CHAPTER II 



THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE ABYSS 



It is not surprising that the naturalists of the early 

 part of the present century could not believe in the 

 existence of a fauna at the bottom of the deep seas. 



The extraordinary conditions of such a region — 

 the enormous pressure, the absolute darkness, the 

 probable absence of any vegetable life from want of 

 direct sunlight — might very well have been con- 

 sidered sufficient to form an impassable barrier to the 

 animals migrating from the shallow waters and to 

 prevent the development of a fauna peculiarly its 

 own. 



The fragmentary accounts of animals brought up 

 by sounding lines from great depths might, it is true, 

 have thrown doubts on the current views ; but they 

 were not of sufficient importance in themselves, 

 nor were the observations made with such regard to 

 the possibility of error, as to withstand the critical 

 remarks that were made to explain them away. 



