The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-05-17
Our @lio.



has within its bosom life which is never
revealed except 70 long acquaintance and
an almost loving familiarity. 1t has life
more multitudinous, quite as wonderful,
and not less beautiful than that of the
land. Its mountains rise higher than
Mount Blame. lis valleys and gorges are
unequalled by those Of the Lebanon. the
Pyrenees, or even the Himalsyas II has
great sleeps and immense plains, which
rival those of North America or Central
Asia. 1t has grand illimitable forests,
which the eye Of man has never discerned,
and never shall in their entirety--forests
that are fuller by far Of busy life than the
most prolific Of the tropics. The terres-
trial forests" says Charles Darwin, G do
not contain any thing like the number Of
animals that those Of the sea do... The
surface Of the waters, which, plowed by
storms, are such source Of dread to man,
are the protection Of these children Of the
mother ocean. At $50 fathoms there is a
perfectly uniform temperature, the same
in all attitudes. No cold pierces this won
derful coverlet, no storm ever disturbs the
waters beneath. Here in their hidden
home, safe from the disturbances of 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, weayers, archi-
tects, builders; endowed with mysterious
instincts which are quite as wonderful in
their way as our higher reason, and bound
together by mysterious ties which we are
equally unable to comprehend or 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 number. No cen
sus 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 beneath the hot
equatorial sun had turned to fame. Flash
es Of yermillion-colored light dart from the
keel of his vessel as it plows the surface Of
the waters, and streams Of light like light
ming sparkle and play upon its waves. II,
overcoming his superstitious fears by grow
ing 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 lumi-
nous particles glistering like diamonds full
Of light. How innumerable must be these
almost infnitesimal glow-worms Of the sea,
thus to convert the ocean into a sea Of
light!
Sometimes these tiny creatures tint in
stead Of Illuminating the sea. Insects
whose diameter is less than that of hair,
300 of whom placed in line would not
make an inch in length, whiten 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 thir.
ty miles through the middle Of large
patch Of sea, white with these creatures
Thirty miles of animalcules 300 of whom
would hardly constitute m inch Sea-
men sometimes meet with red fogs,p es.
pecially in the vicinity Of the Cape dc
verd Islands .Ehrenberg has examined
this fog with his microscope. He finds
that its tint is given to il BY infnitesimal
shells Of infusoria, 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 in
visible to the naked eye, there must be
to produce cloud large enough and dense
enough to perplex the navigator.
Nor, are the plants less minute or less
numerous? Freycinct and Turrell, when
on board the corvette La Creole in the
neighborhood Of Tajo, in the Isle Of Lucan,
observed an extent Of thirty-fye square
miles Of ocean tinted light red This
color proved to be due to the presence of
a marine plant 50 small that in a square
inch there were 25,0OO,00O individuals.
As the coloration extended to consider
able depth, It would be impossible to form
any adequate conception Of their number,
still less to calculate H. II is the presence
of similar natural dye which has given
to the Red Sea its name. These minute
objects, however, are by no means confined
to the surface Of the sea, or to tropical eli
mates they are found in all attitudes and
in all waters. The great rivers TEEN with
them. The Ganges transports in the
course of one year a mass Of invisible in
fusoria equal in volume to six or eight Of
the great Pyramids Of Egypt Water
brought up from the depthsof 2l 500 feet,
between the Philippine and the Marianne
islands was found to contain l16 species.
In the Arctic regions, where the intense
cold forbids all other animal life, the in.
fusoria are still to be found, possessing a
hardy constitution which ds6es all eli
mates. In the residuum Of blocks Of ice
nearly fifty different species have been dis.
covered. AT a depth Of the sea which
exceeds the height Of the loftiest noun
tain. Humboldt INSERTS that there are n