INTRODUCTION. IX 



Torell and W allien, fortunately for science, were re- 

 gardless of the consequences which, according to M. 

 Michelet (in his charming rhapsody of "La Mer"), 

 would ensue on their " curiositd sacrilege;" and, with 

 anxious gaze " eyeing the sea's blue depths," they have 

 dared to cross its mysterious threshold. To one of 

 these enterprising philosophers is perhaps reserved the 

 privilege of announcing, in the words of the poet, 



. . . . " Lo ! the polar seas 

 Unbosom their last mysteries." 



The glimpses which they succeeded in obtaining were 



few and transient ; but we now know that the great 



ocean-depths are inhabited by a variety as well as an 



abundance of living animals, some of which are of no 



mean rank in the scale of classification. Wordsworth 



Was not wrong in his divination when he also said, 



" Her procreant vigils Nature keeps 

 Amid the unfathomable deeps." 



I have lately had, through the kindness of Dr. Wal- 

 lich, an opportunity of examining some of the material 

 brought up in his North- Atlantic soundings. One of 

 these yielded several dead shells of Mollusca, as well as 

 Globigerin(B and other Foraminifera, from the extra- 

 ordinary depth of 1622 fathoms, or nearly two miles ! 

 This sounding was taken in lat. 55° 36' N., long. 54° 

 33' W., and about 100 miles N.W. of Hamilton's Inlet. 

 Crenella faba, one of the species of Mollusca thus ob- 

 tained, was dredged by Dr. Wallich on the adjacent 

 coast, at a depth of from 18 to 40 fathoms only; and it 

 is not uncommon on the shores of the Polar and Arctic 

 seas. The other species of Mollusca inhabit deep water ; 

 and one is undescribed. It may be conjectured that 

 these shells were dropped from the bottom of a melting 

 iceberg on its passage to the south ; but as icebergs take 



