‖ bathybius Zool.
(bəˈθɪbɪəs)
[mod.L., f. Gr. βαθύς deep + -βιος living, f. βίος life.]
A name given by Prof. Huxley to a gelatinous substance found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and at first supposed to be a formless mass of living protoplasm, but now regarded as an inorganic precipitate.
| 1868 Huxley in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sc. 211, I propose to confer upon this new ‘Moner’ the generic name of Bathybius. 1875 Dawson Dawn of Life iv. 66 The Bathybius..may possibly be merely the pulpy sarcode of sponges. 1884 Sat. Rev. 14 June 770/2 Below the ooze, and bathybius, and so forth, in the Salaminian bay. |