The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-12-02
The Bottom Of the Ocean.
BY PROFESSOR HAxLEy.

BY PROFESSOR HAxLEy.
In 1851 Lieut.. Brooke obtainted w.,
from the bottom of the North Atl,n, aa
between Newfoundland and the Azors. :,
depth of more than 10000 feet, or t,s ~
miles, by the help of his sounding onn."' o
! tus. The specimens were sent for ar".':
nation to Gutenberg. of Berlin. and ~
Bailey, of West Point, and these ah =
microscopes found that this deem A sas
mud was almost entirely composed ofIs
skeletons OF living organism, the greats .ss
proportion of these being just like tsa
Globigerinae already known to occur in t tss
chalk. ~ Tue
Thus far the work had bsen carr;oa
simply in the interests Of science IN Ua
Lieut.. Brooke's method of SOUNDING ~. -.
quired high commercial value when =, ~
enterprise Of laying down the teIss,s sSe
cable between this country and the Until
States was undertaken. For itbecamsfsaa
matter OF immense importance TO know
not only the depth Of the sea over ~
whole line along which The cable was 10 no 10
laid, but the exact nature of the bolton ~
SO as to guard against chances of cufi;n,
or fraying the strands of that costly rr,,.s s
The Admiralty consequently ordered f,arp.
Dayman, an old friend and shipma,a ::
mine, to ascertain the depth of the Will, ~
line of the cable, and to bring back snaa;
mems Of the bottoml In former DAYS 81
a command as this might have sonnd.a
very much like one of the impossible tb;soa
which the young prince in tie fairy tolss
is ordered to do before he can obtain tho
hand Of the princess, However. in AZ
months Of June and July. 1867, NV f,;onS
performed the task assigned to him w;.i'
great precision, without, so far as / lnnm
having met with any reward of that Kind
The specimens of Atlantic mud which he
procured were sent to me to be examined
and reported upon.
The result OF all these operations is that
we know the contours and nature Of fbe
surface-soil covered by the North Atlanta
for distance ofi700 miles from east ~
west, as well as we know that OF anv po,t
of the dry land. s.s..1s... 80. r''''
1t is aprodiginus plain, one of the widest
and most even plains in the world. If,Ls
sea were drained of, you might drive =
wagon NIL the way from Valentia.s on ira
west coast of Ireland. to Trinity Bav. in
newfoundland. And, except upon one
sharp incline, about two hundred mile,
from Valentia. am not quite sure that 4
would even be necessary to put the sk;n
on, SD gentle are the ascents and descenia
upon that long route. From Yalentid Ia
road would be down hill for about tVo
hundred miles to the point at which tile
bottom is now covered by seventeen hnnd-
red fathoms Of sea water. Then would
come the central plain, more than one tho;
sand miles wide, the inequalities Of the So
Lace OF WHICH would be hardly perceptibIe.
though the depth. Of the water upon Il
varies from ten thousand to fifteen thou.
and feet; and there are places in which
Mount Blanc might be sunk without show
ng its peak above water. Beyond this the !
scent on the American side commences
md gradually leads for about three hund-
ed miles, to the Newfoundland shore.
Almost the whole of the bottom Of this
central plain (which extends many hundred
niles in north and south direction, IA
covered by o fine mud, which, when
brought to the surface, dries into erayish.
White friable Substance. You can writa
With this on a blackboard If you are SO IN.
lined, and to the eye it. is quite like yerv
oft, grayish chalk. Examined chemicallv
proved to be composed almost wholly Of
lime and if you make section
y It IN the same way as that of a piece .of
lialk was made, ard view with the micru.
cope, 1t presents innumerable Glo6ige,iaoe
in the granular niatrlx. 81 {
!. Thus this deep sea mud is suhstantialIv
halk. / say, subsequently, because there
70 q good many miaor differences bus as
ilese have no bearing upon The question
before us-which is the nature
4 the Globtgerinao of the chalk Iii is M
ecessary. n, ....4.., -,