BATHYBIA.
in a condition to accept unmoved any new discoveries however radical.
When at last the steep slopes had been negotiated and the undulating plain reached, a much fuller insight into the conditions prevailing in Bathybia had been gleaned. The summer temperature averaged about 70° Fahr., and was evenly toned by abundance of water vapour and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The air was distinctly oppressive on account of its density and moisture, but even this passed unheeded in the general excitement. The plant life had rapidly increased in abundance as lower altitudes were reached. These were chiefly algæ fungi, though representatives of the mosses, liverworts, and ferns were not wanting. On the plains, a dominant red colour pervaded the vegetation, owing to prolific growth of red algæ.
The existence of red coloured plants was of course to be expected, existing as they did in sunlight from which a large proportion of the blue end of the spectrum had been eliminated in its passage through so great a thickness of atmosphere. Finally, the vegetation had already become very rank, and the odours distinctive of some species were not at all pleasant.
However much the plant life interested us, it did not claim our attention so much as less pretentious
