Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1857-01-28

one OF those utlIe aIllllaCuli las puiI WI itsolA
we should recognize part of tie Table Rock
from Niagara, and sand from the Holy Noun
tans. 1t may contain matter from the Euphra-
ties. from the sunny plains of Southern Europe,
from the battlefells of the Danube and the Nile,
or from the soil Of classic Italy. We know all
this, because mariners have told US ftlle Islands
these corals have built up; they seeln to have
been at work in the sea ever since the waters
were gathered together in one place; and look
ing at the work they have done, theislands that
have been built up we have proof Of their e.
ternal diligence and perseverance. It appears
that we had no idea of the operations that were
carried on in the depths of the sea till we began
TO explore it with lead and line, and now it seems
great charne house. Everybody who has stood
upon the shore of che sea has desired to fly o.
way upon its waves and learn what there is be-
You'd it, or if possible, to dive below, and learn
what there is beneath it.
Until recently, all was conjecture about the
depth and formation of the bottom of the sea; it
was supposed that it might be as deep as noun
tan is high but as to the character of the bot
tom, they left that to poets brains to picture
Some supposed it was scattered over with gold,
gems. anchors dead mems bones, &C., but
Brooke's lead teaches different story; it shows
that all such things are covered up ard buried
deep down many feet by shells and animaIcnli
Every where this admirable sounding apparatus
of Brooke's has beer it has brought up shells
and the carcases of The dead A single quill may
bring up thousands-nay millions ofthese shells;
they are so small that it requires the minutest
microscope to discover them; they cannot be
seen when alive. The bottom of the deep is
covered over with their carcasses; they have
followed the commandment which was given on
the fifth day: "Multiply and bring forth abun-
dainty" Never before now does history give
an account of any attempts being made to meas
ure the depths of the sea. Chance circumstan
ces caused me to attempt 1t, and thinking II
might result in good, | continued the attempt
Congress then passed an act directing the Secre'
~ of the Navy 70 set apart and direct one YES
sci to continue these soundings for the purpose
of assisting in perfecting these discoveries, and
also to allow the whole navy to assist in making
the investigation in so far as they could without
interfering with their proper duties. In order
to get at the bottom of the sea they got some
common Irvine and tied thirtytwo pound ball
to it; then letting it down INTO the sea they
waited to see how much line would run out and
considered the length of thai line measured the
depth of the sea at that point. The Irvine and
ball were left in the sea.
As soon as the deep sea soundings were COM
menced, we found we were in new field; we
found that system would not do; experiment
showed us that when the cannon ball was at
the bottom the Irvine continued to run outand
that the larger the ball the slower the Irvine
would run. The difficulty of getting it down
was not because of the increased density of the
water, since that can only be compressed very
slightly, but because that when the cannon ball
had gone down mile, it had to drag mile Of
Irvine after it, Then We used the same kind of
Irvine and the same weight of ball for every eX
pertinent, but We found sometimes that the
Irvine would never run out. a vessel one day
was sent out to take soundings, or measure the
depth of the sea at particular spot; they began
at sunrise, and, as the captain was very pa
tent man. they stayed there till 1.-THE Irvine
still running out, so they came back and SAID
they guessed there was no bottom there. Laugh
teri This was before we discovered the under
currents. BY the use of proper leads we now
know the structure of the bottom of the sea a.
long the north Pacific, as well as along the At
lantic. The most peculiar thing in the North
Atlantic is ridge from Newfoundland to Eng
land, which is called the telegraphic plateau
The deepest point along that route is about two
miles
Having learned this, we must next get some
plan to prove to the people that we had reached
the bottom of the sea and knew its composition
and geography. We tried to bring up the shot
to which the Irvine was fastened, but the Irvine
was not strong enough, and if we used larger
one it was too heavy for the shot to carry down.
Hence we have the invention of Brooke's excel
lent apparatus. Lieutenant Maury here pres
ented sample of it and explained to the au-
dience) The shot is hollow, with long reed
running through it there are qnills in this reed;
now, the shot is left at the bottom, but the quilts
and reed are drawn up. The apparatus is SO
arranged thet the moment the end of the reed
which extends six or eight inches beyond the
ball--touches the bottom, the shot falls of and
the rest can be easily drawn up. Provided with
these instruments and facilities, a ship was sent
ont to the ocean TO take soundings, and it dis
covered better than gems and pearls at the bot
tom of the seat discovered the telegraphic
plateau which is to unite the Old and New
World. The quilts are coming up contained
| skeletons of sea insects of microscopic minute
ness; these were sent to West Point, and parti-
cularly examined by Professor Bailey. The
specimens from the calm sea, from the Gulf OF
Mexico from the Gulf Stream, all evidently con-
sist of one family and are of one kind. When
Professor Bailey examined the matter brought
from the telegraph plateau, he found volcanic
cinders in it. We could not account for it at
! first we knew that the volcanoes of South a
merica had cast their cnders as far as Cuba;
but il they came from that source we would
have found them in the Gulf Stream; so it was
useless to look there for an explanation
1t was next suggested that those cinders ~
ing Just along the track of the European steam
ers, might be the ashes from those boats; so
Professor Bailey told ne to get him some cinders
from the ashpit of the boltic and Pacific. After
giving them a careful ana critical examination,
he established the gratifying fact that steam
boats are not volcanoes laughter The
source of these cinders still remains a mystery !;
but they show that the matter there lies as soft
as down Mt the bottom of the deep sea. There
is no motion or disturbing force there. Indeed
these soundings suggest the idea that the sea
like a snow cloud with its flakes in calm, is
always letting fall upon its bed showers of mi
croscopic shells; and we may easily imagine
that the sunless wrecks" which strew its bot
tom are in the process of ages hid under this
+ heecy covering, presenting the rounded appear
ance which is seen over the body OF traveller
who has persisted in the snow storm. The
especially within and near the tropics swarms
with life The remains of its myriads Of NOV
ing things are conveyed by currents and lodged
in the course of time all over its bottom This
process, continued for ages, has covered the
depths of the ocean as with a mantle, consisting
of organisms as delicate us the immaculate frost,
and as light as the undrifted snow flakes on the
, mountain. Wherever this beautiful sounding
rod has reached the bottom of the deep sea-
whether in the Atlantic or Pacific, the bed OF
the ocean has been found of downlike softness
, The lead appears to sink many feet deep into
the oozy matter there, which has been strained
and filtered through the sea water. This matter
consists of the skeletons and casts Of insects of mi
croscopic minuteness.
The currents do not reach down to the bot
tot,n II tho 1nnr tLnro