20 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. I. 
73° 37’ N., long. 77° 25’ W.); a magnificent Asterias 
(Caput Meduse) was entangled by the line, and 
brought up with very little damage. The mud was 
soft and greenish, and .contained specimens of Lam- 
bricus tubicola.’ So far my written journal; but I 
ean add, from a very distinct recollection, that the 
heavy deep-sea weight had sunk, drawing the line 
with it, several feet into the soft greenish mud, 
which still adhered to the line when brought to 
the surface of the water. The star-fish had been 
entangled in the line so litile above the mud that 
fragments of its arms, which had been broken off in 
the ascent of the line, were picked up from amongst 
the mud.” 
Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., dredging in 270 
fathoms, lat. 73° 3’ S., long. 176° 6 #., reports 
“ OCorallines, Flustre, and a variety of invertebrate 
animals, came up in the net, showing an abundance 
and great variety of animal life. Amongst these I 
detected two species of Pycnogonum; Idotea bafjini, 
hitherto considered peculiar to the Arctic seas; a 
Chiton, seven or eight bivalves and univalves, an un- 
known species of Gammarus, and two kinds of Serpula 
adhering to the pebbles and shells . . . It was interest- 
ing amongst these creatures to recognize several that 
I had been in the habit of taking in equally high 
northern latitudes; and although, contrary to the 
general belief of naturalists, I have no doubt that 
from however great _a depth we may be enabled to - 
bring up the mud and stones of the bed of the ocean, 
1 A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and 
Antarctic Regions during the Years 1839-43. By Captain Sir 
James Clark Ross, R.N. London, 1847. 
