78 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



IJetween Yokohama an.l Honolulu the depth is remarkably uni- 

 form, averaging 2,858 fathoms, and the material of the i)ottom is^' 

 Report lor 1875 — is illustrated hy a map and also a plate contaifi- 

 ing two views of the Mountain. The views, taken at distances of 

 53 and 24 miles, evidently have the vertical scales very greatly in- 

 creased, as compared wdth the horizontal, but how much is not 



3. ISea-hottom and Zoology of the deep sea: the Challenger's 

 Observations ; by Wtville Thomson. — A gigantic Hydroid was 

 obtained June 17th, in the North Pacific, 34° 37' X., 140° 32' K, 

 at a depth of 1,875 fathoms, where the temperature was 1°"7 C. and 

 the bottom gray mud. The species seemed to belong to Monocau- 

 lon of Sars, a Corymorpha-like solitary polyp ; it measured from 

 tip to tip of the expanded tentacles 9 inches, and the height of 

 the hydroid was 7 feet 4 inches. Another was taken July 5, in 

 37° 41' N., 177° 4' W., at 2,900 fathoms, the bottom red clay, but 

 with manganese nodules, the weight of which tore the trawl. The 

 hydroid is too delicate in texture to bear the rough change from the 

 bottom to the surface. The tentacles of the proximal range are 

 about 100 in number and 4 inches long. The sporosacs are in 

 close tufts at the base of the tentacles. This gigantic (Jorymor- 

 pAoiV? was associated on June 17th, with Ophidoids, Macrurids, 

 Scopellids, several Gasteropods, Crustaceans related to Borippe, 

 Galathen, (JaHdids, and a fine t^calpellum, a few Annelids, many 

 Echinoderms {Brisinga, Phormosoma, Opjhiurids, Holothiirids), 

 and on July 15th, there were some Ajjhroditids, a sea-urchin 

 related to Diadema, Holothurids, sponges. 



The clayey material of the bottom, brought up June 17, was in 

 a peculiar concretionary state, and bored by an Annelid of the 

 Aphrodite group, some of which were still in the bui-rows. 



In a sounding of June 28th, of 2,800 fathoms, a Rhizopod-like 

 form was obtained, between the Radiolarians and the Foramini- 

 fers, its test siliceous as in the former, but the shape as in the 

 latter ; their tests were extremely abundant in the " red-clay." 

 There were also obtained a IScalpellum, a number of Annelids, 

 Echinoderms of the genera Pourtalesia, Archaster, Brisinga, 

 A/)tedou, a Cornularia, specimens of Fungia symmetrica, some 

 Actini'v. On July 2d, in 2,050 fathoms, the bottom was a light 

 brownish ooze, with many Glohigerina shells; several specimens 

 of an undescribed Hyalonenia were brought up. 



The cold water which fills up the trough of the Pacific is 

 regarded by Professor Thomson " an indraught from the Southern 

 fSea," as in the Atlantic ; and in both oceans the bottom water is 

 constantly moving northward. The temperature of the water for 

 the first thousand fathoms in the Pacific, in the corresponding 

 latitude of 35° N., is much lower than in the Atlantic. Further, 

 in the Atlantic the temperature sinks gradually, though very 

 slightly, through the last thousand fathoms to the bottom, while 

 in the Pacific, the minimum temperature of 1 *7 C. is reached at a 

 depth not greater than 1,400 fathoms, and from that depth to the 

 bottom the temperature is the same. 



