122 [Proc. B. N. F. C, 



by our eminent townsman. Sir Wm. MacCormac, it was stated 

 that the present system of antiseptic surgery had in recent war- 

 fare reduced the mortality to a mere tithe of what it was in the 

 Crimea. 



The increased interest in the various branches of natural 

 history during the past quarter century has led to Government 

 aid being extended to the investigation of them, as in the case 

 of the " Lightning," " Porcupine," and "Challenger" Expedi- 

 tions. The results of these expeditions have been far beyond 

 the most sanguine expectations, revealing to us much informa- 

 tion regarding the abysmal depths of the ocean, their structure 

 and deposits, and showing to us that the depths in which it was 

 at one time supposed life did not exist, teem with forms spe- 

 cially adapted to the conditions in which they exist. One of 

 the recently issued volumes on the zoology of the " Challenger " 

 Expedition is devoted to an account of the deep sea fishes. 

 In them we find some interesting instances of these adaptations. 

 In several forms, such as Opostomias and Astronethes, large 

 glandular, phosphorescent organs are found underneath the 

 eyes, and which appear to be under the control of the fish, and 

 capable of projecting a beam of light or shutting it off, as suits 

 the owner's purpose. In others, there are found tentacles with 

 phosphorescent spots at their ends, which may possibly be used 

 as lures in these deep, dark depths. Another question which 

 has been brought to the front by these deep sea dredging opera- 

 tions is that of the formation of coral reefs. The theory with 

 which we were familiar in our early days was that of Darwin, 

 published in 1842, in his great work upon " Coral Islands," in 

 which the formation of Barrier Reefs and Atolls was accounted 

 for by subsidence. Doubts have been thrown upon the accu- 

 racy of this theory by Alexander and Louis Agassiz, Geikie, 

 and Murray of the " Challenger," while Dana still maintains the 

 subsidence theory. The matter has in the past year been a sub- 

 ject of discussion, in various journals, between the Duke of 

 Argyle, Huxley, and others. 



Upon the study of Geology much light has been thrown by 



