[The 10th. ] THE VARIOUS EXPLANATIONS. A407 
ever alternative decretic may be inclined to profer. The first notice 
transmitted by an English gentleman, holding a responsible ap- 
pointment under the crown in one of our transatlantic dependen- 
cies, is calculated to supply any deficiency on the part of the new 
hemisphere, so far as a faithful representation of what was sub- 
mitted to the eye alone may remain a desideration. But for the 
resolution manifested in this periodical to allow the question a fair 
hearing on its sterling merits, there can be little doubt that this 
testimony, would not have been forthcoming; like in all probability, 
more of the same ingenious stamp, which the unwillingness of the 
principals to oppose the current of public opinion, directly propor- 
tioned to the value of the character they run the risk of compro- 
mizing for no obvious use, induces them to withhold.” 
“But it may be asked, how it is possible to explain the circum- 
stance of these monstra natantia being encountered no farther South 
than about the sixtieth or fifty-fifth parallel on the European boun- 
dery, while in the American water their domain approaches so 
much nearer the Equator, as Nova Scotia (or New Scotland) and 
New England? By a curious and happy coincidence, of like signi- 
ficance to many that are constantly springing up to confirm the 
results of independent research, such for instance as the print of 
the piscivorous gavials in a prior leaf of the “Stonebook” to the 
mammalivorous crocodiles; it happens that precisely a line swerving 
from Norway in a southerly direction to Massachusetts is the boun- 
dery likewise of other marine animals of corresponding types. Among 
the divisions of the North Atlantic, recently marked out by Pro- 
fessor Edward Forbes as determined by the presence of similar 
forms of animal life, occurs what is called the “arctic and boreal’ 
province, which “sweeps across the northernmost part of the North 
Atlantic from Europe, extending down the coast of North America 
as far as Massachusetts, but nothing like so far on the European 
side as the American.” (Lecture at the Royal Institution, May 
14, 1847).” 
“Thus copiously backed by the most affirmative evidence, both 
positive and circumstantial, all contributing to establish the lawful 
claim to entity, the “great unknown” of the North Atlantic has 
still to overcome the strong feeling of discredit so widely associated 
with his past history, before he can hope to be understood as 
seriously claiming to be a subject of the animal kingdom. If men 
of the highest name in science condescend to notice him at all, 
it is most probably with a smile at the expense of what they con- 
