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

lorests, which the eye of man ha
, never discerned, and never shall. i
entirety-forests that are fuller b.
tar OF busy life than the most prolifi
, OF the tropics. "The terrestrial 70,
, ests," say Charles Darwin, "do no
: contain anything like the number o
animals that those of the sea do
Tho surface Of the waters, which
plowcd by storms, are such source
OF dread to man, are tho protectio,
OF these children of the mother
ocean. At $50 fathoms there is 8
perfectly uniform temperature, the
same in all latitudes No cold pierccs
this wonderful coverlat, no storm ev
or disturbs the waters beneath. Here
IN their hidden home, safe from the
disturbance of this upper lite, 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 spinnors,
weavers, architects, builders; endow.
Cd with mysterious instincts, which
are quite as wonderful in their way
as our higher reason, and bound to.
gcther by mysterious ties which we
are equally unable 70 comprehend or
call IN question. SO true is it that
the mysteries OF science tar 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 over 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-
torial sun had turned to flame.
Flashes of vermilion colored light
dart from the 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 the luminous
sea, he brings up what seems less
water than like molten lead. 1t lights
tha fo-ee"~.i~ fl.n to-nh H. .e,..--
ges his hand into the water. It comes
out covered with luminous particles,
glittering like diamonds full 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, and 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 rod
fogs, especially in the vicinity OF the
Cape de Verde Islands. Ehrenbcrg
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
quite 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 Turrol, when
on board the corvette La Creole, in
the neighborhood of Tajo, in the Isle
OF Lucan, observed an extent of thir-
ty-fve square miles Of ocean tinted
light red. This color proved to be
due to the presence Of marine
plant SO small that in a square inch
there were 25,000,00O individuals.
As the coloration extended to con.
siderable depth, it would be impossi-
bic to form any adequate conception
OF their number, still less TO calculate
it. 1t is the presence OF similar