Vi INTRODUCTION. 



found in the surface waters do not seem to be well understood 

 by any body. You will, I hope, soon receive specimens of them. 

 Some few resemble the Globigerinse brought up by the Atlantic 

 soundings ; but bow it is that the soundings for the electric tele- 

 graph brought up little else than Globigerinoe is very remarkable. 

 July 14th, 1858, in lat. 40° 46^ N., long. 81° 05' W., current S. 61° 

 E. 7^ miles, specific gravity 1.028, we found the surface water 

 abounding with a small bivalve, which seemed full, but there were 

 no signs of life. With this shell, which was very abundant, there 

 were some spiked balls, but no other shells. My idea is, that if 

 a net, lined with bunting, were carefully towed across the Atlan- 

 tic, about where the soundings were taken, Globigerinse would 

 be found on the surface as abundant as they are at the bottom. 

 We have had two or three instances of different parts of the sea 

 having their particular inhabitants. In towing for these Globige- 

 rinse, or, in fact, for any other minute shells, the net should be 

 turned inside out and washed in a bucket of clean water, the buck- 

 et painted white inside ; then, by stirring the water quickly round, 

 the shells may be picked from the centre by means of a glass tube. 

 The net should be towed in calms, or when the ship is moving 

 slowly through the water. I suppose you communicate with many 

 commanders who are constantly crossing the Atlantic. I used to 

 allow the net to be washed a dozen times or more before I exam- 

 ined the bucket, so that it contained the result of two or three 

 hours towing." 



Several new chapters have been added to this edition, and 

 many new subjects have been treated of in it. New views also 

 liave been presented, and the errors of former views corrected 

 wherever in them farther research has pointed out error. These 

 i-esearches have grown so wide that they comprehend not only 

 the physics of the sea, but they relate extensively to its meteor- 

 ology also ; hence the present title. The Physical Geography 

 OF THE Sea, and its Meteorology. 



Natioi^al Observatory, Washington, November, 1860. 



