Notes by a Naturalist on the "Challenger" being an Account of Various Observations made during the Voyage of H.M.S. "Challenger" Round the World, in the Years 1872-76

London: Macmillan, 1879. First UK edition. A fine description of zoology and botany, most in the Southern Hemisphere and Antarctic. Also visits Tristan Da Cunha, Kerguelen Land, the Falklands, Juan Fernandez, Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji & Cape York, Queensland. Spence 820. The Challenger Expedition was a massive scientific undertaking sponsored by the Royal Society to discover "everything about the sea". She was the first steam-driven ship to enter the Antarctic Circle. The expedition founded the modern science of oceanography, taking a daily chain of magnetic observations round the world, established 362 observation stations. At most of these, the depth was sounded, the sea dredged and samples of the seabed, as well as water samples and temperatures at intermediate levels, were taken. Atmospheric and meteorological observations were made and the rate and direction of the current measured. Thousands of new species of marine life were discovered. The British Library records only the 1892 edition. 'Of all his writings, Moseley's Notes of a Naturalist on the Challenger, is the one that appeals to the widest circle of readers and approaches Darwin's Journal of the Cruise of the Beagle in interest and importance' [DNB]. The work is dedicated to Charles Darwin. Roy. 8vo, (xvi), 620pp, col. frontis & 1 plt & folding map, ills in text. Orig. brown cloth, stamped in black and gilt, bit rubbed and marked, text very clean, good+ overall.