PROOEBDINGS 
thiol BtinwMtf ^Qtitty. 
i. 
Temperature and Life in the Deep Sea, being some Account of 
the Deep-Sea Dredging Expedition in H.M.S. Porcupine, in the 
Summer op 1869. 
By Wm. Lant Carpenter, B.A., B.Sc, a Member of the Expedition. 
Communicated at the General Meetings held on Sept. 2, 1869, 
and Feb 3, 1870. 
The earliest known notice of the existence of animal life at great 
depths in the sea was reported by the present President of the Royal 
Society, General Sir Edward Sabine, who in 1818 accompanied Captain 
(afterwards Sir John) Eoss on one of his Arctic expeditions. At a 
depth of 1000 fathoms (6000 feet) from the surface of the sea there were 
obtained, in the operation of sounding, two or three marine animals — a 
star-fish and some small worms. The next observation of any moment 
was afforded by the report of the late Prof. Edward Forbes on his 
observations in the iEgean Sea. Mr. Forbes was only able to obtain 
animals at a depth not exceeding 230 fathoms, and the result of his 
observations led him to the belief that beyond 300 fathoms there was 
no life existing at all. The difficulties in these investigations were so 
great, and Prof. E. Forbes occupied so prominent a position as a naturalist, 
that this conclusion was for a long time universally accepted. About 
the same period Sir James Ross, in an Antarctic expedition, obtained 
animals at a considerable depth, 400 fathoms. In 1855, it fell to the lot 
of Professor Bailey, of the United States, to examine the produce of a 
series of soundings (upon a very small portion of the sea bed) taken at 
great depths in the Atlantic, 2000 fathoms or upwards. He came to 
the conclusion, from microscopic examination, that a number of animals, 
chiefly of minute size, lived at the bottom of the sea. In 1860, during the 
