648 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Bathybius. In Nature (August 19, 1875), and in the Quarterly Journal 

 of Microscopic Science (1875, vol. xv., p. 392), he writes as follows: 



"Prof. Wyville Thomson informs me that the best efforts of the Challenger's 

 staff have failed to discover Bathybius in a fresh state, and that it is seriously sus- 

 pected that the thing to which I gave that name is little more than sulphate of 

 lime, precipitated in a flocculent state from sea-water by the strong alcohol in 

 which the specimens of the deep-sea soundings which I examined were pre- 

 served. The strange thing is, that this inorganic precipitate is scarcely to be 

 distinguished from precipitated albumen, and it resembles, perhaps, even more 

 closely, the proligerous pellicle on the surface of a putrescent infusion (except 

 in the absence of all moving particles), coloring irregularly, but very fully, with 

 carmine, running into patches with defined edges, and in every way comporting 

 itself like an organic thing. Prof. Thomson sj^eaks very guardedly, and does not 

 consider the fate of Bathybius to be as yet absolutely decided. But since I am 

 mainly responsible for the mistake, if it be one, of introducing this singular sub- 

 stance into the list of living tbings, I think I shall err on the right side in attach- 

 ing even greater weight than he does to the view which he suggests." 



These words of Prof. Huxley's awakened marked interest, and 

 were pretty generally thought to be the death-blow of poor Bathyb- 

 ius. But, in proportion as the real parents of Bathybius show a dis- 

 position to abandon their child as being beyond hope, the more do 

 I consider it to be my duty as its godfather to defend its rights and, 

 if possible, to restore its expiring vital spark. Here, as luck would 

 have it, I find a vahiable ally in the person of a traveled German nat- 

 uralist, who quite recently observed living Bathybius off the coast 

 of Greenland. The well-known north-polar explorer, Dr. Emil Bes- 

 sels, who fortunately returned safe after the wreck of the Polai-is, 

 writes as follows of the HaecJcelina gigantea, a giant Rhizopod, prob- 

 ably identical with Astrorhiza, previously described by Sandahl : 



"During the late American North-Polar Expedition, I found in Smith Sound, 

 at the depth of ninety-two fathoms, great masses of free, undifferentiated, 

 homogeneous protoplasm, without any trace of coccoliths. In view of its truly 

 Spartan simplicity, I gave to this organism (which I was able to study in the 

 living state) the name of Protobathybius. In the report of the expedition it 

 will be figured and described. I would simply say in this place that these masses 

 consisted of pure jnotoplasm, in which calcareous particles occurred only by ac- 

 cident. They appeared to be very sticky, mesh-like structures, with perfect amm- 

 hoid movements ; they took up i^O'rticles of carmine, and other foreign substances, 

 and there was active motion of the nuclei.'''' {Jenaische Zeitschrift fur Naturicis- 

 senschaft^ vol. ix., p. 277. See also Annual Keport of the Secretary of the 

 Navy for 1873). 



In Packard's " Life-Histories of Animals " is to be seen a figure 

 (published by Bessels) of the protoplasm-net of Protobathybius. From 

 this figure I conclude that Protobathybius is the same as our J3athyhius. 



III. A Critique of Bathybius. Having now presented to the reader 

 the historic facts relating to Bathybius, we next address ourselves to 



