French aviso Talisman

Le Talisman was a French Navy sloop built at Le Havre in 1862 which was used for geological, biological and hydrological exploration in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea at the end of the 19th century.[2][3] It first served as a communications vessel ("aviso"), and was both sail and propeller driven.

Le Talisman

Winch for lowering and raising the dredge aboard Le Talisman

Eurypharynx pelecanoides

Plate III[1]

In 1883 it was fitted out for scientific work under the direction of Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards, equipped with a dredging winch with a capacity of 20 tons, and fitted to carry seven scientists together with a laboratory.

From June to August 1883,[4] the Talisman carried out a research cruise in the Bay of Biscay, on the coasts of Morocco, Senegal, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and the Azores and in the Sargasso Sea, collecting considerable material via dredging, at depths of up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft). Among the expedition scientists were:

• Alphonse Milne-Edwards
• Henri Filhol
• Leopold de Folin
• Leon Valiant
• Louis-Alexandre Vincent

This cruise yielded finds from the deep sea and sea bottom such as the pelican eel, and the decapod, Ethusina talismani.[4] One most important find was the discovery of the viability of micro-organisms at depths of 5 km below the surface (and consequently living at enormous pressures).[5]

Brachiopods collected during the expeditions of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883 on the Travailleur and the Talisman are held in the Fischer-Œhlert collection and at the Laval Science Museum.