A SHORT HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATIONS 13 



is so familiar to all who take an interest in the 

 progress of scientific discovery, that it is not necessary 

 to do more than make a passing mention of it in this 

 place. The excellent books that were written by 

 Wyville Thomson, by Moseley, and by other members 

 of the staff, have made the general reader familiar with 

 the narrative of that remarkable cruise and the most 

 striking of the many scientific discoveries that were 

 made ; while the numerous large monographs that 

 have been published daring the past fourteen years 

 give opportunities to the naturalist of obtaining all 

 the requisite information concerning the detailed 

 results of the expedition. 



The expenditure of the large sum of money upon 

 this expedition and the publication of its reports has 

 been abundantly justified. The information obtained 

 by the ' Challenger ' will be for many years to come 

 the nucleus of our knowledge of the deep-sea fauna, 

 the centre around which all new facts will cluster, 

 and the guide for further investigations. 



To say that the ' Challenger ' accomplished all that 

 was expected or required would be to over-estimate 

 the value of this great expedition, but nevertheless it 

 is difficult for us, even now, thoroughly to grasp the 

 importance of the results obtained or to analyse and 



