172 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. IV., No. 



are the most degraded in organization, and inhabit 

 the bottoms of all depths. Foraminifera are so plenty 

 at some points, that Mr. Schlumberger has counted 



Fig. 3. — Thermometric curves, and corresponding 

 depths of the ocean-bed. 



more than a hundred thousand of them in a cubic 

 centimetre of mire. They live at the bottom of the 

 ocean, and not, as formerly supposed, at the surface; 

 and the accumulations from their tests (see fig. 2) 



In 1868, during a cruise of the Porcupine, Mr. 

 (jarpenter and Sir Wyville Thomson discovered, 

 among the particles of lime brought up by the dredge, 

 a sort of jelly which made very slow movements. 

 Within it were calcareous corpuscles of peculiar 

 shape, which some naturalists thought to be the prod- 

 ucts of the protoplasm itself, while others thought 

 it the debris of calcareous algae. Huxley called it 

 Bathybius Haeckeli. This discovery caused a great 

 sensation; and it was questioned whether this living 

 slime did not at certain periods undergo evolu- 

 tion, and then give rise to new creatures. Wyville 

 Thomson could not find Bathybius, and it was dis- 

 covered that previous observers had been deceived 

 by a chemical reaction. The supposed Monera was 

 nothing more than a simple gelatinous precipitate 

 of sulphate of lime, as it forms when concentrated 

 alcohol is turned into sea-water. The mode of pres- 

 ervation of the lime had created Bathybius. 



Here the general description of the results of the 

 cruise of the Talisman is brought to a close. Yet I 

 have thought it would be interesting to show the 

 result of our researches on temperatures at great 

 depths; and I have drawn two curves (fig. 3), the 

 upper showing the thermometric records, the lower 

 the corresponding depths. On examination it will 

 be noticed that they do not always agree. Thus the 

 lowest temperature we found was at 3,482 metres, 

 while it was a little higher at 5,000 and 6,000 metres. 

 From this the importance of deep currents, and the 

 part they play in the distribution of life in the ocean, 

 may be judged. 



Another curve (fig. 4), drawn by Mr. Milne- 

 Edwards, shows the profile of the bottom of the sea 

 between the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores, on 

 the one hand, and between these islands and France, 

 on the other. Our relief differs considerably from 

 that indicated on the German charts recently pub- 

 lished (see dotted line). 



KOREAN CURIOS. 



du Cap Vert <* lies Azores 



\ 5* Antonio 



FRANCE. 

 Rochefort 



Chassiron 



Fig. 4. — Profile of the ocean-bottom traversed by the Talisman 



make what is termed the ' Globigerina ooze,' and will 

 form, in the course of time, beds like those of certain 

 geological horizons of the tertiary of Europe. 



Possibly the most curious things in the possession 

 of the Korean embassy, which recently visited the 

 United States, were two thumb-rings (fig. 1), worn 

 by the Prince Min Yong Ik one at a time, and usually 

 on the thumb of the right hand, apparently rather 

 more as an object to play with than 

 as an ornament. 



One of them, supposed by the 

 prince to be jade, was found, on ex- 

 amination, to be serpentine; hard- 

 ness [4.5, and specific gravity 2.62. 

 It was'white in color, with an oily 

 lustre, and had on it a number of 

 small brown stainings resembling an 

 oxidation of iron. In the centre of 

 each spot, apparently forming a nu- 

 cleus, was a small, dendritic, moss- 

 like marking. This ring measured 34 millimetres 

 across the opening,' the width of the opening being 22 

 millimetres. Its length was 28.5 millimetres. One 



