56 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [CHAP. n. 



case the scientific appliances required would be provided for from 

 funds at the disposal of the Koyal Society. 



I am, &c., 



W. SHAKPEY, Sec. E.S. 



Lord H. Lennox, M.P., Secretary of the Admiralty. 



From the Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society 

 for Oct. 20, 1868. 



ADMIRALTY, Itth July, 1868. 



SIR, In reply to your letter of the 22nd ultimo, submitting 

 a proposition from Dr. Carpenter and Professor Thomson to 

 investigate, by means of dredging, the bottom of the sea in 

 certain localities, with a view to ascertain the existence and 

 zoological relations of marine animals at great depths, a re- 

 search which you and the Council of the Eoyal Society strongly 

 recommend in the interests of science to the favourable con- 

 sideration of her Majesty's Government, for aid in furtherance 

 of the undertaking, I am commanded by my Lords Com- 

 missioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you that they are \ 

 pleased to meet your wishes so far as the Service will admit, and 

 have given orders for her Majesty's steam-vessel 'Lightning' to 

 be prepared immediately, at Pembroke, for the purpose of carry- 

 ing out such dredging operations, 



I am, Sir, 



Your obedient Servant, 



W. G. PvOMAINE. 



To the President of the Royal Society. 



It will be seen by the letters from my colleague 

 and myself what our ideas were at that time, and what 

 our anticipations as to the result of our labours. We 

 both more than doubted the anti-biotic ' view which 

 was then very generally received, and we expected to 

 be able to trace a relationship between the living 

 inhabitants of the deep sea and the fossils of some of 

 the later geological formations which we looked upon 

 as their direct and not very remote ancestors. We 



