of the Canary Islands. 5° 
towards the extremity of South America, there in fact sepa- 
rate into two different branches. The one proceeds east- 
ward past Cape Horn, follows in the Atlantic Ocean the coast 
of the Continent from south to north, and stretches along Pa- 
tagonia and the Pampas from Buenos Ayres to Brazil; the 
other, on the other hand, strikes against the extremity of 
America, remains in the Pacific Ocean, follows the shore from 
south to north, and proceeding along the coasts of Chili, 
Bolivia, and Peru, extends beyond the equator. The polar 
water which is divided at Cape Horn, and which follows the 
coasts on both sides, prevents the animals passing from one 
ocean into the other, for, to do so, it would be necessary for 
them to move against the current and against the prevail- 
ing winds, which is impossible. The form of the continent 
and the direction of the currents would therefore, @ prior?, 
render it probable that the two seas should possess entirely 
distinct Faunas, and that the only possible point of contact of 
the two should be at Cape Horn, where the separation begins. 
The distribution of the Foraminifera confirms this view. 
Opposite Cape Horn, at a depth of about 160 metres, the 
bottom of the sea was examined by means of a sounding lead 
having a diameter of only a few centimetres, and yet this small 
surface yielded a considerable number of Foraminifera and 
Polypi. This is a fact of great importance, because it proves 
that these animals can live in great depths of the sea, and 
gives us an idea of the innumerable multitudes of these beings 
insuch cold regions. The bottom of the sea must, in the strict 
sense of the word, be covered with them, in order to be able 
to furnish more than forty individuals to so small an object as 
the sounding lead. Among these forty individuals there were 
five species: Rotalina Alvarezti, Rotalina Patagonica, Trun- 
catulina vermiculata, Cassidulina crassa, and Bulimina elegan- 
tissima. Of these five species, the four first occur only on 
the coasts of Patagonia and of the Malvinas, and therefore be- 
long to the Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean ; while the fifth lives 
in Chili and all Peru, and hence belongs to the Fauna of the 
Pacific Ocean. This result shews distinctly that Cape Horn 
is the point of departure of both the Paunas peculiar to the 
two different seas, and that a larger number of species belong 
