The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1856-12-02
TEaMs OF sURsCRIpTION;
Paths Of the Sea.

~AANO"" "A@uA AlA h tSSGllb LSCtuTE at DTpOk
iyn, New York, gave the following interest
ing facts as reported by the New York Times
He said that the paths through the sea, like
those across the desert, were works of acci-
dent. From the time of Columbus to the
War of Independence nearly every navigator
followed the same track, dropping down south
Of the CarOlinas. and then skirting the coast
OF the States till they came northward to
New York, or where they wanted to CO.
The discovery of the Gulf Stream and of the
chronometer had changed that course. The
Christian philosophers knew that everything
came in its time, and that discoveries were
not made till they could be of use A line of
sea steamers would have been useless in the
days OF the revolution, for in that anti -chro-
nometrlc time, ships or steamers could not
make straight line across from the old world
TO the new, and it was possible for ships hav-
ing been weeks at sea, not to know on which
side of the Atlantic they were. When the
Gulf stream was discovered, it was found that
vessels going from Boston to England, instead
of running south to Charleston, and then 60
ing northward to England, could go straight
across. The Atlantic seaboard, by these dis
'coverles, was turned upside down.
4, The wonders of the ocean telegraph were
'dWelt on at length, and with much enthusiasm
oy the learned lecturer. 1t would soon put
belt around the globe. The question arose
when these telegraphs were completed. what
should be done about Sunday? In some
parts of the world there would be too in a
week. and Sundays generally would get con-
fused. Moreover, if the telegraph offices in
all part of the world closed their offices on
sunday, our news arrangements would be
constantly interfered with, and often we
should get the news week too late.
The sea, said Lieut.. Maury, is great work
shop, and everything connected with Its in
habltants is wonderful. 1t was most prolific
OF life, outnumbering the inhabitants of the
land The coral reefs, which were carbonate
by the Mississippi, by every river, and by
every seaboard in the world. If we could in
spect them and find where their material
came from, we should find them derived from
a thousand places, at thousand times, till
we traced them back to the still brooks mean
'der1ng among the hills. These coral insects
are the masOns Of the sea.
Until recently all was conjecture about the
depth and bottom of the sea. 1t was usuully
thought that the height of mountains on the
earth might be accepted as the measure of
the depth of the sea. As to the character of
the bottom of the ocean, that was left en-
tirely to the fancy of poets. But Brooks
lead tells another tale. There were no wrecks
there. no wedges of gold, no dead mems
bones. Those were covered many feet deep
with the remains of animalculas. Wherever
the sounding rod has been, it brings evidence
OF perfect repose, and though these remains
may have been lying there for ages, they are
as perfect in shape and color as though Just
created.
The lecturer explained to the ,,ience,
and exempliied by experiment, the amer
an which deep-sea soundings were made The
line on returning from the mysterious depths.
revealed more than Clarence saw in his dream
for it showed that telegraphic bed was pre-
pared there from Europe to America When
the specimens of the bottom of the sea were
inspected by microscope, it was found that
1T was composed entirely of the remains of
lnfusoria; and that not a particle of sand or
gravel was contained amongst them.
But what was at present unaccountable.
volcanic cinders had been discovered at the
bottom, in the route taken by the Collins and
Cunard steamers. He (the lecturer) at first
surmised that they might be the ashes cast
forth by the steamers in their passage, but
Professor Baily had minutely examined them
and reported that they were undoubtedly
volcanic. The question was how came thev
there? They laid as lightly on the bed Of
the ocean, with the pressure of 400 atmos-
pneres upon them, as down in the beds of
Ioyal cnamOerS. There was no abrading
force there The bed of the ocean, in its mo- I
tlonless seat, was made for a submarine tele-
graph. The wires once laid there, would re-
main forever, - - =
Lieut.. Maury considered the large cable. oil
which 1T was proposed TO form the Submarine
telegraph useless. A light copper wire. coat
ed with gutta- -percha, he considered sufficient.
There was no reason. indeed, why the tele-
graph under the sea should not be formed of
wire as small as the telegraph over the land. I
And when the international telegraph was /
completed, he trusted that it's first message .
from this country would be this: 1.-THE people I
OF the'United States to the princes and poten-
tates OF the Old World greeting. Peace to
every notion. Trade, commerce and Christian
intercourse with all people,"
Inc lecturer was loudly and frequently ap- /
plauded viii he pardon us, if we say that /
he disappointed = large portion of his au-
dltors t. IN one point? He neglected to state
what the greatest depth of the sea really isl
we know from his published work that the
Indian Ocean is in parts seven miles deep, but
everybody has not had the opportunity to con-
gnIf fhnCa inf aoA1