xxxiiiA] EXCURSIONS AND EXAMINATIONS 409 



Q. II. Iceberg is a mass of ice formed in the polar regions and 

 generally connected with volcanoes. 



Q. II. Icebergs are formed by geysers shooting up in the air out of 

 the sea and frozen there. 



In reply to a question as to deep dredging in the Atlantic 

 the following answers were given : — 



Q. IS- The depth of the water of the Atlantic is measured by large 

 things called ravines. The depth is 90,000,000 miles. Gold is found at 

 the bottom. 



Q. IS' The matter found at the bottom of the Atlantic is copper, 

 pearls, and diamonds. 



Q. 15. The material found by deep dredging in the Atlantic is — the 

 Atlantic canal or cable. 



The question being, " What is meant by the distribution 

 of plants and animals in vertical and horizontal space, and 

 what do you understand by representative forms ? " — I have 

 notes of the four following answers : — 



(1) Horizontal distribution is when they grow near the horizon ; 

 vertical distribution is when they grow in vertical space, as wheat, or 

 anything on the same level. 



(2) Plants grow in gardens, animals live on the earth. 



(3) By distribution of plants and animals in vertical and horizontal 

 space, we mean, the plants and animals in the distance between pointed 

 and curved lines. 



(4) Representative forms of animals and plants is, how they are 

 represented in books. 



In 1878 I had some good examples of the kind of answer 

 in which the candidate evidently has a very high opinion of 

 his own attainments and his mode of explaining the whole 

 matter. The question was, " In what respects do a volcano 

 and a geyser resemble each other, and in what respects do 

 they differ ? " The answer is rather a long one : — 



A volcano is a raised piece of land in about a thousand years, then in 

 another thousand years it has become larger and larger till it becomes 

 as high as would be called a volcano. But a geyser is a raised piece of 

 land done all in a night. 



Difference, The volcano takes a long long time to be at the point of 

 saturation, but the geyser is done all in one night. 



