6 THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. [chap. i. 



to the distribution of marine forms. The remainder 

 of the book is a continuation by his friend Mr. Godwin 

 Austen, for before it was finished an early death had 

 cut short the career of the most accomplished and 

 original naturalist of his time. 



I will give a brief sketch of the general results to 

 which Forbes was led by his labours, and I shall 

 have to point out hereafter, that although we are 

 now inclined to look somewhat differently on certain 

 very fundamental points, and although recent inves- 

 tigations with better appliances and more extended 

 experience have invalidated many of his conclusions, 

 to Forbes is due the credit of having been the first to 

 treat these questions in a broad philosophical sense, 

 and to point out that the only means of acquiring a 

 true knowledge of the rationale of the distribution of 

 our present fauna, is to make ourselves acquainted 

 with its history, to connect the present with the past. 

 This is the direction which must be taken by futiu'e 

 inquiry. Forbes, as a pioneer in this line of research, 

 w^as scarcely in a position to appreciate the full value 

 of his work. Every year adds enormously to our 

 stock of data, and every new fact indicates more 

 clearly the brilliant results which are to be obtained 

 by following his methods, and by emulating his 

 enthusiasm and his indefatigable industry. 



Forbes believed implicitly, along with nearly all the 

 leading naturalists of his time, in the immutability 

 of species. He says (Natural History of the British 

 Seas, p. 8), "Every true species presents in its indi- 

 viduals, certain features, specific characters, which 

 distinguish it from every other species ; as if the 

 Creator had set an exclusive mark or seal on each 



