THE CONCENTRATION OF SEA-WATER AS AFFECTING ITS BACTERIAL POPULATION

Abstract

Studies on the bacterial flora of the sea-water at Tortugas disclosed the fact that concentration of sea-water influences the bacterial population to a marked degree. In sea-water contaminated by shore waters and detritus, where the bacterial population is much larger than out at sea, reduction of the concentration of sea-water to 1/4 its normal strength reduced the bacterial population by nearly 30%. In the case of sea-water a mile or more from shore the depressing effects of dilution of sea-water with distilled water was much greater. In plating out a pure culture of a typical inhabitant of uncontaminated sea-water a reduction in the concentration of sea-water to 1/2 its normal strength reduced the bacterial population by approximately 30%. Reduction of the concentration of sea-water by making a mixture of 3/10 sea-water and 7/10 distilled water inhibited any colony development of the pure culture in question. This was, of course, also true when a greater dilution of sea-water was made.