352 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



trary, though more richly peopled in its upper 

 layers, which swarm with such innumerable 

 multitudes of living creatures that they are, 

 so to say, almost themselves alive teems 

 throughout with living beings. 



The deepest abysses have a fauna of their 

 own, which makes up for the comparative 

 scantiness of its numbers, by the peculiarity 

 and interest of their forms and organisation. 

 The middle waters are the home of various 

 Fishes, Medusae, and animalcules, while the 

 upper layers swarm with an inexhaustible 

 variety of living creatures. 



It used to be supposed that the depths of 

 the Ocean were destitute of animal life, but 

 recent researches, and especially those made 

 during our great national expedition in the 

 "Challenger," have shown that this is not 

 the case, but that the Ocean depths have a 

 wonderful and peculiar life of their own. 

 Fish have been dredged up even from a depth 

 of 2750 fathoms. 



The conditions of life in the Ocean depths 

 are very peculiar. The light of the sun can- 

 not penetrate beyond about two hundred 



