first part of the work under the direction of Mr Gwyn Jeffries to 
complete his sketch of the condition and fauna of the North 
Atlantic ; and directed attention to the entirely exceptional con- 
ditions of temperature and animal life observed by Dr Carpenter in 
the Mediterranean as compared with the outer ocean. 
In the whole life of Thomson, notwithstanding his vivid ap- 
preciation and accurate descriptions of the most minute details of 
structure necessary for the determination of new species, and for 
allotting them their proper position in nature, he never allowed 
himself to be dragged down to the level of a mere collector, accumu- 
lating myriads of individual objects and cataloguing them. He 
invariably rose superior to details, and, subordinating them as 
merely means for arriving at just conclusions regarding the physical 
and vital characters of the earth and its living freight in long past 
ages or the present time, he devoted his best thoughts to the con- 
sideration of the means by which great results might be achieved. 
The idea that either individual or even imperial aid was necessary 
neither occasioned him anxiety nor- discouraged him ; lie resolutely 
set forth the conditions, showed how important results could be 
arrived at, and the means never failed him. 
His discussion of the effects of the Gulf Stream on the climate of 
the coasts of Northern Europe, in comparison with the influence of 
any possible general ocean circulation, is a good illustration of bis 
wide and powerful grasp of natural phenomena bearing on any par- 
ticular point. He had measured in the North Atlantic the extent 
of the warm and cold areas of water, and recognised the fauna 
which are proper to each ; he had determined the existence of the 
vast layer of cold water, 1500 fathoms thick, at the bottom of the 
Bay of Biscay, and that the temperature there at 1230 fathoms from 
the surface is the same as that of the bottom off Rockall ; he saw 
that, whilst the communication of the North Atlantic and the Arctic 
Sea is restricted, the communication with the Antarctic basin is, as 
he describes it “ open as the day,” — a continuous and wide valley, 
upwards of 2000 fathoms in depth, stretching northwards along the 
western coasts of Africa and Europe ; and then pointed out how 
much less startling than it appears at first sight is the suggestion 
that the cold water filling deep ocean valleys in the northern hemi- 
sphere may be partly derived from the southern. He calls to mind 
