''Bathybius haeckelii'' was a substance that
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The storie ...
discovered and initially believed to be a form of
primordial matter, a source of all
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
. He later admitted his mistake when it proved to be just the product of an
inorganic chemical
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistr ...
process (
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
).
In 1868 Huxley studied an old sample of mud from the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
seafloor taken in 1857. When he first examined it, he had found only
protozoa
Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...
n cells and placed the sample into a jar of alcohol to preserve it. Now he noticed that the sample contained an
albumin
Albumin is a family of globular proteins, the most common of which are the serum albumins. All the proteins of the albumin family are water-soluble, moderately soluble in concentrated salt solutions, and experience heat denaturation. Albumins ...
ous slime that appeared to be criss-crossed with
vein
Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...
s.
Huxley thought he had discovered a new
organic substance
In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The st ...
and named it ''Bathybius haeckelii'', in honor of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...
. Haeckel had theorized about ''Urschleim'' ("primordial slime"), a
protoplasm
Protoplasm (; ) is the living part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acid, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc.
In some defini ...
from which all life had originated. Huxley thought ''Bathybius'' could be that protoplasm, a
missing link (in modern terms) between inorganic matter and organic life.
Huxley published a description of ''Bathybius'' that year
[ T. H. Huxley]
"On Some Organisms Living at Great Depths in the North Atlantic Ocean"
''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'', 1868, N.S. 8:203-212 (p. 205). See also T. H. Huxley
"On Some Organisms which Live at the Bottom of the North Atlantic, in Depths of 6000 to 15,000 Feet."
''Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science'', 1869 - Notices and Abstracts, p. 102. NB This only contains a bare mention of the previous paper. and also wrote to Haeckel to tell him about it. Haeckel was impressed and flattered and procured a sample for himself. In the next edition of his textbook ''The History of Creation'' Haeckel suggested that the substance was constantly coming into being at the bottom of the sea, "
monera
Monera (/məˈnɪərə/) (Greek - μονήρης (monḗrēs), "single", "solitary") is a biological kingdom that is made up of prokaryotes. As such, it is composed of single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus.
The taxon Monera was first p ...
" arising from nonliving matter due to "
physicochemical
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...
causes."
[ Huxley asserted in a speech given to the ]Royal Geographic Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
in 1870 that ''Bathybius'' undoubtedly formed a continuous mat of living protoplasm that covered the whole ocean floor for thousands of square miles, probably a continuous sheet around the Earth.
Sir Charles Wyville Thomson
Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knight ...
examined some samples in 1869 and regarded them as analogous to mycelium
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrate (biology), substrates. A typical single ...
; "no trace of differentiation of organs", "an amorphous sheet of a protein compound, irritable to a low degree and capable of assimilating food... a diffused formless protoplasm."[
Other scientists were less enthusiastic. ]George Charles Wallich
George Charles Wallich (16 November 1815 – 31 March 1899) was a British medical doctor, marine biologist and professional photographer. He was born in Calcutta where his father, the Danish naturalist Nathaniel Wallich, was Superintendent of the R ...
claimed that ''Bathybius'' was a product of chemical disintegration.
In 1872 the Challenger expedition
The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, .
The expedition, initiated by Wil ...
began; it spent three years studying the oceans. The expedition also took soundings at 361 ocean stations. They did not find any sign of ''Bathybius'', despite the claim that it was a nearly universal substance. In 1875 ship's chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
John Young Buchanan
John Young Buchanan FRSE FRS FCS (20 February 1844 – 16 October 1925) was a Scottish chemist, oceanographer and Arctic explorer. He was an important part of the Challenger Expedition.
Life
He was born in Partickhill, Glasgow on 20 February ...
analyzed a substance that looked like ''Bathybius'' from an earlier collected sample. He noticed that it was a precipitate
In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading ...
of calcium sulfate
Calcium sulfate (or calcium sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the formula CaSO4 and related hydrates. In the form of γ-anhydrite (the anhydrous form), it is used as a desiccant. One particular hydrate is better known as plaster of Pari ...
from the seawater
Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...
that had reacted with the preservative liquid (alcohol), forming a gelatinous ooze which clung to particles as if ingesting them.[ Buchanan suspected that all the ''Bathybius'' samples had been prepared the same way and notified Sir Charles Thomson, now the leader of the expedition. Thomson sent a polite letter to Huxley and told about the discovery.
Huxley realized that he had been too eager and made a mistake. He published part of the letter in '']Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' and recanted his previous views. Later, during the 1879 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
, he stated that he was ultimately responsible for spreading the theory and convincing others.
Most biologists accepted this acknowledgement of error. Haeckel, however, did not want to abandon the idea of ''Bathybius'' because it was so close to proof of his own theories about ''Urschleim''. He claimed without foundation that ''Bathybius'' "had been observed" in the Atlantic. Haeckel drew a series of pictures of the evolution of his ''Urschleim'', supposedly based on observations. He continued to support this position until 1883.
Huxley's rival George Charles Wallich
George Charles Wallich (16 November 1815 – 31 March 1899) was a British medical doctor, marine biologist and professional photographer. He was born in Calcutta where his father, the Danish naturalist Nathaniel Wallich, was Superintendent of the R ...
claimed that Huxley had committed deliberate fraud and also accused Haeckel of falsifying data. Other opponents of evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, including George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847), was a Scottish polymath and Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological discovery in the 1850s when his ten ...
, tried to use the case as an argument against evolution. The entire affair was a blow to the evolutionary cause, who had posited it as their long-sought evolutionary origin of life from nonliving chemistry by natural processes, without the necessity of divine intervention. In retrospect, their error was in dismissing the necessary role of photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
in supporting the entire food chain
A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or algae which produce their own food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), det ...
of life; and the corresponding requirement for sunlight
Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when t ...
, abundant at the surface, but absent on the ocean floor.[
]
References
*
Notes
External links
* {{Cite EB1911, wstitle=Bathybius
History of evolutionary biology