996 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES [l24] 



DREDGING AND SOUNDING STATIONS OF THE LIGHT- 

 NING, 1868. 



The dredgings made by the British surveying steamer Lightning in 

 18G8 were undertaken at the request of the Eoyal Society, and, with the 

 exception of the dredgings of Count Pourtales in 1867 and 1868, were 

 almost the first deliberate attempts to investigate the deep-sea fauna. 

 The region explored was between the north of Scotland and the Faroe 

 Islands and extending thence to a distance of about 250 miles northwest 

 of Scotland. The series of temperatures obtained on this expedition, 

 showing the great difference of temperature existing to the northeast 

 and southwest of a submarine barrier (discovered by a subsequent ex- 

 pedition) were the first contributions of importance to our knowledge 

 of the laws governing deep-sea temperatures. The scientific observa- 

 tions were under the charge of Dr. W. B. Carpenter and Prof. Wyville 

 Thomson, and the preliminary report by Dr. Carpenter was published in 

 N T o. 107 of the Proceedings of the Koyal Society, 1S68. 



Dredging and sounding stations of the Lightning, 1868. 

 WARM AREA. 



COLD AREA. 



Dredgings. 



t At least. 



DREDGING STATIONS OF THE PORCUPINE, 1869. 



The dredgings of the British steamer Porcupine in I860 were in continu- 

 ation of those of the Lightning in 1S68, and were, like them, undertaken 

 at the request of the Royal Society. Tliey extended west of Ireland 

 and Scotland, as far west as the Rockall Bank, and as far north as the 

 Faroe Islands, and reached a depth of 2,435 fathoms, a much greater 



