XXVi Proceedings. 
in 1869, and again the following year between Falmouth and the 
Mediterranean. 
So much interest was felt in the bearings in the new dis- 
coveries upon important biological, geological, and physical 
problems that, on the representations of the Royal Society, the . 
Government fitted up the ‘ Challenger’ in 1872 for the purpose 
of investigating each of the great oceans, and to take an outline 
survey of that new field of research, the bottom of the sea. 
The scientific results of this survey were very important, and 
a series of valuable reports was published, which filled fifty large 
volumes, beautifully illustrated. These reports were not com- 
pleted until 1895. Our knowledge of deep-sea forms may be 
said to have commenced from the publication of these reports. 
The lecturer next described some of the groups of deep-sea 
life, which were illustrated by micro-photographs taken from 
nature. Foraminifera were described as belonging to the lowest 
class of animal life, the Protozoa. They consist of a mass of 
structureless jelly-like protoplasm, which is capable of emitting 
long thread-like processes which entangle particles of food from 
the surrounding water, and by a streaming movement of the 
protoplasm conveys this food to the central body. In most 
cases the main portion is enveloped by a calcareous shell per- 
forated with holes, through which the delicate filaments are pro- 
truded. The majority of species live at the bottom of the sea; 
others are pelagic, and occur in abundance at the surface. 
The most abundant genus is Globigerina. It occurs in im- 
mense numbers, forming what is known as Globigerina Ooze, 
mostly at depths of from 600 to 2500 fathoms in the Atlantic, 
Western Indian Ocean, and Pacific, and the total area covered 
by its remains is estimated by Murray and Renard at 49,520,000 
square miles. Radiolaria are distinguished from the Foramini- 
fera by the presence of a siliceous or a horny, in place of a 
calcareous skeleton, and by the presence of a membranous 
central capsule surrounding a nucleus. They are commonly 
floating organisms, and are often present in enormous numbers 
in all seas, the greatest variety of species, however, being found 
in the warm waters of the tropics. Their remains constitute 
Radiolarian Ooze, which is found principally at depths of from 
2000 to over 4000 fathoms, and are estimated to cover 2,290,400 
square miles. About 4000 species have been described. 
Pteropods also form an ooze of a more limited extent (400,000 
square miles), especially between Cuba and Florida Keys. Ptero- 
pods, or ‘ winged snails,’ are pelagic molluscs found swimming 
near the surface of the sea, and are all of small size. They 
have no distinct head, and the mouth is placed in the fore part 
of the foot, which is rudimentary. The lateral parts of the foot 
are, however, developed into a pair of wing-like fins by means of 
se lt I IO 
