bathybius
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A name given by Huxley to masses of so-called animal matter said to have been found covering the sea-bottom at great depths (over 2,000 fathoms), and in such abundance as to form in some places deposits upward of 30 feet in thickness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun A name given by Prof. Huxley to a gelatinous substance found in mud dredged from the Atlantic and preserved in alcohol. He supposed that it was free living protoplasm, covering a large part of the ocean bed. It is now known that the substance is of chemical, not of organic, origin.
Examples
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We can no longer mention as belonging to the bridges which are said to lead from the organic world to the inorganic, the often-named _bathybius_, discovered by Huxley, and so strongly relied upon for the mechanical explanation of life -- a slimy net-like growth, which covers the rocks in the great depths of the ocean.
The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality
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I mixed up the intellect with a kind of scientific jargon about protoplasm and natural selection and the survival of the fittest, and bathybius, which was then all the fashion; so I promptly devoted myself to De Guérin.
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The notion of matter being ever changed except by other matter in another state is so shocking to the intellectual conscience that it may be dismissed without discussion; yet if bathybius had not been promptly dealt with, it must have become apparent even to the British public that there were indeed but few steps from protoplasm, as the only living substance, to vital principle.
Note
The word 'bathybius' comes from Greek roots meaning 'deep' and 'life'.
