IO A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



of astronomy. Even the annual evaporation is so vast 

 that the mind can scarcely grasp it, yet in the immense 

 clock of geologic time such matters seem as moments 

 of an hour, and are not the less impressive when it is 

 borne in mind that they were established features of the 

 natural order millions of years before the human race 

 had come into existence. 



Heavily populated as are many portions of the earth's 

 crust — notably the great forest and jungle areas — the 

 terrestrial population is as nothing compared with the 

 waters which are congested with uncountable entities 

 invisible to the naked eye. It was less than ioo years 

 ago that biologists came to the conclusion that both plants 

 and animals ceased to exist in the sea beyond a depth of a 

 few hundred fathoms, but more recent researches have 

 established that even the greatest depths are not without 

 a fauna of their own — a fauna which apparently varies 

 but little in abyssal areas no matter in what portion of the 

 sea they may be situated. Life itself is believed to have 

 had its first inception in the great waters, though the 

 precise nature of such life is at present still conjectural. 



Though a tolerable census of the coastal forms of life 

 has been generally appreciated from early times, anything 

 approaching a systematic survey is of comparatively recent 

 date. The British Marine Biological Association — the 

 oldest institution of its kind — dates back as recently as 

 1884, but since that period almost every civilised nation 

 has followed suit, and by organising research stations, 

 oceanographic expeditions, and a constant interchange 

 and pooling of the knowledge so obtained, a tolerably 

 comprehensive idea of the sea's potentialities is fast being 



