DEEP-SEA ORGANISMS. 147 



ten thousand of the tiny population, populous beyond 

 all parallels drawn from the dense crowds of London 

 or the teeming millions of China, were dying ; and 

 as they died, they slowly fell from the floating weed, 

 and, partially sustained a while by the gases formed in 

 their decomposing tissues, during which the superficial 

 currents might softly waft them many a league, they at 

 length reached the distant bottom. Then gently drop- 

 ping, perhaps on some huge anchor, or water-logged 

 hull, their never-ceasing accumulations would gra- 

 dually hide the mass under a fleecy covering, " present- 

 ing the rounded appearance which is seen over the body 

 of the traveller who has perished in the snow-storm/'* 

 Other specimens have since then been obtained 

 from other seas. From the Gulf of Mexico, the 

 Caribbean Sea, the vicinity of Kamtchatka, Behring's 

 Straits, and the region south-east of Papua, the 

 ocean-bottom has yielded samples. From this last 

 locality, at a depth of thirteen thousand feet, the 

 remains of abundant animalcules come ; but they are 

 of a different class from those which occupy the North 

 Atlantic, the calcareous Foraminifera being almost 

 wanting. Instead of these there occur the strange 

 shells of Polycystina, and some Diatomacece, but 

 principally the flinty spicula of Sponges. Various 

 forms of these occur, but mostly of the types which 

 we are familiar with in our native species ; long 

 straight needles, fine drawn spindles, glass-headed 

 pins, and three-rayed stars. 



* Maury. 



