WYVILLE THOMSON 61 



Some eminent biologists of the past, from an examination 

 of some of the earlier deep-sea dredgings, had come to the 

 conclusion that a grey gelatinous material, sometimes found 

 in such deposits, was the remains of a primitive protoplasmic 

 living slime covering the ocean bottom as a nutrient pabulum 

 upon which, in the absence of plants, the more highly 

 organized animals could graze — reminding one of the good 

 old days in Ireland when — 



The streets of Kilkenny were paved with penny loaves, 

 And the houses were thatched with pancakes. 



In his book. The Depths of the Sea, Wyville Thomson speaks 

 of it as " the universally distributed ' Moner ' of deep water," 

 and gives an excellent figure of " Bathybius " with its 

 amoeboid protoplasm and its contained CoccoMths. 



The Bathybius myth had for a time a great vogue — 

 particularly in Germany. Theoretically it was beautiful, it 

 explained so much, but unfortunately on the " Challenger '* 

 it came in contact with hard facts of experiment and at once 

 succumbed. It was proved by Mr. Buchanan that when a 

 certain quantity of strong alcohol was added to a certain 

 quantity of sea- water, the sulphate of lime was precipitated 

 in the form of an amorphous deposit which clung around any 

 particles, such as sand grains, mud, or the minute shells of an 

 ooze, and gave exactly the appearances under the microscope 

 which had been supposed to indicate the presence of proto- 

 plasm in the submarine deposit. Thus, as Huxley once said, 

 " Bathybius has not fulfilled the promise of its youth," but 

 from the experiments of the " Challenger " naturalists has 

 been shown to be simply the sulphate of lime in the sea-water 

 of the ooze precipitated by the alcohol which was added for 

 preservation purposes. 



There were great and widespread hopes and expectations 

 amongst scientific men that the " Challenger " explorations 

 would result in the discovery of many ancient and primitive 

 types, belonging to extinct groups, still living in the great 



