NO. 14.] 



MECHANICAL COMPOSITION OF SAMPLES. 



as a rule of gravel or sand; and only where special conditions exist, such as 

 the presence of more enclosed sea-basins, or where the coast consists mainly 

 of argillaceous rocks, or in places where the rivers carry great quantities of 

 clay, are they for the most part clayey, and therefore in no way different 

 from the grey deep-sea clay. 



The above-mentioned clay does not differ essentially, in the region under 

 discussion, from the grey deep-sea clay found in other parts of the world. 

 It is always of a rather fine, clayey consistency, and becomes finer and finer 

 with increasing distance from the coast, and with greater depths, although it 

 never becomes so pure in this region that it is not possible to distinctly feel 

 the sandy particles in it, when rubbed between the fingers. Its colour, as a rule, 

 is a tolerably pure grey near the coast, while farther out in deep water it 

 acquires an increasingly brown tone, and in the deepest places is almost pure 

 brown. Taken separately, however, some exceptions are apparent, of which 



