286 Life in the Deep Sea. 



in his Origin and Succession of Life on the Earth, expresses the 

 belief that at 300 fathoms life is extinct, thus completely 

 ignoring the 800 fathoms sounding from which Sir John Ross 

 brought up a caput medusce, and the various creatures he 

 obtained at a somewhat smaller depth. 



In science, as in other spheres of human activity, au unrea- 

 soning credulity often follows an equally unreasonable scepticism, 

 and we are glad to notice that Dr. YV^allich, while laudably 

 anxious as " King of the Deep Sea," to increase the number 

 of his subjects, boldly resists arguments in their favour, which 

 although tempting are not conclusive. Thus Professor Ehren- 

 berg assumed that the presence of undecomposed fleshy matter 

 (sarcode) in foramenifera, whose shells were found at very 

 great depths, was a proof that they had been alive in the 

 situation in which they were discovered ; but Dr. Wallich 

 demonstrates the fallacy of this reasoning, although he expects 

 its conclusion will ultimately prove to be correct, and that 

 hereafter specimens will be obtained whose vital movements will 

 leave the question in no doubt. 



Before examining the circumstances under which deep sea 

 organisms live, we will advert the most startling acquisitions 

 which Dr. Wallich made, especially to his famous starfish hawl. 

 He tells us the sounding was taken in lat. 59° 27' JST. ; long. 

 26° 41' E., about halfway between Cape Farewell and the north- 

 west coast of Ireland. The depth was 1260 fathoms, and 

 " adhering to the last fifty fathoms of the line, which had rested 

 on the ground for several moments, were thirteen Ophiocomce, 

 varying in diameter across the arms from two to five inches. " 

 These animals moved their arms after reaching the deck. The 

 starfishes so remarkably obtained appeared to be living in the 

 midst of their "normal haunts." In their digestive cavity was 

 found a quantity of fresh-looking globigerinas, and they seem to 

 have been associated with creatures of a still higher type. Thus 

 we read " in these soundings (including that in which the star- 

 fishes were obtained) taken in the undermentioned positions 

 and depths,— namely, lat. 59° 27' N., long. 26° 41' W., depth 1260 

 fathoms; lat. 58° 23' K, long. 48" 50' W., depth 1913 fathoms; 

 and lat. 56° 43' K, long. 11° 55' W., depth 1268 fathoms,— 

 many cylindrical tubes occurred, varying from one-eighth to one- 

 half an inch in length, and from one-fiftieth to one-seventieth of 

 an inch in diameter. These were built up almost exclusively of 

 small globigerine shells, and still more minute calcareous 

 debris cemented together. Two or three such tubes were 

 found by me in each of these soundings ; but I failed to extract 

 the animals from them in a sufficiently perfect condition to 

 admit of identification. I am nevertheless able to state posi- 

 tively that the tubes contained some species of Annelid, and 



