8 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. IV., No. 74. 



was reached. Nevertheless, a large audience 

 of chemists was interested and instructed by 

 the discussion, and chemistry was benefited. 



It would lead too far to attempt to give an 

 account of all that Wurtz has done for chem- 

 istry. In addition to the epoch-making con- 

 tributions mentioned, his synthesis of neurine, 

 his methods for the synthesis of hydrocarbons 

 and of the acids of carbon, his method for the 

 transformation of sulphuric acids into phenols, 

 and investigations on the condensation of alde- 

 hydes, are all worthy of much more than ordi- 

 nary mention. He has also been a prolific 

 writer of excellent books on chemistiy, some 

 of which are recognized as standards ; and he 

 has been an editor of journals of chemistry, 

 his name being found at present on the title- 

 pages of the Annates de chimie et de physique 

 and the Bulletin de la Societe chimique. The 

 titles of his principal books are included in the 

 following list : Sur l'insalubrite des residues 

 provenant des distilleries, 1859 ; Lecons de 

 philosophic chimique, 1864 ; Traite" elemen- 

 taire de chimie medicale, 1864-65 ; Lecons 

 elementaires cle chimie moderne, 1866-68 ; the 

 Dictionnaire de chimie pure et appliquee, which 

 appeared in parts, beginning in 1868 ; Traite 

 de chimie biologique, vol. i., 1880; and The 

 atomic theory, one of the volumes of the In- 

 ternational scientific series. His Elements of 

 chemistry has been translated into English, 

 and has reached a second edition in this coun- 

 try. His writings are clear, vigorous, and in- 

 teresting. His fairness as a historian has been 

 questioned ; and it must be conceded that his 

 enthusiasm occasionally led him to what calmer 

 men are inclined to regard as incorrect judg- 

 ment, expressed in strong language. One of 

 his remarks, which naturally aroused the ire of 

 the Germans, is the much-quoted phrase with 

 which he introduced his dictionary : "La 

 chimie est une science francaise : elle fut con- 

 stitute par Lavoisier, d'immortelle m^moire." 



In 1865, on the recommendation of the 

 Acadenry of sciences, Wurtz was awarded the 

 imperial biennial prize of twent}' thousand 

 francs. In 1867 he succeeded Pelouze as a 

 member of the chemical section of the Acad- 

 enry of sciences. In 1878 he received the Far- 

 aday medal from the Royal society of England, 

 on the occasion of his being invited to deliver 

 the Faraday lecture before the English chemi- 

 cal society. In 1881 he was honored with an 

 appointment as senator for life in the French 

 senate. 



Imperfect as this sketch is, it will at least 

 serve to show that Wurtz occupied a command- 

 ing position among chemists of the present. 



His loss is a serious blow to science, and espe- 

 cially to the progress of chemistry in France. 

 It will be hard to find a successor possessing 

 his energ3 r and ability. Dumas died a month 

 ago, after having reached a good old age, 

 and after he had ceased to work actively ; and 

 while, now that he is gone, we more clearly 

 recognize his greatness, we can nevertheless 

 more readily reconcile ourselves to his loss 

 than to that of Wurtz, who seemed still to 

 belong to the younger generation, capable of 

 guiding others for years to come, and of add- 

 ing to his former brilliant discoveries. 



RESULTS OF DREDGINGS IN THE GULF- 

 STREAM REGION BY THE U. S. FISH- 

 COMMISSION 1 



6. Evidences of the existence of light at great 

 depths in the sea. 



The evidences of the presence of light and 

 its qualit3 r and source at great depths are of 

 much interest. At present very little experi- 

 mental knowledge in regard to these questions 

 is available. That light of some kind, and in 

 considerable amount, actually exists at depths 

 below two thousand fathoms, may be regarded 

 as certain. This is shown by the presence of 

 well-developed e}-es in most of the fishes, all 

 of the cephalopods, most of the decapod Crus- 

 tacea, and in some species of other groups. 

 In man}- of these animals, living in two thou- 

 sand to three thousand fathoms, and even 

 deeper than that, the eyes are relatively larger 

 than in the allied shallow-water species ; in 

 others the e3'es differ little, if any, in size and 

 appearance, from the eyes of corresponding 

 shallow- water forms ; in certain other cases, 

 especially among the lower tribes, the eyes are 

 either rudimentary or wanting in groups of 

 which the shallow-water representatives have 

 eyes of some sort. This last condition is not- 

 able among the deep-water gastropods, which 

 are mostly blind : but many of these are prob- 

 ably burrowing species ; and it may be that the 

 prevalent extreme softness of the ooze of the 

 bottom, and the general burrowing habits, are 

 connected directly with the absence or rudi- 

 mentary condition of the eyes in many species 

 belonging to different classes, including Crus- 

 tacea and fishes. Such blind species usually 

 have highly developed tactile organs to com- 

 pensate for lack of vision. 



Other important facts bearing directly, not 

 only on the existence, but on the quality, of the 

 light, are those connected with the coloration 



1 See Science, Nos. 16, 19, 27. 



