186 THE ATLANTIC. [CHAP, IL. 
quent where the bottom is of smooth ooze, and, from the ap- 
pearance and structure of the bunches of horny tubes which 
form their roots, it would seem that they are in a certain sense 
free, merely anchored in the surface of the soft calcareous 
mud. 
Among the bryozoa, at first sight closely resembling them in 
form and habit, were one or two specimens of an extremely del- 
icate and beautiful siliceous sponge; one, apparently, of the ab- 
errant stalked Esperiadee. Several species of this curious little 
group occurred in deep water in the Atlantic: they will be de- 
scribed on a future occasion. A serial temperature sounding 
was taken, the intervals being 100 fathoms from the surface to 
a depth of 1500 fathoms : 
SUMMCOME es eee aoe ee Os 900 fathoms: ..... ee ee ool 
1O0tfathomsrey seas eee LO no 1000 ee Sas ates oe eee eee 
200 a Ea eee Soi tew ) Waianti) 1100 nO ape: ata Te eee 3 °0 
300 st ee eee RET eR oe 1200 SEER ce Sith shee 2 °5 
400 oe 9-6 1300 no fLidalatanar sere SOTO 2 °5 
500 ss tee dese ae Oma 1400 = wide Neb acl ortsnstele Renee ae 
600 SO SA oat eg 1500 OO eee Eee 2 °2 
700 ce 4 °7 1900 “ bottont.;. ae eeleso 
800 = 4:1 
The specific gravity of the bottom water was 1:02517 at 22°-1 
C., that of the surface water being 1:02579 at 22°°8 C. 
During the following night we made about one hundred 
miles, and on the morning of the 5th we were a little to the 
south-west of a sounding of 1875 fathoms (Lieutenant Berry- 
man) on the chart, so that we were still on a comparatively ele- 
vated plateau. A trawl with a 22-feet beam was sent down at 
9 a.m.,and we sounded at 10 a.m.in 1950 fathoms. A slip wa- _ 
ter-bottle accompanied the “ Hydra” sounding-machine to the 
bottom, and a stop-cock water-bottle was bent on to the line 
at 1000 fathoms from the bottom. On hauling up, the strong 
brass cylinder of the stop-cock water-bottle was found collapsed 
and crumpled like a piece of paper. This was not a matter of 
