Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
It has for a long time been known that the sea abounds in microscopic organisms, both animal and vegetable. Among the former are entomostraca, infusoria, radiolarians, foraminifera, as well as larvae of mollusca, radiates, and bryozoa. Among the plant-life the mass consists of diatoms, cilioflagellates, flagellates, and certain unicellular chlorophyllaceous algae. For these pelagic forms Prof. Hensen has proposed the name plankton, which has been universally accepted.
* Reprinted from Nature, vol. lv. No. 1413.