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The floods of September 6, 1960, were the greatest known on many streams in eastern Puerto Rico. There were 117 lives lost, 30 persons missing, and 136 injured. Total damage was estimated in excess of $7 million. Several thousand persons were forced from their homes by the floods as 484 houses were destroyed and more than 3,600 others were damaged. All main highways and most secondary roads were impassable for a short period during the floods and damage to them was heavy. Following the passage of Hurricane Donna off the northeast coast, rains of very high intensity fell over parts of the eastern half of the island, beginning about 9 p.m. September 5. By dawn September 6, xains totaling more than 10 inches over a large area produced floods in every river basin from the Rio Grande de Man at i eastward. Flood discharges on the Rio Humacao, Rio Turabo, and Rio Valenciano were the greatest known and rank high among the notable floods on streams that drain from 6 to 15 square miles. An outstanding feature of the floods was the unusually high magnitude of peak discharges 9 of the 24 peak discharges determined had Myers ratings greater than 80 percent.

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There exists a considerable and increasing interest in the ionic composition of the various tissues and body fluids of a wide variety of animals. During the course of such investigations a knowledge of the ionic composition of the natural environment from which the animals were taken is often required. Routine determinations of salinity are usually made in a Marine Biological Laboratory, but the concept of salinity (or chlorinity), of fundamental importance in oceanography, is somewhat artificial and confusion may be felt by those not familiar with the concept.

The analysis of sea water is of fundamental importance to oceanography; the results by many of the techniques employed are often reported, however, in journals rarely consulted by many analysts in other fields of enquiry, with the consequence that there is much duplication of effort. The present review summarises some of the results, both to prevent further duplication and to draw attention to some of the analytical problems involved.THE seas cover by far the larger portion of the Earth's surface, and a knowledge of the processes taking place in and about them is of great importance to many branches of pure and applied science; no excuses need be made for a study of the oceans. At an early stage in many of these investigations a knowledge of the chemical composition of the water is wanted, and many interesting analytical problems immediately arise. These problems are of a varied character, and their solution has been attempted by marine chemists whose results are published in journals not readily accessible to, or perhaps rarely consulted by, other analysts. These results, which are often of considerable importance in other fields, have therefore frequently been neglected. The purpose of this review is twofold; first, to bring the results of analytical work in marine science to the notice of other analysts in the hope that duplication of effort-which seems to be becoming increasingly common-may be avoided and, secondly, to arouse interest in some of the problems encountered-problems which can perhaps be better elucidated in a chemical than in a marine laboratory. Some fifty elements have been detected in sea water1; additional ones have been found in marine organisms (which have presumably accumulated them from the sea) and no doubt others remain still to be discovered. The concentrations range from the large amounts of chloride (19.0 g per kg) and sodium (10.5 g per kg) ions to the minute quantities of organic 573 574 BARNES: THE ANALYSIS OF SEA WATER. A REVIEW [Vol. 80nutrients, such as the vitamins (vitamin B,,, 5 mpg per litre); in between stand the nutrient elements, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and micro-nutrients, such as copper and manganese. It will not be possible to deal with every element ; some selection must be made, and attention will therefore be particularly directed to those elements on which it is thought that the analytical work is relatively unknown and of interest to other analysts. Nor will it be possible to quote all the relevant literature; reference will be made to the major contributions and reviews, consultation of which would lead to a fairly comprehensive bibliography. The analysis of such a complex mixture as sea water presents many analytical problems, and, except perhaps as a challenge to his skill, the analyst would hardly choose it as a medium on which to work if it were not for the importance of the knowledge to be gained thereby. The analytical problems arise from a number of circumstances; first, two of the major cations, namely, sodium and potassium, are among those elem...