106 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 
ment for studying the physical conditions of 
the great depths, and obtaining specimens of 
the animals that inhabit them. 
THE “CHALLENGER” EXPEDITION 
The first great expedition was that of the 
Challenger (1872-76), which may be called a 
Columbus voyage, since it practically discov- 
ered a New World—the world of the Deep 
Sea. During three and a half years the Chal- 
lenger circumnavigated the globe, cruising 
over 68,900 nautical miles. The naturalist in 
charge was Sir Wyville Thomson, and the staff 
included Mr. John Murray (the late Sir John 
Murray) and Mr. J. Y. Buchanan. Reaching 
down with the long arm of the dredge, the ex- 
plorers raised treasures from over 300 stations. 
The results of this great expedition were pub- 
lished under Sir John Murray’s editorship in 
fifty quarto volumes. These form the firm foun- 
dations of oceanography—the science of the sea. 
It was at first expected that many of the 
deep-sea animals would be quite different from 
those living in shallower waters, and would re- 
semble older types now known only as fossils, 
but with few exceptions this did not prove to 
