182 



Dr. Carpenter's Preliminary Report [Dec. 17, 



" IV. On the one hand the conditions prevailing near the surface of the 

 ocean render it possible for organisms to subside after death to the greatest 

 depths, provided every portion of their structure is freely pervious to fluid. 

 On the other hand, the conditions prevailing at great depths render it im- 

 possible for organisms still constituted to live under them to rise to the 

 surface, or for the remains of these organisms after death to make their 

 appearance in shallow water. 



"V. The discovery of even a single species living normally at great 

 depths warrants the inference that the deep sea has its own special fauna, 

 and that it has always had it in ages past ; and hence that many fossili- 

 ferous strata, heretofore regarded as having been deposited in comparatively 

 shallow water, have heen deposited at great depth" *. 



In 1861 the very important fact was made public by M. Alphonse 

 Milne-Edwards f, that when the Submarine Telegraph- cable between 

 Sardinia and Algiers was taken up for repair, several living Polyparies 

 and Mollusks were attached to portions of it which had been submerged 

 to a depth of from 2000 to 2800 metres, or from 1093 to 15/7 fathoms. 

 Of these, some had been previously considered very rare, or had been 

 altogether unknown ; whilst others were only known in a fossil state 

 as belonging to the Fauna of the later Tertiaries of the Mediterranean 

 basin. 



In the Swedish Expedition to Spitzbergen in 1861, a compact mass of 

 clay was brought up from 1400 fathoms by the " M'Clintock apparatus," 

 the temperature of the interior of which was found to be 32°* 5 [0 o, 3 Cent.], 

 the temperature of the surface-water being 39°'2 [4° Cent]. "Notwith- 

 standing this low degree of warmth, there were found several marine 

 animals of different types and classes — amongst others a moderately large 

 Polyparium, probably belonging to the Hydroid class, a bivalved Mussel, 

 some Tunicata attached to the Polyparium, and one Crustacean of bright 

 colours "J. 



Of the very important researches which have been subsequently carried 

 on by Prof. Sars of Christiania and his Son, we knew little more, when we 

 proceeded on our own cruise, than is stated in Prof. Wyville Thomson's 

 letter (Appendix). But I have since learned from the recently published 

 Report §, which Prof. Sars has been good enough to transmit to me, that 

 their Dredgings have ranged between 200 and 450 fathoms, and that no 

 fewer than 427 species have been collected within this range, which he 

 classifies as follows : — 



* North-Atlantic Sea-Bed, p. 3 55. 



f Ann ales des Sciences 2fatureU.es, ser. 4, Zool. torn. xv. p. 149. 



% See a letter from Christiania, signed M. R. B., in the ' Athenaeum ' for December 7, 

 1861. — I have not been able to meet witb further information in regard to this interesting 

 occurrence. 



§ Fortsatte Bemaerkninger over det dyriske Livs Udbredning i Havets Dybder, af M. 

 Sars. (Seerskilt aftrykt af Vidensk.-Selsk. Forhandlinger for 1868.) 



