Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-04-28
LIFE UNDER THE OCEAN WAVE.

an inner self, hidden life, that casual
acquaintances know nothing of, SO the
ocean has within its bosom life which
is never revealed except to long acquaint-
ance and an almost loving familiarity.
1t has life more multitudinous, quite
as wonderful, and not less beautiful than
that of the land. It's mountains rise
higher than Mont Blanc. Its valleys
and gorges are unequaled by those of
the Lebanon, the Pyrenees, or even the
Himalayas. 1t has great steppes and
immense plains, which rival those Of
North America or Central Asia. 1t has
vast and illimitable forests, which the
eye of man has never dlscerned, and
never shall, in their entirety-forests
that are fuller by far of busy life than
the most prolific Of the tropics. ''The
terrestrial forests says Charles Dar-
win, ''do not contain anything like the
number of animals that those of the sea
do" The surface of the waters, which,
plowed by storms, are such a source Of
dread to man, are the protection Of these
children of the mother ocean. At $50
fathoms there is a perfectly uniform
temperature, and the same in all lati-
tudes No cold pierces this wonderful
coverlet no storm ever disturbs the wa
ters 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, weavers, arch
itects, builders, endowed with myste-
rious instincts which are quite as won
derful 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 theolo-
gy.
These inhabitants of the sea are found
in absolutely countless numbers. No
census of old Oceans population ever
has been taken, or even can be. They
exist in all waters, the hot as we'll as
the cold, the fresh as we'll 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 fame. Flashes of vermilion-colorec
light dart from the keel of his vessel a
, it plows the surface of the waters, anC
5 streams of light like lightning sparkle
: and play upon its waves. If, overcom
5 ing his superstitious fears by growins
5 accustomed to the sight, he drops buck
1 ct into the luminous sea, he brings u
i what seems less like water thai
a like molten lead. 1t lights the forecas
S tie like a torch. He plunges his ham
| into the water. 1t comes out covere
with luminous particles glittering lik
9 diamonds full of light. How innumel
t able must be these almost infnitesima
e glow-worms of the sea, thus to CONVEX
y the ocean into sea of light
a Sometimes these tiny creatures tin
e instead of illumining the sea. Insect
e whose diameter is less than that of
: hair, 800 of whom placed in line woul
: not make an inch in length, whiten tn
d waters Of the ocean by their presenc
d and make what the Dutch sailors ca
is the Milky Sea, Or Sea of Snow. In l95
d in the Bay of Bengal, Captain Kingma
v passed for thirty miles through the mic
ID die of large patch of sea white wit
y these creatures, Thirty miles of an
le malcules 800 Of whom would hardly col
ID constitute an inch ! Seamen sometim,
to meet with 'red fogs," especially in IL
IS vicinity of the Cape de Verd Island
to Ehrenberg has examined this fog wit
,e his microscope. He finds that its til
e. is given to it by infnitesimal shells
at infusoria, brought by the winds from Il
d. coasts of South America. Let the rea
N er imagine, if he can, how many of the
he shells, so small as to be quite invisib
W to the naked eye, there must be to pr
ne duce cloud large enough and den
Up enough to perplex the navigator. Nc
n are the plants less minute or less hume
Sc Gus? Freycinct and Turrel, when
'u board the crovette La Creole in t
L neighborhood of Tajo, in the Isle Of L
p can, observed an extent Of thirty-f,
= square miles of ocean tinted light re
This color proved to be due to the pre-
:, ence Of a marine plant so small that
" a square inch there were 25, 100000 j
dividuals. AS the ccloration extend
~ to considerable depth, it would be i
: possible to form any adequate concepti
=, of their number, still less to calculate
:, 1t is the presence of similar natu
:. dye which has given to the Red Sea
: name. These minute objects, howev
are by no means confined to the surf;
a. OF the sea, or to tropical climates tt
= are found in all latitudes and in all ,
q. ters. The great rivers TEEN with the
80 The Ganges transports in the course
one year mass of invisible infuso