Abstract
AFTER a fortnight devoted to the enjoyment of all that was new and strange in life in Ceylon,a fortnight fruitful in result to so shrewd and ardent an observer of nature and mankind, Professor Haeckel betook himself in earnest to the real object of his journey and looked about for the most favourable spot at which to conduct his zoological investigations. These were to be confined to that class of animal life which has been the object of Professor Haeckel's special study, namely, the Radiata, including star-fish, jelly-fish, etc., as well as corals, madrepores and other polypi. He hoped to make acquaintance with many new forms developed under the varying conditions of climate and coast formation and his letter in the August number of the Rundschau opens with a brief and succinct account of what these conditions are: “The conditions under which marine animals arrive at their fullest development are numerous and peculiar and it is by no means a matter of indifference what portion of the sea-coast we select for our investigations. The various qualities of sea water, its saltness, purity, temperature, rate of current and depth, must all be taken into account; and no less important, in fact often more so, is the nature of the neighbouring shore; whether it is rocky or sandy, barren or fertile and what is its geological formation. Then again, the amount of fresh-water drainage at any particular point, and the greater or less force of the waves have an important influence on the development of the marine fauna. For the classes in which I am more particularly interested: the Radiolites, Medusas, Siphono-phorse, etc. the most favourable conditions are a deep, land-locked bay of clear still water, undisturbed by the influx of any great volume of fresh water and having strong currents setting towards the shore. Such a combination of favouring circumstances exists, for instance, in the Bay of Messina, the Gulf of Naples and other parts of the Mediterranean short, long the chosen resort of zoologists. A glance at the map of India will show that such protected bays are of for rarer occurrence along its coast than on the many limbed and deeply indented shores of our glorious Mediterranean. The coast of Ceylon is provided with three only: the two beautiful harbours of Galle and Belligemma on the S. West coast and the magnificent isle-dotted Gulf of Trincomalee on the N. East. This last. Nelson declared to be one of the finest harbours in the world. The English government, quick to see the natural advantages of its dependencies and liberal in turning them to account, lost no time after the acquisition of Ceylon in forming Trincomalee into a fortified and well appointed harbour, by strengthening the forts already erected by the Dutch and by promoting in other ways the prosperity of the town. Much still remains to be done to make Trincomalee worthy of its position as the strongest harbour of refuge along the whole Indian coast. In the struggle in which England is sure sooner or later to be engaged for the possession of her Indian empire, this place will have an important part to play.”
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Professor Haeckel in Ceylon 1 . Nature 26, 375–377 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/026375b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/026375b0