hy Lieut. Daniant, R.N., on the Sea-floor. 33 



of shingle and small stones ; this is not continuous, but occasionally 

 gusts of it come along, probably associated with upward currents. 



" In Loch Striven, a deep narrow inlet on west coast of Scotland, 

 near Kyles of Bute, specially chosen for deep diving experiments 

 owing to the absence of perceptible tide, I found impalpable mud, not 

 ' set' but almost in suspension on the bottom at 35 fathoms. It flew 

 up in a cloud when one set foot on the ground, and altogether cut ofp 

 what little light there was. (Signed) " G. C. C. Damant. 



" 27th JVovember, 1907." 



" Island Sailing Club, Cowes. 



" . . . Yes, I and another, a gunner, went down to 35 fatboms 

 as a maximum at Loch Striven. I have often been at 30. 



"The sand round No. 99 torpedo boat the other day — you know 

 where she lay — seemed utterly bare and lifeless. I saw one ' whelk,' 

 and he looked absurdly lonely. 



" . . . on that occasion of seeing ripplemarks in sand at about 

 12 fathoms, I remember being very much struck by the isolated 

 chunks of rock, of about 10 lbs. I should judge, with weed on them, 

 which stood on, rather than stuck up out of, the sand. There was 

 a fair sea on, too much for our targets to stand. . . . shot were 

 to be seen on the bottom, but, of course, they may have only just 

 been fired. (Signed) " G. C. C. Damant. 



" 29ih November, 1907." 



In these conversational records of incidental observations Lieutenant 

 Damant has unconsciously decided some hotly debated questions, and 

 suggested several topics that might occupy the minds of physicists, 

 geologists, zoologists, and engineers. My own feelings may be better 

 imagined than described. They are analogous with what, I presume, 

 those of an astronomer would be who had chanced upon a celestial 

 visitant from comet and nebula, who ju->t incidentally mentioned all 

 the facts concerning those bodies which had perplexed and divided 

 astronomers for generations. What has greatly astonished myself 

 is that Lieut. Daraant's attention should have been called to some 

 of my own special puzzles, e.g. that of blocks lying on sand. Blocks 

 of half a ton or more lie on the sandy bed of the English Channel 

 off the coast of South Devon, and the trawlers occasionally take them 

 in their nets. (See an example in the Museum of the Torquay 

 liTatural History Society.) 



I should esteem it a great favour if this article were published, 

 for otherwise the foreigners are sure to cut us all out, as they did in 

 the case of the evidence of Kent's Cavern and the Antiquity of Man. 

 That great fact was decisively proved in 1846 by the Torquay Natural 

 History Society, following up the earlier researches of the 

 Hev. J. McEnery, but the report of the explorers could find no 

 publication except in the columns of a local visitors' directory, of 

 which publication, I believe, there are but two copies in existence, 

 though I have reprinted the report at my own charges. 



So far as I can at present see, Lieut. Damant's observations have 

 confirmed rather than disproved induction by tank and formula. 



DECADE v. — VOL. V. NO. I. 



