(JKOJJRAPIIICAL KXI'I.OKATlnNS AND PK< HiKKSS KM: LST4 



341 





a.l-led materially to our knowledge of 

 i hydrography. Her departure from Eng- 

 \as in December, 1872. The purpose of 

 -. PC. lit ion was tin- Investigation of the 

 -ea currents and tlie ocean-bottom, and 

 o!>-cr\ations of marine animal and plant life in 

 all parts <>f the world. Besides the staff of 

 naval officers, a corps of naturalists accompa- 

 nied the expedition, to pursue scientific inv.-s- 

 >iis, and mako collections of natural ob- 

 under the direction of Prof. Wyvillo 

 Thomson. The first voyage was across the At- 

 lautic frnm Teneritl'e to St. Thomas's Island. 

 The depths increased to 8,150 fathoms at a 

 distance of 1,150 miles from Teneriffe. In tho 

 TII trough of the Atlantic the depth con- 

 tinued a little over 8,000 fathoms. The bot- 

 tom was entirely composed of Globigerina 

 ooze in the lesser depths, and red clay in the 

 deep soundings. The red earth, which was 

 found to cover the largest part of the ocean- 

 bed, is, according to the theory of Prof. Thom- 

 son, the residue left after the deposits which 

 are found unchanged in the lesser depths have 

 been acted upon by the solvent power of car- 

 bonic acid, which accumulates in the deep 

 waters. One of the prescribed voyages of tho 

 Challenger was to the island of Kerguelen, to 

 decide upon a site for the observatory of the 

 transit of Venus, and thence southward, to 

 .make observations upon the approaches to the 

 south pole. They sailed away from Kergue- 

 len Island, February 1, 1874, toward the ant- 

 arctic ice-girdle, reaching 94 south. They 

 passed at one point 120 miles to the south- 

 ward, and at another point within six miles of 

 the supposed position of Wilkes's Termination 

 Land without sighting land, thus probably de- 

 termining the non-existence of the supposed 

 antarctic continent. The antarctic icebergs, a 

 great number of which were observed from 

 the deck of the Challenger, did not present 

 fantastically-jagged forms, according to the 

 former descriptions, but were found to be 

 smooth-topped and tabular, still preserving 

 the snow-coverings of the glaciers, their origi- 

 nals. The investigations of the Challenger 

 tend to confirm the belief in the impenetra- 

 bility of the southern ice-belt. The dredgings 

 demonstrated that the Southern Pacific is so 

 full of life that it may be looked upon as the 

 original birthplace of the occurring species. 

 The marine fauna of the Southern Ocean was 

 found to be nearly identical with that of the 

 north. Soundings all showed a bottom of an 

 alluvium, composed either of the shells of the 

 Globigerina, which is a tiny surface animal, or 

 of the skeletons of the Diatomacea, a floating 

 alga. The process of the formation of geologi- 

 cal strata of the future world is here so rapid 

 that a large object falling to the bottom is 

 speedily covered over by the ceaselessly sink- 

 ing particles. The observations of the Chal- 

 lenger in the South Atlantic show that the 

 drift-current which is caused by the constant 

 westerly winds drives the waters so strongly 



against the African coast, that the Agulhas 

 current is checked in its course. A small por- 

 tion mingles with the drift-current, which 

 turns to the north upon striking against the 

 African shore. The mean temperature of the 

 water in the South Atlantic, to the depth of 

 1,500 fathoms, is 41 Fahr. lower than in the 

 Northern Ocean. It seems likely that in the 

 South as well as in the North Atlantic there 

 is an elevation of the bottom in mid-ocean. 

 From the Cape of Good Hope as far south as 

 latitude 46 16' they found no greater depth 

 than 1,900 fathoms. The Challenger arrived 

 at Melbourne, March 17th. In July she had 

 again sailed on her course from the Feejee Isl- 

 ands to the New Hebrides and Torres Straits. 



In the voyage from Australia to New Zea- 

 land it was made apparent that the bottom off 

 the southeast coast of Australia falls off sud- 

 denly, and that Australia is separated from 

 New Zealand by a trough of 2,600 fathoms 

 depth. The ascent from the greatest depth to 

 the New Zealand coast is very gradual. These 

 results disprove the theory of Peschel, that 

 Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, 

 once formed a single continent, similar in form 

 to Africa, a theory which the great differ- 

 ence in the flora and fauna of the islands had 

 previously rendered doubtful. The dredgings 

 produced a specimen of the sea-porcupine, 

 genus Porocidarti, of which most of the spe- 

 cies are extinct. In the deepest soundings 

 were brought up several Bryozoos, a Crango- 

 iti'l-i. and the spicula of a Hyalonema. 



In a survey of the Dardanelles and Bospo- 

 rus by Commander Wharton, of the British 

 naval vessel Shearwater, the existence was 

 proved of strong under-currents setting coun- 

 ter to the surface-flow, which is invariably 

 from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean. 



A scientific expedition has been organized 

 by the German Government, under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Meier, for the purpose of exploring 

 the German seas. 



M. Staritzky was engaged during a number 

 of years in investigations in the Sea of Japan 

 and along the eastern shores of the Russian 

 Asiatic possessions. He determined the astro- 

 nomical position of thirty-eight points. By 

 his soundings it was demonstrated that the 

 depth of the Sea of Okhotsk is not great. The 

 volcano of Koriak, in Kamtchatka, was found 

 to be 11,000 feet in height. 



The ship Basilisk returned to England re- 

 cently, after four years spent in surveying 

 the coasts of the British Eastern possessions. 

 Among the results of this survey is the addi- 

 tion of twelve first-class harbors, several navi- 

 gable rivers, and more than one hundred isl- 

 ands, to the chart. It has discovered a new 

 and more direct route between Australia and 

 China. The shores of Eastern New Guinea, 

 hitherto unexplored, have been surveyed, and 

 two lofty mountains discovered. On these 

 shores dwell a copper-colored people, peacea- 

 ble and intelligent, and far surpassing in intel- 



