40 THREE CRTJISES OF THE " BLAKE." 



conditions of the strata of water below the surface. But no ex- 

 pedition had been fitted out for that purpose alone. In fact, the 

 opinion was current among naturalists that beyond the 300 

 fathom line the field of the zoologist was a barren one, notwith- 

 standing the many facts to the contrary which had been accumu- 

 lating ^ little by little since the beginning of the century. The 

 true bearing and full importance of these discoveries were 

 appreciated only by a few naturalists, who attempted in vain to 

 counterbalance the authority of Edward Forbes, the most bril- 

 liant naturalist perhaps of his time. 



The deep-sea work of Forbes in the JEgean Sea (1841) led 

 to the general acceptance of his theory that animal life was lim- 

 ited to a comparatively shallow depth (300 fathoms). The 

 peculiar physical condition of the region studied by Forbes may 

 perhaps account for the results he obtained. For a time they 

 overshadowed later contradictory facts, as when in 1861, for in- 

 stance, living creatures were brought up by a telegraph cable 

 from a depth of over 2,000 fathoms in the Mediterranean. Yet 

 in spite of this, the poor success which attended the cruises of 

 the " Porcupine " and " Shearwater " in the Mediterranean led 

 Dr. Carpenter to assume that in that sea, below a few hundred 

 fathoms, life became practically extinct. It was reserved for the 

 French ex]Dloring expedition of the " Travailleur " and of the 

 " Talisman," ^ in charge of Alphonse Milne-Edwards, to show 

 that while the great depths of the Mediterranean are not so full 

 of animal life as the corresponding de23ths of the Atlantic, they 

 yet contain favorable localities in which many of the Atlantic 

 deep-sea species may be found and were actually collected by 

 the French expedition. The great dej)ths of the Mediterranean 

 are mainly covered by a thick bed of gray mud little favorable 

 to the development of animal life ; and this fact, taken in con- 

 nection Avith the comparatively high temperature of that sea at 

 the bottom, would fully account for the paucity of animal life. 



1 Umbellula was brought up off the described by Lindahl from specimens col- 

 coast of Greenland by Adrians in the lected by the " Ingegerd " and " Gladan." 

 middle of the last century from a depth - The cruise of tbe " Talisman " to 

 of 1,406 feet in 70° N. L., and the speci- the westward of the Atlantic coast of 

 mens were described by Ellis. In 1871 Africa, 1882, led to some most important 

 the same species was found again and results. 



