368 ANNUAL OP SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



3. They all contain a few species of non-parasitic or pelagic Diatoms, 

 among which were deposits chiefly made up of vast amounts of Foraminife- 

 rous shells, rivalling in abundance the deposits of analogous fossil species which 

 I had proved to compose immense beds under the city of Charleston, S. C. 

 None of the species found in the soundings agree with those found in the 

 tertiary deposits of Maryland and Virginia. M. Pourtales states that the 

 greatest depth from which specimens have been brought up in the off-shore 

 soundings of the U. S. Coast survey, and examined, is 267 fathoms, and 

 there the Globigerina are still living in immense numbers. The region of 

 the Globigerina extends to a depth not known. 



From the deep sea-soundings made by the U. S. brig Dolphin, unde r 

 tne directions of Lieut. Maury, in longitudes 09, 13, 22, 24 and 29, 

 west, important results were gathered. In these the Coscinodiscns lineatus, 

 C. ecccntricus, and C. radiatvs were most abundant. 



4. They all contain a few silicious skeletons of Polycistinece. 



5. They all contain spicules of sponges and a few specimens of JJia- 

 iyocha fibula. 



6. The above-mentioned organic bodies constitute almost the entire 

 mass of the soundings, being mingled only with a fine calcareous mud, de- 

 rived from the disintegration of the shells. 



7. These soxmdings contain no species of Foraminifera belonging to the 

 group of Apathistegues, a group which appears to be confined to shallow 

 waters, and which the fossil state first appears in the tertiary, where it 

 abounds. 



8. These soundings agree with the deep sea- soundings off the coast of 

 the U. S. in the presence and predominance of species of the genus Globi- 

 yerina, and in the presence of the cosmopolite species Orbulina, universi, 

 but they contain no traces of the Marginulina Bacheii and other species 

 characteristic of the soundings of the Western Atlantic. 



9. Examined by chromatic polarized light, the foraminiferous shells in 

 these soundings showed beautiful colored crossings in their cells, and the 

 mud accompanying them, also became colored, showing that it is not an 

 amorphous chemical precipitate. It in fact can be traced through frag- 

 ments of various sizes to the perfect shells of the Foraminiferee. 



10. In the vast amount of pelagic Foraminiferao, and in the entire ab- 

 sence of sand, these soundings strikingly resemble the chalk of England, as 

 well as the calcareous marls of the Upper Missouri, and this would seem to 

 indicate that these also were deep sea deposits. The cretaceous deposits of 

 New Jersey present no resemblance to these soundings, and are doubtless 



1 ittoral, as stated by Professor H. D. Rogers, (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 

 1853, p. 297.) 



11. The examination of a sounding 175 fathoms in depth, made in 

 latitude 42 53' 30" N., longitude 50 05' 45" W M (near Bank of New- 

 foundland,) by Lt. Berryman, gave results singularly different from those 

 above stated. It proved to be made xip of quartzose sand, with a few par- 

 ticles of hornblende, and not a trace of any organic form could be detected 



