Diversions of a NaturalistLankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
History
Diversions of a Naturalist
Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
Natural history
One of the most interesting deep-sea creatures discovered by the
"Challenger" proved to be closely allied to our little Rhabdopleura,
and received the name "Cephalodiscus." Several species of this second
kind have been discovered in the last twenty years in the deep sea,
and the largest and most remarkable in some respects was one which
"jumped to my eyes" among the booty of marine dredgings sent home from
the Antarctic expedition of the "Discovery" by Captain Scott, when I
unpacked the cases containing these marine treasures, in the basement
of the Natural History Museum. I published a photograph of it in
the "Proceedings of the Royal Society," and named it "Cephalodiscus
nigrescens." But nothing more of importance has, as yet, been brought
to light as to "Rhabdopleura."
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--A piece of the white branching coral
(Lophohelia prolifera) dredged in great quantity by the author off
Lervik in 1882. Drawn of the natural size.]
Our rule at Lervik was to go out dredging from seven to twelve, and
work at the material with microscope and pencil for some three or
four hours after lunch. Of all the many beautiful things we dredged,
the most striking were the various kinds of corals, the large,
glass-like shrimps, the strange apple-green worm Hamingia (actually
known previously by two specimens only), and the large, disc-like and
branched, sand-covered or sausage-like Protozoa (from a shelly bottom
of 200 fathoms depth). My friend Dr. Norman joined me at Lervik after
I had been there for a month, and showed his extraordinary skill in
choosing the most favourable spots for sinking the dredge and in
pouncing on interesting specimens as we sorted the contents of the
dredge (when we had been on a soft bottom) by passing them through the
sieves, specially provided for naturalists' use, as we gently rocked on
the dark surface of the clear, deep water, many miles from our island.
The colours and light of that region are wonderful--the mountains of a
yellow tint, far paler than the purple sea, whilst the rocky islands
are fringed with seaweed of rich orange-brown colour, and clothed with
grass and innumerable flowers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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