Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1851-06-21
THE sBA.


THE SEA.
FoR THE NATIONAL ISrELLIsRxcER.
Among the many subjects which have attracted
the attention of both ancient and modern philoso-
phers and at times been discussed with great abii
ty and zeal by DE MELLET and others, is the con-
stant and certain diminution of the SEA, or the OBJ
servable decrease Of the waters of the Ocean.
Facts can be produced to show that the ocean line
of coast has frequently altered projecting itself into
the sea; and that rocks have appeared above the
water which known in former days to have been
sdsrsby immersed These facts have been attributed By
volcanic action, and BY oheto the gradual rising O
the land by nteor heat expanding beneath and forcing the
sbove 70 rise Butwe propose to show that all these
phenomena Of the change the line Of seacoa and
appearance Of rocks above the water is caused by constant
dnnuton Of the waters Of the and that process
at all times going by which the substances held in solution
10 the converted into solids In order to
make this subject plain and lucid all technical scientific
encatues will be avoided, and the of the busy
and different classes Of architects in the great work CONSOLE
daion Of the vast unfathomable will be called by sim
pie The object Of scientific knowledge is not TO
up science by which be only translated by
the learned but simply make smooth the paths Of Nature
and open her deep of knowledge and Natures facts
plainly and concisey shall endeavor do this in simple
terms and beg the learned and scientific
if use the vulgar terms and Names instead Of the learned
cassGcatons set down by themselves Now my subject
The sea- the waters Of the sea- are composed partly Of
solid substances, held in solution. Some Of these salt
soda and ne It is with these three we have principally
deal From these manufactured Shells concealed coral
reefs islands, and banks throughout the depths The
Florida reefs, Antilles of Mexico, and all Polynesia,
nearly all taken from the solid substances held in sou-
on by the waters Of the The formation islands
In the ocean s most singular curious, and wonderful The
little busy scientific workmen employed in this species Of
chitecure are so very minute that it requires powerful mi
croscope to show the sembance Of of he while
Others be detected BY the naked eye They are divided
into separate classes and each class perfectly master of his
business We find them not only practical workmen, but
scientific architects and chemists Let any who feels
interest in this subject take up few Shells single vave
double and triple valve; examine them cosey he will find
the interior Of the shell composed Of lime mixed with large
proportion Of Soda and he approaches the exterior will
be seen to be SO mixed with the three substancesme sod
and ssthat it is hard the durable These
substances taken from the Of the ocean, separated
by the animal formed in the waters from whence they
taken. and made nsouble in the substance in which
they were held in solution This peculiar chemical separa-
tion-the precipitation of each substance in the singular
manner performed by shesh in the fabrication Of their
mcishas been attained by the most and
practical chemist The little coral insect which silently
surely and ndusousy builds up from the ocean depth his
tree house, i equally with the shelfsh an accomplished
architect and scientific chemist He selects his materials from
the ocean, separates hem mixes them proper proportions
and forms them into Solids in the medium from which
the materials were taken. Each workman performs his part
abandons when fnshed and gives place another SET
systematically the Others and than either the
brickayer the carpenter, paserer in modern building
These submerged land mechanics and chemists
fail in their work, interfere with each other We
unisalve attempting to fabricae bvalves mansion
do ree-coral working the mansion of mush
but each builds his structure and then gives place
to another character Of workman the moment he is
CURED to The first mechanic in this great work
Of the dmnuon Of the is the treecoral. This little
insect generally q may alway selects the deepest
of all this tribe to work in his foundation requires fat
face here be stens his base, and commences the supeuc
ture The whole body commence their work at the
tme and continue INCREASINGLY until their forest city is
petey built No mistake made not one is out Of s pro-
per position but each regularly and beautifully arranged and
in such that neither storms waves other
dispace throw down their mansions Here, them is
foundation laid for island continent. These habita
aons abandoned and the little chemist and mechanic
drifts off TO other bank there again to form his forest
house. He is now replaced BY another who ssbtracs from
the liquid ocean bis materials passes them through his abo
raory, and forms another species of manson uniting in
solid mass the forests Of his predecessor abandons it and
cawls of to another forest He then succeeded by
other, and another succeeds him. until the reef becomes
island. Salt, soda, aud lime the principal ingredients
which compose this solid base which there to formed
earb trees and other vegetation. This supeucture
becomes the homo Of nnumerabe ,ertaceous migratory fish,
which form their shells from the same source as the
coral insect.
Let US illustrate the formation Of Shells coral &C., and
show the diminution Of the by this process Let
box certain space in the ocean, say about thousand
pounds of water Within this space oil the varieties Of coral
insects can perform their work and all the she'll
hs take their place and abstract from the waters the
rails Tor their domcs when oil have finished let weigh
the water and will find has lost in weight the amount
OF material required sbcae each and every style build
ing and the waters would not occupy much space. If
transferred TO another box the waters would be found to have
been diminished This them the process by which the
waters OF the ocean are ouy but certainly diminishing on
the earth. The sOatsrs are becoming solids.
But other aiding in this great work such A the
plants such kep, and particularly the ssrrosss
plant gulf weed These materials grow either on the sur
face Of the ocean, deriving all their substance from it, or s