The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1855-06-14
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY or THE
SEA.
BY NJ. F. MAuRY, Ii. D., LIEUT.. .. 6. N.

BY NJ. F. MAURY, L. D., LIEUT.. U. 9. N.
Creation is all harmony. Neither earth
air, nor sea is ever out of tune their adap
iations are perfect AMI exquisilely sublime
Let US consider The evidences Of design ant
unity Of though, in creation afforded by one
Of the minulest animels of tbe sea-ihe little
coralline. This insect is the architect of is
lands. # builds up from the bottom Of the
ocean the most stupendous works of solid
masonry. The greatest structures ever erec.
led by The hand Of man are but the works OF
pigmies III comparison. 1t is without the
power of locomoiion, yet the obedient cur
renls of the sea are it's hod-carriers; the
winds wait upon II, the rains and the dews
cater for il on the land. They collect its
food from the mountain, the soil, and the
rock; they deliver il TO the rivers which
run into the channels of oceanic circulation,
that this piece of organism, almost too low
in the scale TO come within the domains Of
the animal kingdom, may receive IFS meat
in due season.
AS this little insect secretes from sea-wa-
ter solid matter for the formation of the coral
islands, the specific gravity of -.he drop
which yields up lis salts for this structure ia
altered, and the equilibrium of the whole
ocean is thereby disturbed. Forthwith that
exhausted drop rises 10 the surface and
commences 10 flow off, charged with tropi-
cal heat, 10 temper hyperbo'ean climates
through which it may pass in its eternal
round and thus the whole ocean is set in
notion that The wants of one single insect Of
the sea may be supplied.
As this emptied drop rises 10 the surface,
the winds take il up in streams Of invisible
vapor, and bear it away on their wings 10
the noun tain. Here it is precipila!ed as
rain or dew, 10 dissolve the lime from the
rock or the magnesia from the soil, and re.
turn TO the sea with another hodfu! of NOR.
tar for the little mason in the grea, deep
Thus the Mississippi supplies carbonate Of
lime for the insects of the sea; the Amazon
with coloring matter from Polosi for their
cells; The Nile with metals for cement, and
all The fresh-water rivers with salts of some
sort, ...s }.r. ...s
6 Very curious are the offices of the insects
OF the sea, and marvellous are The conirivan-
ces by which The physical agents of the uni
verse are enabled to bring abont those re-
suits which make The face of the world nre-
rtca lat n nm =
operations oil these inanimate agents of the
sea little farlheI, and see how they are
dovelailed, fitted, and adapted to each
other. a4 ~ U..1
When we consider the Stale Of the sea in
one point of view, we see the winds and The
marine animals operating upon the waters,
and, in certain parts OF The ocean, deriving
from The solid parts of the same those
very principles of antaaonlstic forces
which hold the earth in it's orbit and pre-.
serve the harmonies OF the universe.
The sea-breeze and the sea.shell, 10 per-
forming their appointed offices, ac, in such a
way as to give rise 10 a reciprocating motion
in the waters; thus they impan 10 the ocean
dynamical forces for its circulation.
The sea-breeze plays upon It's surface ii
converts only fresh waller into vapor, and
leaves the solid matter behind. The surface
water thus becomes specifically heavier and
sinks. On the other. hand, the marine ar.
chiteot below, as he works upon his coral
edifice nj the bottom, abstracts from the
water there portion OF its solid contents.
il therefore becomes specifically lighter, and
up it goes, ascending to the top with increa.
sing velocity, TO take the place Of The de-
scending column, which, by The action Of
the winds, has been so loaded down with
fresh food and materials for The busy little
mason in the depths below.
Seeing, then, that the inhabitants of The
sea, with their powers of secretion, are COM
peient TO exercise at least some degree of in
fuence in disturbing equilibrium, are not
these creatures entitled 10 be regarded as
agents which have their offices 10 perform
in the system Of oceanic circulation, and do
they not belong to It's physical geography
II is immaerial how great or how small that
influence may be supposed to be, FOR, be it
great or small, We may rest assured ii is not
a chance influence, but il is an influence
exercised, if exercised at all, by design, and
according to the command of Him whose
"voice the winds and the sea obey" Thus
God speaks through sea-shels 10 the ocean.
II may therefore be supposed that the ar.
fansements in the economy Of nature are
such as 10 require tbafthe various kinds OF
marine animals, whose secretions are caleu-
lated 10 aller the specific gravity Of sea-wa-
ter, 10 destroy it's equilibrium, 10 beget eur
fents in The ocean, and 10 control its circula-
lion, should be distributed according TO
order. o1 40 HlQst asa7 ~ ~ Z
Under this supposilion, the like Of which
nature warrants throughout her whole do
main, we mey conceive how the marine an
ititis of which we have been speaking may
impress other features upon the physical re-
Iations Of the sea, by assisting also to regu-
late climates and 10 adjust the temperature
Of certain latitndes S'H,hia eiti'5fsF aaa
For Instance LAT n..srx,f,<sa I'M, va tefs in