Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-01-13
THE Observation-Disclosures
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THE. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES \
81 PROFESSOR iiAxLEY.s
% afn 1883 Iieus enast Breotsottaiu-
Ell mud from the bottom of 1.-The M
Iantic. between Newfoundland andl
Al q ekz65rrdsa alta tfcpth OF more tifa1li
10, GOo feet, or two iniles, by the help
OF his sounding apparatus, The spec
linens were sent fox ssN4liil uathoi' 20
Enrcnbegg OF Berlin, anu 70 f'alleEoi
West Point, and those able micro
scopists found that thlsdeels sea nltld
was almost entirely composed OF me
skeletons Of living organism-
greattrp portions ofthesebeing jastlike
the GIobigerinse already known to
occur in chalk. Thus far the work
had been carried on simply III the in1
terests of science, bat lieutenant
Brooks method Of sounding Acquire
cd IL high commercial valuewhen the
enterprise of laying down the tele-
graph cable between this country
and the United States WAS undertake
en-. For it became q matter of im-
mense importance to know, not only
the DEPTH OF the sea oyer the Whole
line along which the, cable was 10 he
laid, but the exact nature of the bot
tom, 50 a. 10 guard against G ances
Of cutting or iraYlpg the strands Oh
that costly rope. The Admirdlty
consequently ordered Captain DAY.
man, an old friend and shipmate OF
mine. 10 ascertain the depth OF The
whole line of the cable, and 10 bring
back specimens of the bottom. In
former days such a command as this
might have sounded very, IN ueh like
one of the mpossible thjngsgw hich
the Young prince in the fairy tales is
ordered 10 do before he can obtain
the hand Of the princess j However,
in the months OF } une ami July, lS-
81, my friend performed the task as
signed TO him With great precision,
without, SO far AS know, having
met with any reward of that kind.
The specimens OF Atlantic mnd
which he procured were sent to me
to be examined and reported upon.
The result of all these operations l.
that we know the contours and ma
ture Of the surface soil covered blythe
North Atlantic for a distance of 100
mites from east to- west, as well as
We know that of any part OF the dry
. land. ,, .s.- ...,s. ..ts 20 z.r.-, s.a
l. is n prodigious plain, one Of the
widest and most even plains IN the
you InightJrive.a wagon all the way
from N;,iantia, on the west coast of
Ireland, To Trinity Bay, in New
foundland And except up,n one
sharp incline, gabout 300 miles from
NaIentia, ! aIa inot quite sure that it
would even be necessary 10 put llie5
skid Oh so gentle are the ascents and
descents upon THAT long route. From
NaIen tia he road would liz. down
hill for about 200 miles To the point
at which the bottom is now covered
10y 1900 fathomS of sea water. Then
would come the central plain, more
than 1890 miles wide, the nequali-
ties of the surface OF Whicn would be
hardly perceptible, though the depth
Of the wafer upon it yaries from TO-
600 10 Il. 600 feet and there ireI1i.,ces
itiwlichMount Elanc might be snnE
without sh pwing its peak above VIC
ter.rn Beyond this the ascent on the
y merirau side cotunrnres; and grad
uaiiy leads Tor about :aH miles, ~ the
wtottndlaild shores. '4't .r,'+" y
+ A lmost tn. whoi,Apftlte bottom of
this central id;.in ltNNhielr' extends
many hundred miles ina north and
south directionl Is covered by a 4 at
mudg which, " hen 8 brought To tlt
surface dries 10 ~ e,fapiShAp hite frl-
I able substance y uti t-;,ti " rite with
( tliS ofta tliacii,aard, if SoiI are 50 in
| flinrd and Ia, tle eye, il is quite like
soft, crayish CHALK o.. Examined
chellicaiiS, it pfovtdt6 he compns-.
I'd almost wholly at carbonate ri
| lime AID il Noh niai,f "A >e,iiou OF it
ia tlie s;,nir1Way ar tliai uts, piece al
rhaik Wa~ mate, and view it with
the microscope, ii presents ia NUM-
cradle Giobiseriii.h embedded ia the
granular mtttriN 'st-.e vi
a Thus this deep y.-'t mud j. Aunstan-
/ tally chalk. / say substantial
/ lY, becanse there are Il GOOD many
MINOR differences bni aN these have
no hearing upon the question immt-
/ diately -btiore which is the na=
ture of IT, Globiyerin:rc Of the chat k
it il unnecessary To speak of them