The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-05

Dy trOIcSS0F QWAfu EOTUrAs III, WalIlCn,
sir John-Ress. Count pourtales, the officers
OF the Atlantic Telegraph expeditions, and
others, had revealed many of the curious
secrets of the ocean, but these inyestiga.
tors failed to discover traces Of animal life
at very great depths. The later discoveries
show the existence of numerous forms
which are altogether new to science, greatly
extending our knowledge of the geographic
cal range of others with which naturafists
arc already acquainted, while they are also
eminently~ suggestive in regard to the init
mate relationships between existing inhabi-
tants Of the deep sea and types Of the Gre
been accounted long since extinct. .s-'
BY means Of the excellent equipments
provided by the British Admiralty. the
dredgc was worked from the Porcupine on
the Atlantic slope, to the West-northwest
Of Ireland, ut depths progressively increas-
ed to 500, 1900, and 1900 tathoms, with
results so satisfactory as TO the
expectation that still greater depths might
be explored with equal success. The great
est known depth within easy reach Of a
harhor having been found to be Ut the
northern part of the. Bay Of Biscay, about
$50 miles west Of Ushant. the course Of the
Porcupine was directed thither ; and Pro
fessor Wyville Thomson (the colleague Of
IA Sstk u Lon AN vi SSS-
ing the dredge come up from a depth of
9 ,435 fathoms. or nearly three miles, loaded
| with about IL cwt. of Globiger1na-mud
| (masSes of which, when dried, have exactly
the appearance and texture of chalk, i'm
bedded wherein were representatives Q fthe
higher as well rs tho lower types of Ma
rine Invertebrata, including q new Crinoid.
This most important result (says DR.. Car.
penter) may be regarded as u~nequiyocally
| proving that there is no limit to the depth
| ut which animal life can exist in the ocean ;
for as the deepest Trustworthy sounding has
not anywhere given a greater depth than
| 5000 tathoms, there can be no condition
save pressure which is necessarily altered.
| DIR. Carpenter adds:
"Ihe nutrition Of deep-Sea animals is pri-
marily dependent upon the organic matter
diffused through the whole mass of oceanic
water they can support themselves, there
fore, as we'll at 5000 fathoms as at 2,4S5.
Their respiration, again, is provided for by
the diffusibility Of the gases in solution ;
oxygen being exchanged for the carbonic
acid generated by the animal life of the
bottom, however deep it may be, and
the converse exchange taking place at
the surface. AS far Us we know at present,
no appreciable amount of light could pene-
trate to l 600 tathoms, and no greater depth,
therefore, can be more completely removed
from its influence; and as regards tempera-
ture, when once a depth Of 1000 fathoms
has been reached, a further descent seems
to make very little difference. Now, the
pressure on the bodies of animals at 2,40C
fathoms is about three tons on the square
inch while at 1900 fathoms it would be
four tons; but the condition which makes
the former bearable is by no means limited
to q particular amount, and applies equally
to that which animals would have to sus-
| equality in the pressure of fluids i'll all
directions, so that however delicate the
conformation of an animal composed
of solid and liquid molecures, its shape
will not be in the least affected tits
size being only reduced in a measure that
may be practically disregarded), nor will its
movements, whether general or molecular,
be in any way interfered with. Those to
whom this statement may appear surprising
should call to MIND the fact that the atmos-
pheric pressure upon the body Of an ordi-
nary.siZed man exceeds fifteen tons, while
a rise or fall of the barometer to the extent
| of an inch marks q difference of half 9 ton
| in that amount.
When we reflect that eve live, and
move, and have our being utterly uncon-
| scious of the enormous load we are bearing,
! and that we do not feel the laying on or
| the removal of half a ton Tor even more) as
| q variation in its pressure, we can more
| readily conceive how creatures destitute of
air-cayitics can sustain q pressure Of even
| three or four tons upon the square inch
| without its interfering in any way with
| their welfare or enjoyment"