The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-05-13

Charles Darwin, "do not contain anything
like the number Of animals that those OF
the sea do The surface Of the waters,
which, plowcd by storms, are such a
source of dread to man, are the protec-
tion Of these children of the mother ocean,
At $50 fathoms there is perfectly uni
form temperature, the same in all lati-
tudes. No cold perccs this wonderful
coverlet, no storm ever disturbs the wat
ors beneath. Here in their hidden home,
safe from the disturbances o. this upper
life, are myriads of creatures, living,
marrying, dying; warning one upon the
other organizing into Kingdoms, repub-
lies, families working in every form of
manufacture, as spinners, wcavers, archi-
tects, builders; endowed with mysteri-
GUS instincts which are quite as wonder
ful in their way as our higher reason, and
bound together by mysterious ties which
we are equally unable to comprehend or
to call in question. So true is it that the
mysteries Of science far outweigh those
Of morals and theology.
These inhabitants Of the sea are found
in absolutely countless numbers. No
census Of old Oceans population ever
has been taken, or ever can be. They
exist in all waters, the hot as well as the
cold, the fresh as well as the salt. The
mariner in the tropic sea is startled TO
find the ocean all about him growing
luminous, as though the very water be-
meath the hot equatorial sun had turned
to flame. Flashes of vermilion .colored
light dart from the keel Of his vessel as
it plows the surface of the waters, and
streams oflight like lightning sparkle and
play upon its waves. If, overcoming his
superstitious fears by growing accustomed
to the sight, he drops a bucket into the
luminous sea, he brings up what seems
less like water than like molten lead 1t
lights the forecastle like a torch. He
plunges his hand into the water. 1t
comes out covered with luminous particles
glittering like diamonds full of light.
How inuumerable must be these almost
infntesimal glow-worms Of the sea, thus
l W NOh' thC OOOdn lutO Il cCL VI llgub =.
Sometimes these tiny creatures tint
instead Of illumning the sea, Insects
whose diameter is less than that of hair,
800 of whom placed in line would not
make an inch in length, ,whitcn the waters
of the ocean by their presence, and make
what the Dutch sailors call the Milky Sea,
or Sea of Snow. In 1854, in the Bay of
Bengal, Captain Kingman passed for
thirty miles through the middle of large
patch Of sea white with these creatures.
Thirty miles of animalcules 800 Of whom
would hardly constitute an inch Seamen
sometimes meet with "red fogs," especial
ly in the vicinity Of the Cape de Verd
Islands Ehrenberg has examined this
fog with his microscope. lie finds that
its tint is given to it by in6nitesimal
shells of intusoria, brought by the winds
from the coasts Of South America. Let
the reader imagine, if he can, how many
OF these shells, so small as to be quite
invisible to the naked eye, there must be
to produce cloud large enough and
dense enough to perplex navigator.
Now, are the plants less minute or less
numerous Frcycinct and Turrel, when
on board the corvette La Creole in the
neighborhood Of Tajo. in the Isle of Lu.
square miles Of ocean tinted light red
This color proved to be due to the pres.
encc of marine plant so small that in q
square inch there were 25.000,000 indi
vduas AS the coloration extended tC
considerable depth, it would be i'm
possible to form any adequate concep
tion Of their number, still less to calcu
late it. 1t is the presence Of similar
natural dye which has given to the Rec
Sea its name. These minute objects
however, are by no means confined to thu
surface Of the sea, or to tropical climates
they are found in all latitudes and in al
waters. The great rivers TEEN will
them. The Ganges transports in tn,
course of one year mass Of invisible in
fusoria equal in volume to six or eight o
the great Pyramids of Egypt. Wate
brought up from the depth Of 2l ,6O(
feet, between the Philippine and tn
Marianne islands, was found to contain
ll6 species. In the arctic regions, ,wher
the intense cold forbids all other anima
life, the infusoria are still. to be found
} possessing hardy constitution which de
fies all climates. In the residuum O
blocks of ice nearly fifty different specie
have been discovered. At the depth Q
the sea which exceeds the height Of tn
lotticst mountain, Humboldt asserts tha
there are to be found an innumerabl
: phalanx of animals, iWperceptible to tn
human eye.