DISTRIBUTION OF MARINE LIFE The sea as well as the land teems with animal and vegetable life, different of course in form, but, on the whole, similarly distributed ; and the higher forms, at least, affected by the same climatical conditions. There is, however, this great distinction, that the highest elevations of the land are entirely destitute of either vegetable or animal life, while the lowest depths of the sea are the abode of myriads of marine animals ; of generally lowly forms it is true, but still some with the most delicate organization. Naturalists, not so long since, implicitly
believed in a " zero " of marine life—that is, the conditions at great depths were such that no organism could possibly exist, and therefore, the depths of the sea were utterly devoid of life, either animal or vegetable. But this notion has been entirely dispelled by recent researches, which prove that the "sea-bottom is inhabited by a rich and varied fauna."