LINNBAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 27 



I have also to mention the late Mr. J. T. Marshall*, who, in 

 his small yacht ' Norna,' dredged on the coast of Portugal about 

 the year 1869 to a depth of 500 fathoms, and, besides, obtained 

 from the long lines of fishermen Deep-sea Corals and Sponges, 

 part of which found their way into the British Museum. 



The second cruise of the ' Porcupine,'t which as regards time 

 and results takes a position between the private eftoi'ts just 

 enumerated and the succeeding great expeditions, occupied the 

 first summer-months of 1870, The operations were resumed 

 from the southernmost point reached by the ' Porcupine ' in the 

 previous year — west of Ushant-, and continued to the Straits of 

 Gribraltar, the dredge being effectually worked in deep-water at 

 about 34. stations. The slope leading from the 100-lathoms line 

 down into the trough of the Atlantic abyss was found to be the 

 ground on which life flourishes in the greatest abundance and 

 variety ; but, as no trawl was used by Grwyn Jeffreys, who was 

 in charge of the scientific operations during this portion of 

 the cruise, the captures were limited to Invertebrates, to sessile 

 forms or such as are capable of slow locomotion only. 



Two years afterwards the ' Challenger' entered upon the field 

 of Deep-sea exploration, the first attempt at dredging being 

 south of Cape Pinisterre. However, before the expedition left 

 the continental waters, the ordinary deep-sea trawl had been 

 substituted for the dredge, covering nearly twice as much ground 

 of the sea-bottom, and yielding proportionally greater results. 

 At the very first trial, made at 600 fathoms near the south coast 

 of Portugal, the naturalists obtained, beside other animals, two 

 specimens of a new species of a characteristic deep-sea genus of 

 fishes (Macrurus cBqualis) which they never found at any other 

 locality. I find that the ' Challenger ' made 28 successful hauls % 

 with the trawl in the area under consideration, viz. seven (partly 

 dredgings) in the continental district between Cape Pinisterre 

 and Madeira, seven in the immediate vicinity of Madeira and the 

 Canary Islands, and 14 on two lines stretching westwards from 

 Madeira and the Azores, and from the Canaries towards the 

 Mid-Atlantic. The ground covered by the latter operations was 

 zoologically quite new, and the arrival at the surface of the trawl, 

 whicli at some of the stations had descended to a depth of over 

 2000 fathoms, must have been watched by the naturalists with 

 the keenest anxiety. The late Dr. Willemoes-Suhm writes 

 about Stations 68, 65), and 70 (depth 1700-2200 fathoms) in the 

 Mid-Atlantic : — " These three trawlings, besides procuring some 

 interesting animals, seem to show that we have entered a deep-sea 

 region where decidedly northern forms prevail." Characteristically 

 arctic Crustaceans and a Pycnogouid were among the contents of 

 the trawl. To the Iclithyologist, on the other hand, this district 



* W. S. Kent, Ann. & Mag. .Nat. Hist. 1870, vi. p. 459. 



t Proc. Roy. Soc. 1870, pp. 14(;-222. 



\ In this and following statements of the trawling operations of the 

 ' Challenger ' none are included which from some accident or other cause did 

 not bring specimens to the surface. 



