DEEP-SEA RESEARCHES. 93 



To MRS. CARPENTER. 



On board the Lightning, September 6, 1868. 



Tliis morning, after two days interdiction, we had our most 

 interesting result. At 530 fathoms the temperature was 47 

 (probably on account of the Gulf Stream), and we have brought 

 up in a muddy ooze a most remarkable set of new and large 

 forms of siliceous sponges, with which Thomson is especially 

 delighted, together with others previously discovered and re 

 cently described by I. oven, as well as small specimens of the 

 Jlyalontma (Japanese flint-rope) and its encrusting Polype ; the 

 whole giving materials for completely settling the questions lately 

 discussed between dray and Bowerbank, in which Thomson has 

 intervened, and (as at present appears) entirely in favour of 

 Thomson s views. He is, of course, greatly delighted, and now 

 says that it was quite worth a week s misery to get these. 



September 7. 



After I wrote yesterday afternoon, we had the intense satis 

 faction of meeting with two specimens of Rhizocrimts^ not very 

 good ones, but serving to prove the existence of this type in the 

 open ocean, and therefore (presumably) in considerable quanti 

 ties, if we can only hit upon the spots where it abounds, as we 

 have fortunately done with the sponges. This completes the 

 success of our expedition in everything that we hoped to do, 

 except that the /oology of the I- aroe fjords proved much less 

 interesting than we had anticipated. AYe have proved that dredg 

 ing at 500 or 550 fathoms involves no more difficulty, where 

 there is adequate power, than dredging at 100 fathoms. \Ve 

 have found out the best form of dredge and the best material 

 for the bag. \Ve have got all the Norwegian forms to which we 

 alluded in our letters as carrying us bark to older types. \\ e 

 have added a great deal to our knowledge of geographical dis 

 tribution, and have shown how nun. h more it depends on the 

 tcmperatuie than on the pie -sure of the deep sea; and we 

 have a set of observations on this subject which are of first- 

 rate importance. As complete novelties from 500 fathoms and 

 more, we have not only the series of siliceous sponges, but also 



