188 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



publications of the Museum. At Agassiz's death, how- 

 ever, one or two of them were still unfinished. 



In 1888 he published a semi-popular account of these 

 expeditions, under the title of " Three Cruises of the 

 Blake." With the exception of the narratives of the 

 Challenger Expedition, this was the first publication of 

 the kind. It would be hard to point to anything to-day 

 that gives a better general idea of oceanography. The 

 first volume deals with the general aspects of the sub- 

 ject and the work of the Blake. The second volume is 

 devoted mainly to a description of the various groups 

 collected. 



The following paragraphs describing the probable 

 appearance of the depths of the ocean are taken from 

 the first volume. 



"The monotony, dreariness, and desolation of the 

 deeper parts of this submarine scenery can scarcely be 

 realized. The most barren terrestrial districts must seem 

 diversified when compared with the vast expanse of ooze 

 which covers the deeper parts of the ocean, — a mono- 

 tony only relieved by the fall of the dead carcasses of 

 pelagic animals and plants, which slowly find their way 

 from the surface to the bottom, and supply the prin- 

 cipal food for the scanty fauna found living there. 



" Nearer to the continental masses we find the slopes 

 inhabited by a more abundant and more varied fauna, 

 increasing in variety and numbers according to the 

 amount of food available. But no matter how varied or 

 how abundant life may be, the general aspect of the 

 slopes must be dreary in the extreme, and can only be 

 compared in character to those higher mountain regions 

 where we find occasional fields of wild-flowers and low 



