. The study of animal life [microform]. Zoology; Zoologie. mijiJl. CHAP. XIV TAe Simplest Anintals 219 points against science (that is to say against knowledge) always tell the stojy wrongly, I shall make a digression to tell it rightly In 1857 Captam Dayman, in charge of a vessel engaged in con- nection with cab e - laying, discovered on the submarine Atlantic plateau the abundant presence of slimy material which looked as if It were Preserved portions of this formless slime were after- wards descnb. d by Huxley, and he named the supposed organism, Haeckelu. On the /Va///«^expeduion P
. The study of animal life [microform]. Zoology; Zoologie. mijiJl. CHAP. XIV TAe Simplest Anintals 219 points against science (that is to say against knowledge) always tell the stojy wrongly, I shall make a digression to tell it rightly In 1857 Captam Dayman, in charge of a vessel engaged in con- nection with cab e - laying, discovered on the submarine Atlantic plateau the abundant presence of slimy material which looked as if It were Preserved portions of this formless slime were after- wards descnb. d by Huxley, and he named the supposed organism, Haeckelu. On the /Va///«^expeduion Professors Wyville Thomson and Carpenter observed it in its fresh state, and Haeckel afterwards described some preserved specimens. Its interest lay in its simplicity and apparent abundance; Oken's dream seemed to be But when the Challenger expedition went forth, and the bed of the ocean was explored for the first time carefully, the organism Bathybius v^;,^ nowhere to be found. But this was not M : the � . r R T, ^'' '° '=°'"'- ^'- J°^" ^^""-y '^-' reason to suspect that Bathybius was not an organism at all, that it could be made in a test-tube, and was nothing but a gelatinous form of sulpha e of lime precipitated from the sea water by the action of the ttt T"h P^«^^y>"g 7^f «Js- He renounced Bathybius, llri ^ °^ acquiesced, Huxley surrendered his organism to the chemists, and the obscurantists rejoiced exceedingly over the mares nest. Bathybius became famous, it was trotted out to 1 ustrate the fallibility of science, a useful if it were not a some^hS superfluous service. ';hi^^n""''''"'',°'"^''''>'^''"'^"^^ "°' P^°^'^d by the fact ha the Chall^ger explorers failed to find it. nor was it certain that Murray's destructive criticism covered all the facts. Haeckel l"nMr Kf''"'''^ pertinacity to Bathybius. and his con- S ^ ^Tr Vrf "^'"' J"'''^''-' '
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1902
