The importance of bacterial action in the seas has long been recognised, but investigation in marine bacteriology lags behind that of corresponding terrestrial problems. Such general information about marine bacteria as is now available is derived mainly from bacteriological work of some decades ago. At that time the technique of the science was not fully developed, but at the present day it has become so specialised that it lies outside the province of the marine biologist, although he alone is able to appreciate the significance of bacteria in the general economy of the sea.
1. The bacterial content of mud deposits in the Clyde Sea Area has been investigated.2. The number of bacteria is found to decrease from the surface downwards.3. The numbers fluctuate very much in the top mud layers, and there is some evidence of bacterial zonation.4. In the deeper mud layers the bacterial content for any given station is fairly constant.5. The predominant organisms were found to be water bacteria of the Achromobacter and Chromobacterium type, and large spore-forming bacilli similar to common soil bacteria.6. The factors affecting the bacterial content of the muds are discussed.
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