Richland beacon., 1873-05-24
The Inhabitants of the Sea.

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 beneath 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 OF light
like lightning sparkle and play upon It's
waves. If, overcoming his superstitious
fears by growing accustomed TO the sight,
he drops bucket into the luminous sea,
he brings up what seems less like water
than like molten lead. 1t lights the fore
castle like torch. He plunges his hand
into the water. 1t comes out covered with
luminous particles glittering like
diamonds full of light. How innumera-
bic must be these almost iniinitesimal
glow worms of the sea, thus TO convert
/ the ocean into sea of light.
| Sometimes these tiny creatures tint i'll
stead of illumining the sea. Insects
whose dameteris 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 3OOOf whom
would hardly constitute an inch. Seamen
sometimes meet with 'red togS. especially
in the vicinity of the Cape de Nerd Islands.
r..
his microscope. He finds that its tin
is given to it by ininitesimal shells of in
tt,soria, 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
a cloud large enough and dense enough
to perpleX the navigator. Now, are the
plants less minute or less numerous
: F'revcinct and TurIel, when on board the
corvette La Creole in the neighbOrhood OF
Tajo, in the Isle of Lucan. observed an
: extent of tEirty-five square miles of ocean
tinted light red. This color proved &c
be due to the presence of a marine plant
so small that in square inch there wert
: 25,000. 900 individuals. As the cOloratior
extended to a considerable depth, il
would be impossible to form any adequate
conception OF their nuNlDtT, sun lces l,
[ calculate it. 1t is the presence of a SINH
lar natural dye which has given to the
Red Sea its name. These minute objects
: however, are by no means confined to tn,
| surface of tie sea, or to tropical climates
they are found in all latitudes and in al
waters. The great rivers TEEN with them
, The Ganges transports in the course o
one year mass of invisible infHSOri;
equal in volume TO six or eight OF thu
great Pyramids of Egypt. Water brough
!, up from the depth of p 600 feet, between
the Philippine and the Marianne Islands
was found TO contain llG species. In tn,
arctic regions. where the intense cole
: forbids all other animal life, the intusOri;
are still to be found, possessing hardy
constitution which defies all climates. II
the reSiduum of blocks of ice nearly fifty
: different species have been discovered
At depth of the sea which exceeds tn
height of the Hottest mountain. Hum
boldt asserts that there are to be foun,
an innumerable phalanX of animals, i'm
percepfible to the human eye.-Harper'
Magazine for May.