CHAPTER XVII 
THE CHALLENGER 
* Fair beams the torch of science in thine hand. 
And sheds its brightness o’er the glimmering land.” 
— E. B. Browning. 
RISTOTLE is said to have been the first marine 
biologist, at any rate he described a great number of 
the denizens of the zEgean waters, and the lantern-like 
dental apparatus of the sea-urchin is called Aristotle's 
Lantern to this day. Far back as the time is when Aris- 
totle studied the sea-creatures of the Greek Archipelago, 
we have to go all that way if we wish to trace to its origin 
the line of thought which first brought steam to the Ant- 
When the study of marine zoology began to revive in 
modern times the domain of the naturalist was for cen- 
turies restricted to the shore between tide marks, unless 
when rare occasions served and he was young and bold, 
he voyaged with the fishing boats and made great booty 
of their “ rubbish.” With the exception of some shark 
fishers off the coast of Portugal who brought up by 
their deep-sea lines some siliceous sponges rivalling in 
beauty the “ Venus's flower basket,” even the adventurers 
in boats were limited to shallow waters near the shore. 
After the naturalist borrowed and adapted the imple- 
ments of the oyster dredger and the trawler he still fixed 
his attention on shallow water, collecting mainly within 
what he knew as the littoral zone. He ascertained that 
arctic. 
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