30 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. I. 
water, but they are moulded upon its outer surface or 
cemented to it by calcareous or horny excretions, and 
some of them, such as the corals and bryozoa, from 
what we know of their history and mode of life, must 
have become attached to it as minute germs, and have 
grown to maturity in the position in which they were 
found. I must therefore regard this observation of 
Mr. Fleeming Jenkin as having afforded the_first 
absolute proof of the existence of highly-organized 
animals living at depths of upwards of 1,000 fathoms. 
During the several cruises of H.M. ships ‘ Light- 
ning’ and ‘ Porcupine’ in the years 1868, 1869, and 
1870,' fifty-seven hauls of the dredge were taken in 
the Atlantic at depths beyond 500 fathoms, and six- 
teen at depths beyond 1,000 fathoms, and in all cases 
life was abundant. In 1869 we took two casts in 
depths greater than 2,000 fathoms. In both of these 
life was abundant: and with the deepest cast, 2,435 
fathoms, off the mouth of the Bay of Biscay, we took 
living, well-marked, and characteristic examples_of 
all of the five invertebrate sub-kingdoms. And thus 
1 Preliminary Report, by Dr. William Carpenter, V.P.R.S., of 
Dredging Operations in the Seas to the North of the British Islands, 
carried on in Her Majesty’s steam-vessel ‘ Lightning’ by Dr. Carpenter 
and Dr. Wyville Thomson, Professor of Natural History in Queen’s 
College, Belfast. (Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 1868.) 
Preliminary Report of the Scientific Exploration of the Deep Sea 
in H.M. surveying-vessel ‘ Porcupine,’ during the Summer of 1869. 
Conducted by Dr. Carpenter, V.P.R.S., J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., and 
Professor Wyville Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S. (Proceedings of the Royal 
Society of London, 1870.) 
Report of Deep Sea Researches carried on during the months of 
July, August, and September 1870, in H.M. surveying-ship ‘ Porcu- 
pine,’ by W. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S., and J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S. 
(Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 1870.) 
