1864.] Waxuicn on the Atlantic Deep-sea Bed and its Inhabitants. 41 
prehend the value of this, it is necessary to mention that by means 
of a separate observation taken upon the same spot, the bottom was 
found to consist aimost entirely of the minute shell-covered organisms 
already referred to; and, taking into consideration the fact that many 
of the shells were completely filled with the gelatinous substance of 
which their bodies are composed, and lastly, the fresh appearance of 
this substance ; the probability is very great that they, in common 
with the star-fishes, had lived and multiplied at the bottom. But the 
only circumstance which ought to be accepted as direct proof of their 
vitality, namely, motion after reaching the surface, was wanting ; as 
indeed it well might be, since the passage through the vertical mile 
and a half of water occupied nearly an hour, and the change of con- 
ditions to which the creatures became subjected, during that period, 
must necessarily have been very great. Nevertheless the chain of 
circumstantial evidence was rendered complete ; for, on examining the 
stomachs of the star-fishes, they were found to contain the minute 
shelled creatures in abundance ; thus clearly establishing the fact of the 
star-fishes having attached themselves to the sounding-line whilst it 
rested on the bottom, and adding the strongest confirmation to the 
view that the minute creatures referred to were brought up from their 
natural habitation. 
But it was not to be expected that a fact so subversive of all pre- 
conceived notions regarding the conditions essential to the presence 
of animal life on the ocean would be received without the usual 
amount of salutary scepticism. And hence, on its being boldly an- 
nounced not only that highly-organized animals had been brought up 
from so vast a depth, but that they actually arrived at the surface ina 
living state, scientific men shrugged their shoulders, and demanded 
the production of the most complete proofs. These proofs we submit 
have been produced ; and they serve to show that instead of organic 
life being carried on in defiance of the conditions so erroneously held 
to be incompatible with it, the presence of some of these conditions is 
indispensable to its continuance. In order, however, to render 
‘intelligible the doubts that were expressed on the subject, and the 
precise bearing of the evidence brought forward with a view to dispel 
them, it is necessary to draw attention to the conditions on which the 
determination of the question depends. 
According to the generally accepted opinion regarding the Geo- 
graphical distribution and vertical limits of marine animal life, the 
presence of one set of conditions is essential, that of another incom- 
patible with it. Thus we are told thata certain amount of aération of 
the water, especially with reference to the quantity of oxygen gas con- 
tained in a given volume, and the previous existence of vegetable life 
in some shape or other, are indispensable to the maintenance of 
animal life; whereas the increase of pressure beyond a certain degree, 
and the total absence of light, determine the limit in depth beneath 
which, it was contended, no living being could exist. 
Now, although in the present state of our knowledge, it is difficult 
to conceive that any animal, no matter how low in the scale, can live 
in default of a supply of oxygen, we are by no means called upon to 
