186 



Dr. J. Gwyn JeJffreys on the 



[June 15_, 



our meridian. "We have had a mere glimpse o£ that " wonderland " 

 which underlies the vast ocean ; and our curiosity is very far from being 

 satisfied, especially as regards the arctic seas. It is a new world, full 

 of interest not only to naturalists but to oA^ery man of science. 



Although we have of late years done a great deal to promote sub- 

 marine researches, as show^n by the expeditions of H.M.SS. 'Lightning,' 

 ' Porcupine,' ' Shearwater,' ' Challenger,' and ' Valorous,' our compara- 

 tively poor neighbours in Scandinavia have been earlier in the field and 

 not less energetic. From the ' Notices sur la Suede,' published on the 

 occasion of the International Congress of Geographical Sciences in 1875 

 at Paris, it appears that between the years 1837 and 1875 seventeen 

 scientific expeditions were made from Sweden, of which fifteen explored 

 the arctic regions. Professors Loven, Torell, and Nordenskiold, with 

 other distinguished naturalists, took an active part in these expeditions. 

 The sister kingdom of Norway has now engaged in the same course of 

 discovery ; and a well-equipped Government expedition has within the 

 last few days set out from Bergen, with the view of examining the region 

 of sea surface and bottom bounded by Norway, the Shetlands, Faroes, 

 Iceland, East Greenland, Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen. This will be 

 done during the present and the next year or two. Dr. G. 0. Sars (son 

 of the late Professor Sars and a zoologist of great reputation) is the 

 naturalist in charge of the Norwegian expedition ; and the harvest is 

 sure to be abundant and valuable. 



But after all it must be borne in mind that if every civilized nation 

 in the world were every year during the next century to send out similar 

 expeditions, with improved appliances for exploring the sea-bed, the 

 field would be far from being exhausted. E^'-ery such expedition must 

 be more or less tentative, and can only form the basis for a more com- 

 plete investigation of " the deep bosom of the ocean." The area of this 

 must be measured by many millions of square leagues ; whereas all that 

 has hitherto been eltected has been to scrape in an imperfect mo.nner the 

 surface of a few scores of acres. 



My attention has been directed exclusively to the MoUusca. Indeed 

 I could not have prepared this Eeport but for the valuable assistance 

 which has been kindly given me by naturalists who have specially 

 studied other groups of the marine Invertebrata. Mr. Norman has worked 

 out the Crustacea, Tunicata, Polyzoa, Echinodermata, Actinozoa, Eorami- 

 nifera, Polycystina, and Sponges, Dr. M'Intosh the Annelida, Professor 

 AUman the Hydrozoa, Professor Duncan the Corals, and Professor Dickie 

 the Diatoms. Dr. Carpenter has undertaken the report of the physical 

 results, and to complete the examination of the Eoraminifera. 



