218 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



levels must indicate two distinct climates separated in time, 

 instead of indicating, as they have been shown to do, two contem- 

 poraneous but dissimilar climates, separated only by a few miles 

 horizontally and by 300 fathoms vertically. 



" The determination of deep-sea temperature is therefore of the 

 greatest interest to the geologist as affecting his interpretation of 

 the phenomena on which his belief in a former general prevalence 

 of a glacial climate is founded. For if a glacial temperature 

 should be found now to prevail, and types of animal life conform- 

 able thereto should be proved to be diffused over the deeper por- 

 tion of the existing sea-bed in all parts of the globe, it is obvious 

 that the same may have been the case at any geological epoch ; 

 for there must have been deep seas in all periods, and the physical 

 forces which maintain the oceanic circulation at the present time 

 must have been always in operation, though modified in their 

 local action by the distribution of land and water existing at any 

 particular date. And as the elevation of the present deep-seabed 

 of even the intertropical oceanic area would (if we have correctly 

 interpreted the results of our own and of others' observations) 

 offer to the study of the geologist of the future a deposit charac- 

 terized by the presence of polar types, so must the geologist of 

 the present hesitate in regarding the occurrence of boreal types 

 in any marine deposit as adequate evidence per se of the general 

 extension of glacial action into temperate or tropical regions. At 

 any rate it may be considered as having been now placed beyond 

 reasonable doubt that a glacial submarine climate may prevail 

 over any area, without having any relation whatever to the 

 terrestrial climate of that area." Extracts from a Letter of Dr. 

 Carpenter to the Editor of Nature. 



Distribution of Coccoliths. Dr. C. W. Glimbel has recently- 

 published an important paper containing an account of investi- 

 gations on deep-sea mud. The finest portion of this mud is of 

 great interest to the geologist as well as to the zoologist, consist- 

 ing mainly of a mass of little granules, the so-called Coccoliths 

 (Discoliths and Cyatholiths), and of granulous, flaky lumps, 

 the so-called Bafhybius. Dr. Giimbel feels in a position to confirm 

 the conclusions of Huxley, Carpenter, and Haeckel with respect to 

 their organic nature, and, from his investigation, to assert that 

 Coccoliths occur in all seas and at all depths. 



Dr. Giimbel further maintains that the distribution of Coccoliths 

 in time is not less remarkable than the present distribution in 

 space. There is proof, he says, that they are to be found in 

 " almost all sedimentary formations." Referring to their dis- 

 tributions in various formations, he says : " But, besides the Cocco- 

 liths^ another ingredient demands attention. In the case of the 

 chalk of Mendon, rich in Coccoliths, if the carbonate of calcium be 

 removed by means of diluted acids, there remains a flaky and 

 cuticular residue, in which are found thin transparent flakes, full 

 of the smallest granules, and resembling Bathijbius in a high 

 degree. . . . This places their organic nature beyond question, 

 and firmly establishes their relationship with the Bathybius. The 

 imperishableness of this substance is, indeed, very remarkable." 



