864 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
sur 1’ Agulhas Bank, la cote E. du Japon, la cdte d’Espagne, la cote 
E. d 7 Australie, la cote du Chili, entre les lies Falkland et l’em- 
bouchure de la Plata ; puis par l 7 expedition allemande de la Gazelle 
aussi sur l’Agulhas Bank ; par l’expedition americaine du Blake * 
sur la cote atlantique de FAmerique du Nord et dans le Detroit de 
Floride, plus tard (1898-1899) par l’expedition allemande de la 
Valdivia f sur F Agulhas Bank, et dernierement par Alexandre 
Agassiz sur les cotes du Pacifique nord. Nous devons aj outer a 
ces collections Fimmense materiel envoye de F Agulhas Bank par 
le “ Department of Agriculture 77 du Cap et qui vient confirmer la 
theorie que Sir John Murray donnait en 1898. 
Comme le montre le dit memoire ces grands ecarts de tempera- 
ture de Feau de surface amenent dans les regions precitees une 
immense destruction d’animaux qui a ete specialement observee 
sur la cdte atlantique de FAmerique du Nord et dans le Detroit de 
Floride. Sir John dit: “During 1880 and 1881, Professor 
Yerrill dredged along the Gulf Stream slope, obtaining in this 
warm belt, as he terms it, many species of invertebrates character- 
istic of more southern localities. In 1882 the same species were 
scarce, or totally absent from places where they had previously 
been abundant, and this, taken in connection with the occurrence 
of heavy northerly gales and the presence of much inshore ice at 
the north, leaves little doubt that some unusual lowering of tem- 
perature in the warm belt brought immediate death to many of its 
inhabitants. This is more probable, as it is a well-known fact that 
sudden increase of cold will bring many fish to the surface in a 
benumbed or dying condition, and there are no indications of any 
shock or earthquake having occurred at the time the dead fish 
were first noticed. . . . 
“It has been estimated that the bottom of the ocean in this 
region must at the time have been covered to the depth of about six 
feet with the dead bodies of the tile-fish and other marine organisms , 
* John Murray, “Report on the Specimens of Bottom Deposits,” Bull. 
Mus. Comp. Zool ., Cambridge, U.S.A., vol. xii. No. 2. Yoir aussi: Alex- 
ander Agassiz, “Three Cruises of the Blake,” vol. i. pp. 275-276, Bull. Mus. 
Comp. Zool., Cambridge, U.S.A., vol. xiv., 1888. 
t Les dep6ts de la Valdivia sont actuellement en cours d’etude, et la publi- 
cation des resultats se fera dans WissenscJiaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen 
Tief see- Expedition, 1898-1899. Herausgegeben von Carl Chun, Jena. 
