I878.J 
Notices of Books. 
119 
Dredging and trawling in the deep sea is an operation not 
exempt from difficulty and even danger, and often disappoints 
the eager naturalist. Between St. Thomas and the Bermudas 
“ the large iron dredge which we were using in preference to 
the trawl caught upon a rock, or a mass of coral, and brought a 
sudden strain upon the dredge-rope ; and before the rope could 
be veered or any other steps taken to relieve the strain, the hook 
of the foremost span carried away, and the leading block which 
was hooked to it flew back and struck William Stokes, one of the 
sailor lads, with such violence that he was driven against the 
ship’s side. His thigh was broken in two places, and he was 
so seriously injured otherwise that he never recovered conscious- 
ness, and died a few hours afterwards.” An accident, unattended 
with any tragical features, occurred on the run between Bahia 
and the Cape. “ The trawl was lowered, and on heaving in it 
came up apparently with a heavy weight, the accumulators being 
stretched to the utmost. It was a long and weary wind-in on 
account of the continued strain; at length it came close to the 
surface and we could see the distended net through the water, 
when just as it was leaving the water and so greatly increasing 
its weight the swivel between the dredge-rope and the chain 
gave way, and the trawl with its unknown burden quietly sank 
out of sight. It was a cruel disappointment, — every one was 
on the bridge, and curiosity was wound up to the highest pitch : 
some vowed that they saw resting on the beam of the vanishing 
trawl the white hand of the mermaiden for whom we had 
watched so long in vain ; but I think it is more likely that the 
trawl had got bagged with the large sea-slugs which occur in 
some of these deep dredgings in large quantity, and have more 
than once burst the trawl-net.” 
We find no mention of portions of the skeletons of the higher 
animals having been brought up by the dredge, save some sharks’ 
teeth and the ear bones of whales fished up in one case from the 
depth of 2275 fathoms. No saurian or ophidian remains are 
mentioned as having been met with. 
The floating islands of sea-weed, the Sargasso sea of the old 
Spanish navigators, offer in their fauna some curious examples 
of protective resemblance. “ Animals drifting about on the sur- 
face of the sea with such scanty cover as the single broken 
layer of the sea-weed must be exposed to exceptional dangers 
from the sharp-eyed sea-birds hovering above them and from 
the hungry fishes searching for prey beneath ; but one and all 
of these creatures imitate in such an extraordinary way both 
in form and colouring their floating habitat, that we can well 
imagine their deceiving both the birds and the fishes.” 
A curious observation, recorded in a former work of the 
author’s and confirmed during the cruise of the “ Challenger,” 
is the absence of eyes in certain deep-sea animals, whilst 
