XXVI 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
.small round corj)U8cles soluble in acid, which he called Coccoliths, and which he regarded 
as the skeletal parts of a supposed gigantic Monera — Bathyhius — wide-spread over the 
sea-bottom. When dry the deposit looked like chalk, and he observed that the calcareous 
organisms formed the principal part, Globtge>'ina shells making up 85 per cent, of the 
mass ; siliceous organisms were also present, including Coscinodiscus and other Diatoms. 
He considers the Globigerina Ooze to be of high scientific interest on account of its extent, 
depth, and resemblance to the Chalk, and discusses the question of the habitat of the 
Foniminiferous shells constituting the major part of the deposit. He does not express a 
decided opinion as to whether the shells have been transported from shallower water, 
whether the animals lived in the surface waters, from whence, after death, they subsided 
to the bottom, or whether they actually lived at the bottom in deep water, but seems to 
prefer the last hypothesis, concluding by saying : “ I abstain at present from drawing any 
positive conclusion, preferring rather to await the result of more extended observations.” 
Dr. Wallich, in 1860, accompanied H.M.S. “ Bulldog ” as naturalist when surveying in 
the North Atlantic for the American cable. In discussing the results of his examination 
of the deposits obtained ^ he endeavours to trace a connection between the Globigerina 
Ooze and the Gulf Stream, pointing out that the shells are abundant in the deposits be- 
tween the Faroe Islands and the east coast of Greenland, and in a large portion of the 
direct line between Cape Farewell and Rockall, but are absent or rare in the deposits be- 
tween Greenland and Labrador. In the southern hemisphere calcareous deposits had been 
found on the Agulhas Bank at a depth of 90 fathoms, in which the Globigerina shells 
made up 75 per cent, of the sediment ; he suggested that the area covered by this deposit 
dej>ended on the current flowing round the Cape from the east. Wallich came to the 
conclusion that many of the fossiliferous strata, hitherto regarded as having been deposited 
in shallow water, may possibly have been deposited at a great distance from the surface. 
A considerable quantity of mud from the North Atlantic, 2500 fathoms, was handed by 
Huxley to Professor Gumbel,^ who found it to consist of Foraminifera, with Radiolarians, 
Diatoms, Sponge spicules, Ostracodes, and mineral particles. Gumbel expresses the 
opinion that these mineral particles were transported by currents, and concludes that if 
such heavy materials couhl have been conveyed so far from the coasts, clayey matters 
wrmld have l>ecn transported at the same time, and that the clayey deposits of ancient 
formations might have a similar origin. He confirmed Huxley’s observations on Cocco- 
liths, and found similar Inxlies in numerous geological strata ; he also agrees with Huxley 
as to the existence of the Monera, Bnthybius.^ 
• TT»« North Atliuttic Lnn<l(jn, 1862. * See Nature, vol. iii. pp. 16, 17, 1870. 
• wu believed to l>e a ({ipintic Monera, covering with a network of organic matter the whole of the sea- 
l«ttom in the gn«ter depth* of the Indian and Atlantic Ocean* (see Huxley, Quart. Joum. Micros. Sci., N. S., vol. viii. 
p. 203, 1868; /'roe. Rny. (itmjr. Sor., vol. xiii. p. 110, 1869). Mr. Murray ha* nhown that what was supposed to be a 
gigantic Monera (Balhyftiut) con«uite<l of the gelatinous sulphate of lime thrown down from the sea-water, with which 
the specimens of the ooze were imjiregnatcd, by the alcohol used in the preservation of the samples (see Narr. Chall. 
Kxp., vol. i. p. 930). 
