Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-07-25

| laSIcHS Ills DaSe, anu commences the SUI
perstruc,ure. The whole body COM
mence their work at the same time, and
continue increasingly until their forest,
! city is completely built. No mistake is
made, not one is out of its proper po-
sition, but each regularly and beautifully
arranged, and in such manner that nei-l
! Their storms, waves nor other causes can
displace or throw down their mansions.
Here, then, is foundation laid for an
islInd, or continent. These Indications
are nov abandoned, and the little chem
isl aud mechanic drifts off 10 snme bank,
there again to form his forest house,
He is now replaced by another, who sub
siracis from the liquid ocean his materi.
als,Gasses them through his laboratory,
and forms another species Of mansion,
uniting in solid mass the forests of his
predecessor, abandons it and crawls off
to another forest. He then is succeeded
by another, and another succeeds him,
until the reel becomes an Island. Salt,
soda, and lime are the principal ingredi-
ents which compose this solid base, on
which there is TO be formed earth, trees,
and other vegetation. This superstruc-
ture now becomes the home of innumera-
bic tertaceous migratory fish, which form
their coat or shells from the same source
as the coral insect.
Letus illustrate the formation OF shells,
coral, &c, and show the domination of
the ocean by ibis process. Let US box
up a certain space in the ocean, say a.
bout one thousand pounds of water
| Within his space all the varieties Of cor
al insects can perform their work; and
| all the numerona shell-fish take their
place and abstract from the waters The
materials for their domicils; when all
have finished, letus weigh the water, and
we will find ii has lost in weiaht the a
mount of material required TO tabricale
each and every style Of building, and the
waters would not occupy as much space.
would be found to have been diminished.
This, then, is the process by which the
waters Of the ocean are slowly but GER
tatnly diminishing on the earth. The aca-
fers are becoming solids.
But other causes are aiding in this
great work, such as the ocean plants.
such as kelp, and particularly the Sargos-
ga plant, or gulf weed. These materials
grow either on the surface of the ocean,
deriving all their substance from it, or
adhere to the coral formations and assis,
in forming islands. This process of is
land-forming is uniting in one great mass
all the Antilles, the great mass Of islands
in the Pacific, China with japan. and
finally will unite the whole of the Pacific
isles with the continent of Asia, dimin-
ishing the ocean by this accumulation Of
solid, and, in fact, diminishing the waters
of the earth by many millions of square
miles.
This theory is no wild and visionary
spccula ton. Already have ,opograph.
ers and survey ors discovered that their
sea line of modern date does not cores
pond with the sea line Of ancient times.
fhe vast accumulation of coral reefs and
islands in the Pacific, and ON the coast of
North and South America, has diminish
ed the ocean liquid sufficiently to alter
the seacosts of Europe-projecting them
further into the sea. One remarkable
fact in this diminution of the shores of
the Mediterranean, which appears to be
higher now than they were formerly, is
particularly shown in the Straits OF Glib
raliar and the passage The Dardanelles.
De MelIet noticed these facts over sixty
years since, but attributed them to very
different causes from those herein stated.
This process ofisland making is among
the most wonderful and simple of nature.
We first perceive an innumerable and al
most imperceptible number Of minute in.
sects forming a solid mass, which in
time reaches the surface OF the ocean,
This coral rock reef now becomes the
home of muliitudes of shell fish, that die
and deposit their shells and ill mp the
reef compac,ly, even with the water; kelp
attaches itself TO the rocks, and the ac-
ton Of the sea during giles tears much
of it off and deposits il among The crew.
ces, where il decays. The Sargossa
plant finds its way by the innumerable
currents of The ocean to these islands. aud
is thrown upon them IN vast quan.liles,
forming temporary soil; the sea-bird
seeks the place for food, as the sea- weeds
contain many myraids Of lille marine
insects. The birds enrich the deposits
already there; aud now comes the ever
lasting mangrove, seizing hold with lis
tendrils oil the sharp point of coral, ard
irmiy attaching itself, to them. Here,
then. is an island, the whole of which hae
been formed from the solid contents of
the ocean, which had been held in solu-
ton from the beginning OF creation, nolh-
ing of which can be returned to it, as the
| whole substances have been rendered in
soluble in wafer by The peculiar chemi-
cal process which rendered II solid. Here
| is process which must, in time, en-
close The Caribbean sea and Gulf of Mex
leo, making them lakes; absiraciing from
the gulf and this sea nearly all their salt,
soda, aud lime, and leaving fresh water
lakes, similar 10 those Of Erie, Ontario,
&C., which al some former period may
have been salt. And by this process the
Pacific ocean will be narrowed into a
mere strait, or mol wider than few days