The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1873-05-15

forests, which tho eye OF man ha
never discerned, aud never shall, il
entirety-forests that are fuller b,
far of busy life than the most prolifi
OF the tropics. "The terrestrial fol
ests," say Charles Darwin, "do no
contain anything like the number O.
animals that those of the sea do."-
The surface of the waters, which
plowed by storms, are such source
OF dread to man, are tho protection
of these children of the mother
ocean. At $50 fathoms there is q
perfectly uniform temperature, the
same in all latitudes. No cold pierccs
this wonderful coverlat, no storm ev
er disturbs the waters beneath. Here
in their hidden home, safe from the
disturbance of this upper l,fc, are
myriads of creatures, living, marry.
ing, dying; warning ono upon the
other; organizing into kingdoms,
republics, families; working in every
form of manufacture, as spinners,
weavers, architects, builders; endow.
cd with mysterious instincts, which
are quite as wonderful in their way
as our higher reason, and bound to-
gether by mysterious ties which we
are equally unable 70 comprehend or
call in question. SO true is it that
the mysteries OF science far out.
weigh those of morals and theology.
These inhabitants OF the sea are
found i'll absolute countless numbers.
No census of old Oceans population
has ever been taken nor never will
be. They exist in all waters, the hot
as well as the cold, the fresh 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 elua.
torlal sun had turned to flame.
Flashes of vermilion colored light
dart from tho keel Of his vesse! as it
plows the surface of the waters, and
streams Of light lightning sparkle
and play upon its waves. II, over.
coming his superstitious fears by
growing accustomed to the sight, he
drops bucket into tho luminous
sea, he brings up what seems less
water than like molten lead 1t lights
I'll. so-ns"-,l~ Tho +nrah H. ,>,..-
ges his hand into the water. It comes
out covered with luminous PARTICLES,
glittering like diamonds fall OF light
How innumerable must be these in
finitesimal glow worms of the sea,
thus to convert tho ocean into sea
OF light.
Sometimes these tiny creatures
tint, instead of Illuminating tho sea.
lnsects whose diameter is less than
that of hair, 800 OF whom, placed
in line would not make an inch in
length, whiten the waters of the
ocean with their presence, ard make
what the dutch sailors call the Milky
Sea, or Sea OF Snow. In 1854, in
the Bay of Bengal, Captain King.
man 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 rcd
fogs, especially in the vicinity OF the
Cape de Verde Islands. Ehrenberg
has examined this fog with his micro.
scope. He finds that its tint is given
to it by lnfinitesimal shells of intuso.
ria, brought by the winds from the
coasts of South America. Let tho
reader imagine, If he can, how many
of these shells, so small as to be
quito invisible to the naked eye.
there must be to produce a cloud
large enough and dense enough to
perplex the navigator. Now, are
the plants less minute or less numer.
Gus? Freycinct and Turrsl, when
on board the corvette La Creole, in
the neighborhood Of Tajo, in the Isle
OF Lucan, observed an extent of thir.
ty-five square miles Of ocean tinted .
light red. This color proved TO be
duo to the presence of a marine
plant so small that IN a square inch
there were 25,OOO,000 individuals.
As the coloration extended to con
siderable depth, it would be impossi
Bile to form any adequate conception
OF their number, still less to calculate
it. 1t is tho presence Of > similar
natural dye which has given to thu
|, Red Sea it's name. These minut,
objects, however, are by no mean'
confined TO the surface Of the sea, o.
TO tropical climes they are found il