214 TJIE BOTTOM <}P THt! snA. 



existed whose remains have long been the sport of 

 tlie waves. The pigmies, feeble when taken singly, 

 are powerful in their multitude. There are great 

 animals in the ocean, but the armies of the infinitely 

 little count by millions. The giants of the deep 

 make their presence felt while they live; the pigmies 

 of creation are the true world-makers. 



Tlie first specimens of infusorise were taken from 

 the bottom of the sea by the apparatus of Brooke, 

 when the submarine plateau upon which reposes the 

 telegraphic cable between Newfoundland and Irelanl 

 w^as under investigation. The appearance presented 

 to the eye was argillaceous, but the celebrated Pro- 

 fessor Bailey, of West Point, having studied the speci- 

 mens with the aid of microscopes, recognised numerous 

 calcareous shells in a state of perfect preservation. 



The average depth of the telegraphic plateau is 

 something under 10,000 feet. That depth, though 

 considerable, and exceeding the supposed thickness 

 of the submar ine vital zone, is far from marking the 

 limits of the empire of the foraminiferaB. Where 

 they cannot live, their spoil, so light, is carried by 

 the ocean-currents, and deposited in obedience to the 

 ordinary physical laws. Specimens obtained by 

 sounlings made between North America and Asia 

 have demonstrated the presence of their calcareous 

 shells at depths ox^peding 6000 yards. 



