3888 The Zoologist — March, 1874. 



On the 2lst of September, off Bana Head, the south point of 

 the Hebrides, a fresh easterly wind blowing and the barometer 

 low, Captain May did not think it desirable to stand to sea again. 

 After consultation with Dr. Carpenter, he determined to conclude 

 the woik, steamed down the Sound of Mull, and anchored at Oban, 

 when Dr. Carpenter and his son left the ship and journeyed south- 

 ward by land. On the 24th Captain May started for Pembroke, 

 and on the 25th, off the Calf of Man, — the barometer having sud- 

 denly fallen, and the wind and sea rising fast, — without increase 

 of wind, and in a roll not heavier than usual, the whole of the 

 weather fore rigging went, by the straightening or breaking of the 

 hooks which held it. Fortunately the mast did not fall, and after 

 an hour spent in effecting a temporary repair, the unlucky vessel 

 proceeded on its course, and anchored in the new harbour of Holy- 

 head at 6 p. M. on the same day, and so terminated the cruise of 

 the ' Lightning.' The results were as satisfactory as the naturalists 

 had ventured to anticipate, but the vessel was ill-suited to the 

 service, and the weather most unpropitious. During the whole of 

 the six weeks they were at sea, ten days only were available for 

 dredging: on only four of these was the vessel in water over five 

 hundred fathoms; nevertheless — 



"It has been shown beyond question that animal life is varied and 

 abundant, represented by all the invertebrate group, at depths in the 

 ocean down to G50 fathoms at least, notwithstanding the exti-aordinary 

 conditions to which animals arc there exposed. It had been determined 

 that, instead of the water of the sea beyond a certain depth, varying 

 according to latitude, having a uniform temperature of 39° Fahr., an 

 indraught of arctic water may have, at any depth beyond the influence 

 of the direct rays of the sun, a temperature so low as 28° Fahr. : or, 

 on the other hand, a warm current may have, at any moderate depth, 

 a temperature of 41° Fahr.; and it has been shown that great masses 

 of water at different temperatures are moving about each in its par- 

 ticular course, maintaining a remarkable system of oceanic circulation, 

 and yet keeping so distinct from one another that an hour's sail may be 

 sufficient to pass from the extreme of heat to the extreme of cold. Finally, 

 it had been shown that a large proportion of the forms living at great depths 

 in the sea belong to species hitherto unknown, and that thus a new field of 

 boundless extent and great interest is opened to the naturalist. It bad 

 further been shown that many of these deep-sea animals are specifically 

 identical with tertiary fossils hitherto believed to be extinct, while others 

 associate themselves with and illustrate extinct groups of the fauna of 



