LIFE IN THE DEEP SEA. 583 



400 fathoms a large Sea-Urchin which had its stomach full of 

 pieces of a Sea Grass (Zostera) derived from the coast above. 



Again, we dredged between the New Hebrides and Australia 

 from 1,400 fathoms, a piece of wood and half-a-dozen examples of 

 a large palm fruit as large as an orange. In one of these fruits 

 which had hard woody external coats, the albumen of the fruit 

 was still preserved and perfectly fresh in appearance, and white, 

 like that of a ripe cocoanut. The hollows of the fruits were 

 occupied by a small Lamellibranch Mollusc and a Gasteropod, 

 and the husks and albumen were bored by a small Teredo or 

 allied Mollusc. The fibres of the husks of the fruits had amongst 

 them small Nematoid Worms. 



We dredged up similar land vegetable debris on many other 

 occasions, of which I will cite some, because they are interesting, 

 not only as showing that deep-sea animals must derive food 

 largely from such sources, but because they are necessarily of 

 great geological importance as showing how specimens of land 

 vegetation are becoming imbedded in deposits which are being- 

 formed at very great depths. 



Between the Fiji Group and the New Hebrides we dredged 

 from 1,450 fathoms a piece of a branch of a tree, 3 feet in length. 

 Off the Island of Palma, one of the Azores, we dredged from 

 1,135 fathoms, the leaf of a Shrub, possibly a Holly-leaf which 

 was still green and firm, though water-logged. With this leaf 

 were numerous fish otoliths and eye-lenses. We constantly 

 dredged bones of whales and fish from great depths. Off the 

 coast of Nova Scotia we dredged a quantity of glacially striated 



stones. 



The deep-sea animals of course prey upon one another just 

 as do shallow-water species. We dredged once a fish from 

 2,500 fathoms which had a deep-sea Shrimp in its stomach. A 

 Cerianthus dredged from 2,175 fathoms had a small Crustacean 

 in its stomach. 



The waters of the deep sea being everywhere dark and always 

 cold, the conditions of life in them are the same all over the world. 

 The temperature of the deep sea is practically the same, as far 

 as effect on life is concerned, under the Equator and at the Poles. 

 Hence there are absolutely no barriers to the migrations of 



