Fish and Game Commission, to take part in the expedition of the "N. B, Scofield" with the purpose of studying the chemical, physical, and biological factors which influence the spoilage of tuna on board ship furnished a welcome opportunity to become acquainted with this important branch of commercial fisheries.
The studies on board were primarily designed to test the possibility of using simple chemical tests for a rapid and objective determination of the degree of spoilage. The occurrence of relatively large amounts of trimethylamine oxide in marine fishes as contrasted with its apparent absence in fresh-water fish, and its rapid reduction to trimethylamine, which can be determined by routine methods, made it seem likely that the estimation of trimethylamine in the press-juice of tuna could be developed into a rapid means of determining the quality of the fish.
The studies carried out during the last six weeks of the eight-week cruise have clearly shown that this is not the case. After many erratic results had been obtained it was found that the trimethylamine, completely absent in fresh fish, accumulates only in the dark meat as a result of decomposition processes during storage. However, the maximum value for trimethylamine, even in the isolated dark meat, is too low to be useful as an index of spoilage ; fish which to all appearances is still perfectly fresh and fit for consumption may already show trimethylamine values corresponding to this maximum.
For a careful evaluation of the rate of deterioration under different conditions of storage, particularly in the early stages, the determination of trimethylamine seems, however, quite valuable, and will be used in subsequent expeditions.
It was found that the conversions which lead to the formation of trimethylamine are not necessarily of a bacterial origin; the press-juice of the dark meat with "high" trimethylamine content was, in nearly all cases, practically sterile. This indicates that many of the changes in the chemical composition of the fish during storage may be enzymatic in nature, so that attention will have to be paid to storage methods which will either prevent or strongly inhibit such enzyme reactions.
During the summer quarter Dr. Skogsberg completed a report on certain polychaete worms occurring in Monterey Bay and one on ostracods from the same region. Preparations were made for an extensive study of the Hydrozoa of the region.
Under Dr. Skogsberg's direction, Mrs. Lillian E. Clayton worked during the summer on the taxonomy and embryology of two littoral copepods. One of the species was raised to maturity in aquaria and its 12 instars were studied and described. The growth of the instars was analyzed from the point of view of "Brook's Law," The reproductive ecology of the form was also studied. This is the first time that a member of the genus Tisbe has been raised on this coast.
Mrs. Frances Becker, during the summer quarter, investigated the sipunculid worm, Physcosoma agassisi Keferstein. As the basis for a proposed study of cell lineage and organogenesis, the histological structure of immature and mature animals was observed from sectioned and stained material, and from living tissues treated with vital stains. Special attention was given to the nervous and excretory systems, and to the elements in the coelomic fluid. Efforts to induce artificial fertilization of ova were unsuccessful, but larvae obtained from recognizable eggs shed in the aquarium were preserved for a study of organogenesis.
Dr. Gilbert M. Smith continued work during the summer on his monograph of the marine algae found on the Monterey Peninsula.
Professors F. W. Weymouth and John Field II have continued the program of investigation of the kelp crab, Pugettia producta, as stated in the report last year. Professor Weymouth with the assistance of Mr. Maurice Salomon has collected further data on the life history of Pugettia and has analyzed material previously obtained related to growth and the development of form with special emphasis on sexual dimorphism. Some of the results of the program were presented as a joint paper with Professors Field and Crismon at a session on Physiology of Marine Invertebrates before the Marine Biology Section of the Sixth Pacific Science Congress at Stanford University, August 11, 1939. Included in the paper were a discussion of oxygen consumption of the intact animal in relation to body size and a consideration of growth and form.
Professor Field was assisted by Dr. Harwood S. Belding, of the University of Connecticut, acting assistant professor of physiology for the summer quarter, and Mr. Alvin Lewis. Professor Field has completed a study, begun the previous summer, of the oxygen consumption of the mid-gut gland of Pugettia, using the Warburg method for the measurement of respiration in vitro. The results of the study will be incorporated in a forthcoming paper. This work appears to be the first extensive study on tissue respiration in the marine invertebrates. It included investigation of the effects of variations in hydrogen ion concentration, salinity, temperature, and the addition of several substrates to the suspension medium as well as a detailed examination of the relation between endogenous respiration of excised tissue and the body size of the animal.
Miss Amy Elizabeth Blagg during the summer continued work in the Bryozoa.
Dr. Berry Campbell, of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, spent a month at the Station studying the locomotor behavior pattern of hagfishes, ammocoetes, and sharks. By means of spinal cord sections and extirpations, he investigated the mechanisms by which the central nervous system integrates the undulatory swimming mechanism of vertebrates.
Dr. H. Gaffron's investigations of the metabolism of green algae have been continued with the following results: The respiratory quotient of algae grown in media containing glucose is not unity but resembles that observed in succulent plants, averaging a value of 1.4. Strains of very nearly related algae show great physiological differences. They will respond quite differently to external influences, for instance to anaerobic treatment or to poisoning by cyanide. The assimilatory quotient, the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen evolved in photosynthesis is supposed to be a constant with the value of unity and to be significant for the mechanism of the process. Experiments on the anaerobic induction period have revealed that this quotient indicates only the stationary equilibrium of all the different reactions involved in photosynthesis. During the anaerobic induction period this equilibrium is altered. The assimilatory quotient shows extreme deviation from the stationary value of unity. The observed effect of light may even be a production instead of an absorption of carbon dioxide. This fact is best interpreted as due to interfering photo-oxidations in which part of the oxygen produced in photosynthesis is used up in the oxidation of combustible substances (hydrogen donors).
Attempts to introduce such hydrogen donors artificially into the plant cell led to the finding that some plants (the algae of the genus Scenedesmus) may adapt themselves to the utilization of molecular hydrogen. When incubated in the dark with hydrogen, Scenedesmus will, for instance, perform the oxy-hydrogen reaction, a capacity hitherto found only in bacteria. Of considerable importance is the fact that such hydrogen-treated algae when illuminated, will reduce carbon dioxide with the simultaneous disappearance of twice the volume to hydrogen gas. This means that it is possible to separate carbon-dioxide reduction from oxygen liberation in plant photosynthesis. Under these conditions the photochemical process in a green plant cell is very similar, if not identical, to that occurring in some purple bacteria. The utilization of molecular hydrogen for carbon-dioxide reduction takes place only at low light intensities. A high intensity of light destroys the hydrogen adaptation of the green cell and enforces a return of the photochemical processes of normal conditions, i.e., oxygen is again produced and hydrogen appears to be an inert gas.
J. B. Phillips, of the Division of Fish and Game of California, continued his headquarters at the Hopkins Marine Station, as a member of the California Fisheries Laboratory. Mr. Phillips was relieved of his duties in connection with the periodic examination of the commercial sardine catch in the Monterey region, by Robert D. Byers, so that he could concentrate on the problem of ascertaining the nursery grounds and the abundance of young sardines of the year, along the California and Lower California coasts. Exploratory work on this problem was done during September-December, 1938,and the territory between Pt. Reyes, California, and Magdalena Bay, Lower California, was examined, aboard State Fish and Game boats.
Mr. Phillips also continued his work on the Rockfish (Scorpaenidae) in co-operation with Dr. Rolf L. Bolin. Work has been started on a handbook of the Rockfishes of California, to be illustrated with photographs of the different species and gross descriptions, for popular use. Articles published by Mr. Phillips during the year include: "The Market Crab of California and Its Close Relatives," California Fish and Game (Quarterly), Division of Fish and Game of California; "Arrival of Black Sea Brant in Lower California in 1938," Ibid.; "The Rockfish of the Monterey Wholesale Fish Markets," Ibid.
R. D. Byers, newest member of the California State Fisheries Laboratory staff with headquarters at the Hopkins Marine Station, continued the examination of the commercial sardine cannery catch in the Monterey region during the past season, for the purpose of detecting depletion and gathering data for age determination of California's most important fishery resource. This work included weekly testing of the magnets used in tag recoveries to ascertain their efficiency. A study of the fishing methods, and gear used in the newly developed shark fishery was made, as well as the methods now used commercially to extract the shark liver oil which is valuable medicinally for its vitamins and as a fortifier of other oils used for stock and poultry feeding. This report is to be published later. The balance of the year was spent assisting with the young flatfish field work and the tuna field work, aboard the State Fish and Game boats.
Notes published during the past year include: "Seattle Halibut Boats Catch Monterey Sharks," California Fish and Game (Quarterly), Division of Fish and Game of California; "Monterey Purse Seiners Extend Fishing Area," Ibid.
Dr. David Spence's study of the chemistry of rubber was continued during the year in the following fields: Factors affecting the stability of latex have been examined and means developed for the preservation of natural latex as a practical matter. An account of this work appeared in The Rubber Age, November 1938.
Studies of polymerization reactions in latex dispersions have been continued and applied to account for the "gel" or insoluble fraction of raw rubber and in the preparation of rubbers having reduced swelling properties in solvents. This work has been embodied in a paper entitled "Solubility Studies as an Index of Physical Quality in Rubber."
Dr. Willard G. Van Name, of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, during July studied the ascidians of the Monterey region. Dr. Van Name is the American authority on this group, and found the ascidian fauna unusually rich. His work at the Station was a part of a general survey of the Pacific Coast.
Among visitors to the Station for short periods were: Professor G. D. Hale Carpenter, University Museum, Oxford, England; Professor C. H. Edmondson, University of Hawaii; Dr. W. K. Gregory, American Museum of Natural History, New York; Professor S. Hatai, University of Sendai, Japan; Professor L. V. Heilbrunn, University of Pennsylvania; Dr. O. L. Inman, Director of the Kettering Foundation for Photosynthesis Research; Dr. M. Kunitz, Rockefeller Institute, Princeton, New Jersey; Professor C. McLean Eraser, University of Vancouver; Dr. E. G. Mulder, Agricultural College, Wageningen, Holland; Professsor H. V. Neal, Tufts College; Dr. Santos Soriano, University of Buenos Aires; Father Alexandra Vachon, Laval University, Quebec; Professor C. M. Yonge, University of Bristol, England; Professor B. H. Willier, University of Rochester.
WALTER KENRICK FISHER, Director
PHYSIOLOGY
During the summer quarter Assistant Professor Harwood Seymour Belding of the University of Connecticut, a former graduate of the department, served as acting assistant professor at the Hopkins Marine Station.
In connection with the work at the Hopkins Marine Station Professors Weymouth, Field, and Belding have continued the program of study of what might be called "organismal physiology," in contrast to the current trend of general physiology, which is often concerned with physiochemical or physiological processes studied in tissues of a variety of organisms differing to an unknown degree in habits, range of internal physical, and chemical conditions and structure. It is proposed to study, in some detail, as many features as possible of the physiology of selected invertebrates common in Monterey Bay against a background of morphology and life history in order to obtain a well-rounded picture of the organism-environment system.
As stated in a previous report, the animal first considered has been the kelp crab (Pugettia producta). As detailed elsewhere in this report, Professors
Field and Belding have investigated the oxygen consumption of the midgut gland, an organ characteristic of the Crustacea and apparently showing the most active metabolism of any tissue in the animal. Professor Weymouth, with the assistance of Mr. Salomon, has collected further data on the life history of the kelp crab and has analyzed data previously collected bearing on growth, with particular reference to form changes and sexual dimorphism. Some of the results of this co-operative program were presented as a joint paper with Professors Field and Crismon in a session on "Physiology of the Marine Invertebrates" before the Marine Biology Section of the Sixth Pacific Science Congress at Stanford University on August 11, 1939. Professor Weymouth, who was a representative of the American Physiological Society and the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine at the Congress, served as chairman of the session on "Physiology of the Marine Invertebrates."
FRANK WALTER WEYMOUTH
Processor of Physiology
ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Expeditions and field work.—Only one Museum expedition of consequence went into the field this year. As noted above, under "Accessions," Mr. Templeton Crocker of San Francisco invited us to make use of his excellently appointed yacht "Zaca" for a two weeks' cruise along the coast of central and southern California in September 1938. Professor Myers, together with Professor Rolf L. Bolin of the University's Hopkins Marine Station, took charge of the scientific arrangements. Four student assistants, Mr. Kenneth Stanton, Mr. William A. Gosline, Mr. Earl Herald, and Mr. Alex Calhoun, accompanied the expedition. Bathypelagic hauling with plankton nets, deepwater dredging, night fishing with lights, and hook-and-line fishing were carried on from San Francisco to Cortez Banks. The results of the trip in collections obtained have been summarized under "Accessions." Field work was done generally by the staff whenever opportunity offered. Professor Myers and Mr. Gosline made one brief trip, during spring vacation, to collect salamanders in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, and later they took the opportunity to collect fishes while driving West from Chicago. Professor Martin was in the field many times during the year in connection with his bird work, and most of the advanced and graduate students spent much time in field work. Professor Rich spent considerable time in field studies of Columbia River salmon.