The North Atlantic Sea-Bed (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862 Excerpt: ...entirely destitute of animal life; now it may be presumed that no part is uninhabited, since during that expedition live creatures were fished up from a depth of 6000 feet." In attempting to reconcile these Under the head of " Remarks on Borne corals obtained from great depths in the Antarctic Ocean," in a letter from Charles Stokes, Esq., F.R.S., in the appendix to Sir John Ross's work, Mr. Stokes, after alluding to a previous sounding at 400 fathoms, in which none of the shells and corals " appear to have been brought up in a living state," enters into a description of the organisms obtained in the sounding to which the above extract refers, and states that a small piece of " Retepora cellulosa," and a " Retepora or Hornera " resembling " H. frondiculata " of Lamouroux, were evidently taken in a living condition, adding his surprise at these and certain other organisms having been found, " except in a warm climate and at a small depth," and antithetically pointing out the occurrence of living specimens of a species of " Premnoa " at from 150 to 300 fathoms on the coast of Norway. (Appendix to Sir James Ross's work, vol. i. p. 334 et seq.) t ' Physical Geography, ' by Mary Somerville. London, 1851: vol. ii. p. 246. M facts, I desire to do justice both to Sir James Ross, who unquestionably perceived the full force of Sir John Ross's researches, and to Mrs. Somerville, who, in defiance of the unbelief of " naturalists and geologists," recognized the all-pervading principle of life where its presence had been so long and so obstinately repudiated. In the portion of this work specially devoted to the history of the Rhizopods, I shall have occasion to state in detail my reasons ...