REPOET ON THE DEEP-SEA DEPOSITS. 
XXV 
foundland, and Valentia. These deposits were described by Bailey,^ who, from the fact 
that the mineral particles were angular, concluded that there is little movement at the 
bottom in deep water, otherwise the mineral fragments would be rounded. He observed 
the abundance of calcareous matter due to the accumulation of microscopic shells, which 
fall to the bottom after the death of the organisms. Bailey also observed the presence 
of volcanic ashes in the deposits, and remarked that the Gulf Stream had spread these 
“ plutonic tallies ” over thousands of miles. Some doubt having arisen as to whether 
these ashes might not have been thrown overboard from passing steamers, Bailey com- 
pared the two, and arrived at the conclusion that the substances found on the bottom of 
the Atlantic were really of volcanic origin ; Maury supposed that this dust might have 
been carried by the wind from volcanoes in Central America or from extinct volcanoes 
in the Western Islands. By treating the deposits with acid, Bailey showed that there is 
always a small quantity of mineral particles in organic calcareous sediments, though 
veiled by the preponderance of the calcareous element, and that the calcareous organisms 
increase in abundance as the Gulf Stream is approached. He found only imperfect casts 
of Foraminifera in the deposits off the northern coasts, the green casts being generally 
met with in the more southerly soundings. 
Lieut. Maury, in the latest (9th) edition of his “ Sailing Directions,” 1858, gives an 
abstract of the knowledge of marine deposits possessed up to that time. He estimated 
the part taken by calcareous or sihceous microscopic organisms in pelagic deposits, based 
upon Bailey’s observations. He agrees with Bailey that the animalculse, whose remains 
are found at the bottom of the sea, lived in the surface waters ; but he carries the idea 
too far when he asserts that the absence of light, low temperature, and pressure preclude 
the possibility of life in very deep water. Ehrenberg held the opposite opinion regarding 
the habitat of these microscopic organisms, based upon the presence of organic substances 
in the shells dredged from the bottom of the sea, and argued that he distinguished forms 
in the deposits to be found nowhere else ; but tow-net observations have since proved 
that forms identical with the most abundant of these shells from the bottom live in the 
surface waters. 
In 1857 Captain Dayman sounded across the North Atlantic in H.M.S. “Cyclops,” 
along the great circle between Valentia and Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, a little to the 
north of Berryman’s line of soundings. He states that in his deepest sounding the de- 
posit consisted of a plastic floury substance or ooze, which stuck to the line when drawn 
up.^ Dayman’s soundings were examined and reported on by Professor Huxley,® who 
found the samples obtained between 1700 and 2400 fathoms to be remarkable for their 
uniformity ; in the bottles containing them Huxley observed a viscous substance, and 
^ Amer. Journ. Sci., ser. 2, vol, xxi. pp. 284-285. 
^ Deep-Sea Soundings in the North Atlantic, made in H.M.S. “Cyclops,” in June and July 1857, London, pub- 
lished by the Admiralty, 1858. 
® Appendix to Dayman’s Eeport. 
