THE BASIX AND BED OF THE ATLANTIC. 317 



615. Having thus discoyerecl that the most frail and dehcate 

 A discovery sug- oi'ganisms of the sea can remain in its depths for 

 gesttdbyit. an indefinite length of tune -^dthont showing a 

 single trace of decay, we find ourselves possessed of a fact which 

 suggests many beautiful fancies, some toucliing thoughts, and a 

 few useful ideas ; and among these last are foimd reasons for the 

 conjecture th^t the gutta percha or other msulating material in 

 wliich the conducting wires of the sub-Atlantic telegraph and 

 other deep-sea lines are incased, becomes, when lodged beyond a 

 certain depth, impervious to the powers of decay ; that, with the 

 weight of the sea upon them, the destructive agents which are so 

 busy upon organic matter in the aii' and near the surface cannot 

 find room for play. Curious that destruction and decay should be 

 imprisoned and rendered inoperative at the bottom of the great 

 deep ! 



616. Specimens of the " ooze and bottom of the sea " have also 

 Specimens fiom the })een obtained by the ingetiuity of Brooke from the 

 the same story. depth of 2700 fathoms in the North Pacific, and 

 examined by Professor Bailey.* We have now had specimens 



(p. 23), as regards internal anatomy, from the species inliabiting shallow water, 

 He found in the alimentaiy cavity numerous Globigerina-shella, more or less 

 completely freed of their soft contents. 



These contents, and the bringing up of these li\4ng specimens, is held by the 

 " Biotics " to be proof conclusive as to the existence of animal life in the depths of 

 the sea. 



So far from settling the question, these star-fishes leave it, I submit, exactly as 

 it was before. They were not brought up by the arming of the lead. They were 

 adhering to the line by their own volition. They miqM have taken hold of tl)e 

 line near the surface as well as near the bottom. It is difficult, it is true, to 

 account for their being afloat so fiir out at sua ; but how often are frogs and fishes 

 found under circumstances and in conditions which cannot be accounted for! 

 Their coming out of the sea adlierent to the line proves notliing. 



But the creature had Glohigerina-shcWs in its stomach ; therefore, say the 

 biotics, these shells must also have lived at the deptli of 1260 fathoms. Not so : 

 wherever the star-fish lived, he must have food, and he could collect these mites 

 of things as well near the top as the bottom of the sea. 



Its anatomical structure, and the brilliancy of its colour — red and pink — seem 

 to prove tlie anti-hiotic view quite as much as the other circumstances of the 

 case ])rove the hiotic. 



Life in the depths of the sea is an interesting question, and the plan whicli 

 seems most capable of settling it has been akeady suggested, vide § 613. 



" West Point, N. Y., January 29, 1856. 



"My DEAR Sir,— I have examined with much pleasure the highly interesting 

 specimens collected by Lieutenant Brooke, of the United States Navy, which you 

 kindly sent me for microscopic analysis, and I will now briefly report to you the 

 results of general interest which I have obtained, leaving the enumeration of the 

 organic coatents and the description of new species for a more complete account, 



