New-York tribune., 1872-02-12
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES.
THE HAssIER EXPEDITION.

| EXCLUSIVELY AS FOSSILS.
| My Dear PCirce: l should have written to
you from Barbados but the day before we left the
Island was favorable for dredging, our success In
that line Unexpectedly great, that conld not get
away from the specimens, and made the most of them
for study while had the chance. We only made four
haus in between 70 and 100 fathoms. But what haus
Enough to occupy half dozen competent biologists fr
whole year, If tho specimens could be kept fresh for
| that pgth Of time.
The first haul brought mp cnemdimn-like
| Sponge the next gave Crnoid very much
| Ike the Rlizoorinus uofteuss, but probably
different; the third living Peurotomara; the fourth
OF spatargods etc. etc. not to speak OF the
small fry We had the Crnoid alive for 10 OF y hours.
When contracted the pinnaces pressed against the
and the themselves shut against another,
that the whole looks ike a swash made up Of few
long. twincs. When the animal opens the
first separate without bending outside that the
whole looks like inverted Pentpod but gradually the
tip Of the arms bent outward, as the arlns dyerge
more and more, and, when fully expanded, the
crown has the appearance Of lily Of the Maagon
or Turks Head type, in which each petal is moved
upon Itself, the pinnacles Of the arms spreading
laterally and the crown is more
fully open have not been able TO detect motion in
the stem raeeabe % contraction. though there is
stiffness in it's bearing When disturbed the pinnaces Of
the arms first contract, the straIghen themselves
out, ana WhOe gradually ana slowly closes up
very impressive sight for TO watch the move
mens Of this creation. Tor it told not Of its own ways
enly but at the same time afordeda glimpse into the
countless of the past when these Crnoids so rare
and rarely nowadays formed prominent lea
OF the animal kingdom. could see without great
effort OF the Imagination the shoa OF LockpOrt' teemng
with the many genera of Crnods which the geologiss
OF NewYork have rescued from that prolific siluran de
post recall the formations Of my native coun.
try. the hIllsdes Of which, also among
fossils indicating shoalwa;er deposits other
Crin0ds abound resembling stll more closely those we
find in these The closerafnitcs of Rhzocrinus
with the Apiocrnods are further exemDided by the
fact that when the animal dies casts of It's arms like
ATiocnus the head of hch is generally found without
arms.
The INHABITANTS OF TIE DEEP TO-DAY-THOsE OF sHOM
WATER ~ THE PAST.
And now the question may DE asked what u the mean
ngof the occurrence OF these animals in deep waters nj
the present day when IN former similar types IN
habitod shallow seas OF the fact there can be no doubt
for not difficult adduce satisfactory evidence oi
the ,hoalke character Of the suran deposits OF the
state OF New York Their horizontal position combined
with the gradual secession Of the higher beds In
southerly direction heaves doubt upon This
point; and in the case of the jurassic formation al
luded 10 above, their combination with fossils
common upon reefs and their presence in ato OF
that period are satisfactory proofs Oh NY asel s. @
what does II then mean when We ind the Penfacru,
II seems 10 me that there Is nut one explanation or te
fact: and that the progress OF the earth grown We
must look To such displacement ot the cohuu"hs
fdForube 70 the maintenance OF certain low " ~, %"
may recall most fully the adaptations oi FORMER ages
and IL in the sense alluded In my first letter 10 YOU
to the probability OF our hndg IN deeleT Wale' rtg
seudtves - earlier geological types, ana " my eAl
alton is correct. my anticipation ls also fuly sustained
But 90 the deeper waters Of the present cOnsuti-
ton Of our globe really approximate the condi-
OF the shoal seas Of past geological ages think they
do at least come as near TO 1t as awning can IN the
present OF things upon earth for the depth OF the
ITs WHICH tb baav atmosrhere OF earlier periods
Afforded But surely such high pressure animals meet
in great depths cannot be favorable CONDITION Iof Tue
deyeopmen Of fe hence the lower forms found In the
deeu sea The rapid dlmnutiOn OF the light with ncreas-
ing depth the small amount Of free oxygen IN these
waters under greater and greater pressure not to SPEAK
Of ss 3f sne arm 80 many
causes acting an the same dirIeto % ana Ie,e1
10 fi1d in great depths organized beings or an
inferior standing ia tie o, ilt Oh
correlation elsewhere pointed out between the stai
~ animais and their order succession in geological
times see essay classification Justnes another iorm
OF cXprciOn Of these facts, VIZ that III deeper vat
We should expect representatives. OF earlier geological
periods But there nothing In all tns which warrants
the conclusion that any Of the animals now living IRE
neal descendants OF those of earliest ages Nor does
mn, similarity 10 those OF earlier periods Justify the
statement that the cretaceou- iormhJ0h j. stii tNihn
Il would he lust true to nature 10 say mat tue terta
re- are contained IN the tropics, on account or the SIM
ary OF the ulocene Inamala ana hose oI TIE toiFu
zone.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLFURoTOHARn A SINGULAR
GENUS.
We have another case IN the Peurotomara. II is not
long since II has been made known that the genus Peuro
touara II not altogether extinct since single specimen
was discovered about ten years ago in the West indies
Even Pictit in the second edition OF his Paeonolosy
still considers Pleurotomara extinct ana ranging
among the fOssillierous formations nom the sllihn
uerOd the tertiary Oh the AVlnS species IOuhd dJ
of tbe she'll We drrdged IL IN tgJ afhorus
side Of Barbadoes alive and Kept II aliVe
for q hours during which tme the animal expanded
and showed its remarkable pecuarties II is nnques
tonably type OF distinct family utterly different
the other mollusks with which has thus Tar oee
associated Mr. Blake has made fine cOlOrcd drawings
of it, which may be published at future time. The
Is quite large consisting OF vertical mass of flesh
considerable hight, about one inch, and longer than
the diameter Of the she-in fact, nearly double lts
foot along it, upper margin, IL forms mcmbranons
seam FREQ from the foot and fringed all along with dis
tnct paplR, resembling somewhat the papilLe along
;he margin Of the mantle of naiadcs, and
surrounding the rudimentary siphOnal fold. These
edge Of the mantle which lines the emargination
OF the shell TO which the genus owes its name. When
animal fully expanded the opposite edges or the
mantle encircng the slit Of the shell approXimated
and the curve OF the end OF the slit remains alone OPEN
smilating siphOn. The head Of the animal is quite
cOnspieuOusa large cylindrical proboscls projects IN
front between two large straight and somewhat sth
tentaces at the base OF each Of which, on It's outer
margin IL small sessile eye. The surface color OF the
whole animal Is reddish brown fine lines OF darker
hue extend transversely upon the whole head ont are
closer together aud finer upon the prObOscis IMAM Dack OF
the tentaces the margin OF the mantle along tne upper
future time to be able 10 complete the eXanina
ton OF the soft parts by dssectng the internal organs
Pictt has shown his usual sagacity IN assuming
from the examination of the fossil alone tat THESE
shells have no Opercuum. The family or the PeurOtO-
mardo numbers between 400 and 900 fossil species, De
ginning the silurian deposits but especially numerous
In the caTboniferous and Jurasslc formations
sPoSGEs DISCOVERED IDENTICAL WITH JCkAsSiC AND
CRETACEoUs FOSSILS.
The sponges afford another interesting case. When the
first number of the great OF GoIdfuss on the fossils
OF Germany made its appearance, about half century
ago, the most types 1t made known were several
genera ponges from the urassc and eretaeeous beds
described under the names OF sphona, Cnemdinm ana
scyphia Nothing OF the kind has been known among