50 



ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



are still found flourishing in the frigid recesses 

 of the Arctic Ocean. 



The uniformity of the fauna of the Arctic regions, 

 is such, that in default of information from the 

 European side of the ocean, we may turn, without 

 much danger of error, to the seas of Arctic America. 

 Systematic observations on the distribution of animal 

 life in depth, are greatly to be desiderated from 

 these seas ; and, if ever (there are those who still 

 hold hope) Sir John Franklin and his brave com- 

 panions return to us, we may expect such informa- 

 tion. My very dear friend, Mr. Harry Goodsir, 

 sailed in H.M.S. Erebus as assistant-surgeon and 

 naturalist. No more able or better qualified person 

 could have been chosen for the scientific duties to 

 which his attention was directed. He had already, 

 though very young, gained a high reputation for 

 his researches among marine animals, and had 

 especially investigated the more critical and unpre- 

 sentable tribes. He entered upon the dreary and 

 dangerous voyage filled with scientific zeal and 

 determined, among other inquiries, to prosecute a 

 series of dredging observations, and to keep full 

 records of the results. In a letter which T received 

 from him when the ships were at Disco, on the west 

 coast of Greenland (70° N. lat.), he dilates enthu- 

 siastically on the prospects of his Arctic studies, 

 the promise held out by some observations he had 

 already succeeded in making, and the zeal and delight 

 with which all his companions, officers, and crew, 



