AECD-3446 -56- protected by external tissues of sufficient thickness and impermeability to exclude the possibility of confusing externally deposited materials from those which are deposited within the tissues as a result of absorption and translocation by the roots. (4) Distribution. Plants must be present on most of the islands to be surveyed in order to give comparable results from eachsite. (5) Economic importance. It would be preferable, for reasons of human ecology, if the plant studied entered into the economy of the peoples of the area. The coconut fulfills these criteria admirably. It possesses a stem pri- mordia surrounded by many leaf bases, a flower which is formed encased in a heavy floral bract, fruits with parts which develop within a thick husk, and which include a thick hard shell encasing a fatty nucellus (when dried, called copra, and herein called "meat" )and a liquid nucellar fluid in the drinking nut stage (herein called "milk"). The older leaf bases split apart as growth of the stem tip proceeds and the dead fibrous vascular tissue persists, like so much burlap, until the whole leaf, or frond, falls from the tree. (Absorption of airborn fission products could be expected here. ) The leaves and floral parts of the coconut are born from twenty to eighty feet above the ground, dependingon the age of the plant, reducing the possibility of ground contamination, An apparently universally indulged-in drink is also made by tapping the tip of the unopened inflorescence, allowing the escaping sap to drip into a suitably supported bottle, and when properly "ripened" by naturally occurring yeasts, consumedat leisure. EQUIPMENT AND METHODSOFCOLLECTING SAMPLES. _ Landings were completed from the ship to the beaches or coral reefs by means of rubber life rafts, hence the minimum of equipment was transported and used: a machete in a wooden sheath, a collecting can (five-gallon, tin coffee can in canvas. with carrying straps), cellophane bags, paper sacks, etc. were adequate. . The site for collection of samples was chosen on the lagoon side of the various islands but inward a distance of approximately twenty to fifty yards from the beach. A healthy coconut tree was selected which bore fruits and flowers in a variety . UNIVERSITY 22 OCTY UNIV. OF foe