76 DK. WALLICn ON THE PHT3ICAL 



water was often present. Mr. Buclianan determined that the amor- 

 phous matter was simply the amorphous sulphate of lime precipitated 



by spirit from sea-water lu all cases the jelly-like or mobile 



aspect of the oozes was found to be due to the presence of the 

 flocculent precipitate from the sea- water associated with the ooze. 

 No free albuminous matter could be detected. When it is remem- 

 bered that the original describers worked with spirit-preserved 

 specimens of the bottom, the inference seems fair that Bathybius 

 and the amorphous sulphate of lime are identical^ and that in placing 

 it amongst living things the descrihers committed a,n error " *. 



We next come face to face with the opinion (somewhat distracting, 

 it will be admitted),^regarding the organic matter said to be diffused, 

 as a kind of providentially served " broth " f, for the nourishment 

 of the entire mass of the deep-sea Protozoa. On this point Messrs. 

 Carpenter, Jeffreys, and Thomson wrote as follows in 18G9 : — " But 

 the most novel and important feature in these analyses is the large 

 quantity of organic matter indicated by them as universally present 

 in the water of the open ocean, at great distances from land, and at 

 all depths " ^. 



Lastly, the following is Mr. Buchanan's commentary, published 

 in 1876, on the last-mentioned remarkable fact : — " In connexion 

 with carbonic acid, I may mention that I have frequently tested 

 waters, and especially bottom- water, for organic matter. None of 

 the methods in use for determining this substance in drinking-water 

 giving satisfaction when applied to sea- water, I had to content 

 myself with endeavouring to detect its presence. If the jelly-like 

 organism which had been seen by some eminent naturalists in spe- 

 cimens of ocean-bottom, and called Bathybius, really formed, as was 

 believed, an all-pervading organic covering of the sea-bottom, it 

 could hardly fail to show itself when the bottom-water was evapo- 

 rated to dryness and the residue heated. In the numerous samples 

 of bottom-water ivhicJi I have so examined^ there never luas sufficient 

 organic matter to give more than a just perceptible greyish tinge to the 

 residue, without any other signs of carbonizing or burning^^ §. 



These extracts, it will, I think, be admitted, speak for themselves, 

 and will be regarded by all who carefully peruse them as fully 

 bearing out the following conclusions : — (1st) that there is no such 

 living independent entity as BatJiybius ; (2nd) that the substance 

 which received this appellation is undoubtedly sponge-protoplasm ; 

 and (3rd) that this sponge-protoplasm is almost universally distri- 

 buted over those areas of the abyssal ocean that are occupied by the 

 calcareous mud. 



As regards "the identity of the amorphous sulphate of lime and 

 Bathybius,^^ as maintained by Mr. Buchanan, I have only to say 

 that I do not for a moment call in question the fact of an amorphous 

 condition of sulphate of lime being generated in sea- water, or muddy 



* Proc. Eoy. Soc, (' Challenger ' Reports) vol. xxiv. no. 170, pp. 630, 531. 



t Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. xxiii. no. 159, for Feb. 1875, p. 238. 



X Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. xviii. no. 121, for Nov. 1869, p. 476. 



§ Proc. Roy. Soc. (' Challenger ' Reports) vol. xxiv. no. 170, p. 605. 



