502 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. (CHAP: X. 
APPENDIX A. 
Summary of the Results of the Examination of Samples of Sea- 
Water taken at the Surface and at various Depths. By Wm. 
LANT CARPENTER, B.A., B.Sc. 
Surface-waters.—Care was taken to obtain these samples as 
pure as possible, and free from any contamination caused by 
matters derived froin the vessel, by dipping them up in clean 
vessels at a few inches below the surface at or near the bow 
of the ship. In two instances, however, the samples were taken 
from abaft the paddles. 
Waters taken at depths below the surface.—It was found 
desirable to coat the brass Water-Bottles internally with 
sealing-wax varnish, owing to the corrosive action of the sea- 
water. The apparatus was then found to work perfectly satis- 
factorily in all cases in which there was sufficient weight on the 
sounding-line to which they were attached to keep the bottles 
perpendicular, or nearly so. When, from the smallness of the 
attached weight, or the roughness of the sea, the sounding-line 
was at an acute angle with the general level of the sea-surface 
while it was being drawn up, the results of the examination of 
water thus obtained rendered it highly probable that some water 
at or near the surface had found its way into the bottle, and 
that its contents were not to be relied on as coming from the 
lowest depths. 
When bottom-water was obtained from depths beyond 500 
fathoms, it was almost invariably charged with a quantity of 
very fine mud in suspension, rendering it quite turbid. Many 
hours’ standing was necessary for the deposit of this ; but it was 
readily removed by filtration. In no instance was there any 
evidence of water from great depths being much more highly 
