Some Tables for the Ionic Composition of Sea Water

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.