APPENDIX. 



cellent wo»k Lieutenant Dayman confirmed what, in February, 

 185-i, I liacl told Professor Morse concerning this plateau. 



When the deep-sea soundings came to be studied under the 

 microscope, it was discovered that many of these little mites of 

 shells still retain in them the fleshy parts of their inhabitants when 

 alive. Upon the discovery of this fact, there was a division 

 among philosophers; some took what is called the '•^hioty view, 

 and maintained that the presence in the shell of the fleshy parts 

 of the animal was proof that the bottom of the deep sea was the 

 nursery as well as the grave of these little creatures. 



On the other hand, those who took the ^^ anti-hiotic'^ view argued 

 that the antiseptic properties of the sea- water were sufficient to 

 preserve the bodies of these organisms for some time after death, 

 and untn they had sunk far enough in the depths below for the 

 pressure to put an end to decay by preventing that evolution 

 of gases which must take place in order that animal putrefaction 

 may go on. In proof of the antiseptic properties of sea- water, 

 this school appealed to the practice of the old packet captains, 

 who would corn and restore tainted fresh beef and mutton by 

 sinking it so many fathoms at sea, and hauling it up nicely and 

 freshly corned. The leaders of this school also alluded to the ex- 

 perience of the whalemen, which is, that if a whale sinks at death 

 no instance has been known of his rising again at sea. 



In this stage of the question, Ehrenberg of Berlin was examin- 

 ing some deep-sea soundings obtained from the bottom of the 

 Mediterranean, and among them he recognized fresh-water shells 

 with meat in them ! 



This, in my judgment, proves the case and settles the question, 

 though in the ojoinion of that renowned deep-sea Biotist it neither 

 does the one nor the other. 



The chemists, I think, will show that the pressure at the bottom 

 of the deep sea is sufficient to suppress all those chemical forces 

 which are brought into play for the evokition of gases during the 

 usual processes of animal and vegetable decay, and we may con- 

 clude that the gutta-percha coating used for insulating the con- 

 ducting wires of the Atlantic Telegraph will be preserved from 

 decay by the pressure of the deep sea for an indefinite length of 

 time. 



With this fact, we may, as we roam through the realms of con- 



