Sea-bottom jn'ocured by II.M.S. ^ Chalkwjer.'' 2S7 



Now without in the least degree calling in question the correct- 

 ness of these observations, I venture to submit, first, that they 

 bear a different interpretation, and, second, that this interpretation 

 is required by other fiu-ls, of which no account seems to have been 

 taknn by Prof. AVyville Thomson and his coadjutor. In this, as 

 in many other instances, I believe it will ])rove that the truth 

 lies between two extreme view s. That the Glohujerinfn live on the 

 bottom onbj is a position clearly no longer tenable ; but that they 

 live and multiply in the upper waters onlij, and only sink to the 

 bottom after death, seems to me a position no more tenable than 

 the preceding: and I shall now adduce the evidence which appears 

 to me at present to justify the conclusion (I refrain from expressing 

 myself more positively, because I consider the question still open 

 to investigation), that whilst the Glohiijerince are pelagic in an earlier 

 stage of their lives, frequenting the upper stratum of the ocean, 

 they sink to the bottom u'hilst still liviwj, in consequence of the 

 increasing thickness of their calcareous shells, and not only con- 

 tinue to live on the sea-bed, but probably multiply there — perhaps 

 there exclusively. 



That there is no a priori improbability in their doing so, is 

 proved by the abundant evidence in my possession of the exis- 

 tence of Foraminiferal life at abyssal depths. The collections made 

 during the ' Porcupine ' Expeditious of 18G9 and 1870 yielded a- 

 large number of those Arenaceous types which construct their 

 " tests " by the cementation of sand-grains only to be obtained 

 on the bottom ; and these were almost the only roraminifera, 

 except Globit/erince and Orbulince, which came up in the 2-435- 

 fathoms dredging. Again, many Foraminifera, both arenaceous 

 and shelly, were brought up from great depths, attached to 

 shells, stones, &c., that must have lain at the bottom. Further, 

 among the " vitreous " Foraminifera, the most common deep-sea 

 types, except those of the Globigerine family, were Cristellarians 

 with shells so thick and massive as to be (it may be safely 

 affirmed) incapable of being floated by the animals which form 

 them ; while among the " porcellaneous " Foraminifera, the 

 BiloculincH and TrilocuUnce were equally distinguished by a mas- 

 siveness of shell, which seemed to forbid the idea that they could 

 have floated subsequently to that stage of their lives in which this 

 massiveness had been acquired. 



Of the existence of living Glohujerincr in great numbers in the 

 stratum of water immediately above the bottom, at from .500 to 

 7oO fathoms depth, I am able to speak with great positiveness. 

 It several times happened, during the Third Cruise of the ' Por- 

 cupine' in 1869, that the water brought up by the water-bottle 

 from immediately above the Globir/ei-ina-ooze was quite turbid ; 

 and this turbidity was found (by filtration) to depend, not upon 

 the suspension of amorphous particles diffused through the water, 

 but upon the presence of multitudes of young Globirjerincp, which 

 were retained upon the filter, the water passing through it quite 

 clear. The thin shells rf these specimens, exhibiting very distinct 



20* ■ 



