28 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. I. 
Fleeming Jenkin’s private journal, which he has 
kindly placed in my hands for reference, that an 
example of Caryophyllia, a true coral (Fig. 4), was 
found naturally attached to the cable at the point 
where it gave way; that is to say, at the bottom in 
1,200 fathoms water. 
Some portions of this cable subsequently came into 
the custody of M. Mangon, Professor at the Ecole 
des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, and were examined 
by M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards, who read a paper 
upon the organisms attached to them, at the Academy 
of Sciences, on the 15th of July, 1861.1! After some 
introductory remarks which show that he is thoroughly 
aware of the value of this observation as a final 
solution of the vexed question of the existence of 
animal life at depths in the sea greatly beyond the 
supposed ‘ zero’ of Edward Forbes, M. Milne- 
the cable from the depth of 1,100 fathoms. The list 
includes Murex lamellosus, CRISTOFORI and JAN, and 
Craspedotus limbatus, PHILipp1, two univalve shells 
alhed to the whelk; Ostrea cochlear, Pout, a small 
oyster common below 40 fathoms throughout the 
Mediterranean ; Pecten teste, Bivona, a rare little 
clam; Caryophyllia borealis, FLEMING, or a nearly 
allied species, one of the true corals; and an unde- 
scribed coral referred to a new genus and species 
under the name of Thalassiotrochus telegraphieus, 
A. Mitne-Epwarbs. 
! Observations sur l’Existence de divers Mollusques et Zoophytes a 
de trés grandes profondeurs dans la Mer Méditerranée: Annales des 
Sciences Naturelles ; quatrieme série—Zoologie, Tome xv. p. 149. 
Paris, 1861. 
