70 NOTES ON DEEP SEA SOUNDINGS. 



Further it is suggested that fresh species are found as the depth 

 increases, and in increasing numbers, and of larger size ; and that 

 if the depth be enormously increased the red clay must be 

 swamped, aud masked by the Eadiolarian shells. 



These references are necessarily limited ; but enough has been 

 quoted to excite surprise at these revelations respecting the in- 

 habitants of the ocean, and at the marvellous fact that creatures 

 so minute can exist and carry on the functions of life under such 

 pressure as they must be subjected to. 



Professor Huxley, in his communication to Nature, admits 

 that Professor Wyville Thomson and his Staff have not been able 

 to discover what he calls Bathybius, and that it is " seriously sus- 

 pected" that the said Bathybius "is little more than sulphate of 

 lime precipitated in a flocculent state from the sea water by the 

 strong alcohol in which the specimens of the deep sea soundings 

 which he examined were preserved." 



Much to his credit, Dr. Huxley adds : — " Since I am mainly 

 responsible for the mistake, if it be one, of introducing this sin- 

 gular substance into the list of living things, I think I shall err 

 on the right side in attaching even greater weight than he (Pro- 

 fessor Thomson) does to the view which he suggests." 



As many persons do not know what was meant by the term 

 Bathybius, it may be instructive to quote a passage or two from 

 Professor Wyville Thomson, who thus describes it in " The 

 Depths of the Sea," p.p. 409-415. 



"The dredging at 2,435 fathoms at the mouth of the Bay of 



Biscay gave a very fair idea of the bottom of the sea over an 



enormous area, as we know from many observations which have 



now been made, with the various sounding instruments contrived 



to bring up a sample of the bottom. On that occasion the 



dredge brought up about 1\ cwt. of calcareous mud." 



# # # # # # # 



" In this dredging, as in most others in the bed of the Atlantic, 

 there was evidence of a considerable quantity of soft gelatinous 

 organic matter, enough to give a slight viscosity to the mud of 

 the surface layer. If the mud be shaken with weak spirit of 

 wine, fine flakes separate like coagulated mucus, and if a little 

 of the mud in which this viscid condition is most marked be 

 placed in a drop of sea water under the microscope, we can 

 usually see, after a time, an irregular network of matter resem- 

 bling white of egg, distinguishable by its maintaining its outline 

 and not mixing with the water. This net work may be seen 

 gradually altering in form, and entangled granules and foreign 

 bodies change their relative positions. The gelatinous matter is 

 therefore capable of a certain amount of movement, and there 

 can be no doubt that it manifests the phenomena of a very 

 simple form of life. 



