The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-08-14
THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA.
A. oB=rBvEp o. BOARD II. 3. " SCIENTIFIC Dis
covEET HIP CH4ILESGEv.

NcEd-to pI ecle-lIlc quest ana DtSeIVotlOD,
are among the mos, benefcent enterprises devised
by governments. It Is work done for the whole
world and what great gift does an enlightened
state confer upon other nations, when she sends
her strength and skill abroad to be employed in
collecting and classifying hidden and important
things Of the earth and then discloses all,
without any especial reservations for herself
This England Is doing now-and che il accumu-
latiDg obligations upon enlightened nations by
the .srcat voyage for scientific discovery in which
the Challenger is now engaged-of which we
took some observation on board.
This expedition has been placed in very eff
cient hands. The author of the g Depths Of the
Sea" Prof. WyEillc Thomson. vas the right
man to search still deeper and wider. We have
followed him in his crossings on board the
Lightning and the Porcupisle in the German
ocean, and among the Farce islands, and
have seen how close and thorough he Is in his
work. He is not influenced By any theoretic
opinion. but is 4 determined searcher after truth.
He admits the possibilities Of variation through
countless ages, and 70 some extent is an evolu-
ZIONIST yet he says sc so far as practical na-
turalists are concerned, species are permanent
within their narrow limits Of variation, and it
FB1A4 NAS@0NS ~A NbANG u aIoAN -
and error, if We were 10 regard them in any other
light" Thus equipped, with the spirit of faith
ful research, and with all the appliances that
modern skill can devise, he has been finding out
paths, and picking up marvels in the great deep
that have excited our highest interest and wonder.
We have at other times reioiced in the treas
uTos Of the mountains and the valleys, that
glisten with glory in the face of the sun but
there is as deep a joy and interest for the thought
full and worshipful soul in the arcana of the
sunless depths of the sea. It's infnitude every
where; whether in the greatness of the Heavenly
bodies. or in the microscopic minuteness of cum
ming and battling nature. that still hides from the
gaze of man, as many wonders in atomic minute
ness, as in titanic immensely. And we we're glad
dened with q vision of things, that come from depths
that would submerge the top of Himalaya from
q bed of soil and she'll, that is covered with
ATS fathoms, or q little over five miles of sup
erIncumbent sea. Here live and move the
minute foraminifere. They are but pin points
10 the naked eye, and yet with the help Of the
magnifying lenses in the Natural History room
we could observe the gangliated nervous systems
Of these polythalmous minute mollusks from the
great depths. All, indeed in specks and spots
there are yet an insnity of undiscovered worlds
to satisfy the inquiring and thirsting soul Of in
teiligent man therefore let us not yet q while
complain of the littleness of our planet, be-
cause we can circumnavigate it in as many
months, as it once required years and can girdie
it with our expressed thought in less than an
hour. Many think that with the tremendous
march of enquiry and research, as compared
with past ages, that the world will soon be sifted
doYVO RI itG Last aoarat and fhof nv and hv tho
spirit of discovery will lament the want OF other
and bigger worlds for the finding Of something
new. But look with us into the ocean abyss,
and swoop down with ardent, buoyant soul, and
search with the eager, hungering eyes of love
throughout the shrouded depths, upon the plain
of ooze that is more than ten thousand feet
beyond the suns rays, and there amid infinite
sinai myriads of atoms, select one for your espe-
cial study, a globigerina, that requires a good
natural eye sight in order to discern the atomic
speck it presents in visible creation. And now,
with your lens you expand its dimensions many
thousand times, and you behold a well defined
spherOidal shaped body, that is covered with
more than n thousand distinctly defined bosses
and as each boss or protruberance presents a
notified or corrugated surface, it is perhaps
marked with as many points, spots, or interstices,
as the main body of the atomic creature and
thus you may observe, If your glass has sufficient
power, the mil,ionth part of a creature, whose
Whole body you could place INTO the smallest
made by a common pin in q piece OF
paper. Don't despair then, and fear that VIC
may soon lack all opportunity for the occupation
of the spirit of discovery. One square foot of
this marvellous earth made by our Almighty
10 thor p,o he po,,1 ~ Damn ,r;kb .oro.es,-
and profitable study an intelligent being for q
long life time.
But we must not dwell upon atomic marvels,
with which our microscopic society will be occu-
pied, by and by. We will take a glance at the
equipment Of the ship for the purpose of re- Z
search, study and illustration. Her foremost
for scientific work is her dredge for
deep sea collections. This seems to be a wrought
frame about four feet long and a foot wide.
this is laced a strong bag net, about four or
i've feet square, along the extreme edge of which
are several rope swabs for trawling along the
bottom. \ strong rope of Italian hemp is Sc
cured to this frame which passes over a sheave !
connected with an apparatus named the accumu-
This accumulation consists Of two circular
of wood connected together by q number of
India -ubber rods, which give and take, whilst
he dredge is drawn over the inequalities of the
Of the ocean. And in this deep sea
scoop have been brought up marvellous zoOphytic
crustacea, prawns. and small fish from
varying from 500 to 1900 fathoms.
For all this work, miles of rope and line are
slowed away on board, and also tons of iron TO
De thrown away with the frequent casts of the
ieep sea sounding line. For obtaining samples
# water from different DEPTHS of the sea there
ire bottles of brass, most simply and ingeniously
arranged for filing and closing at any depth and
heir thick sides of one-quarter Of an inCh of
METAL, show what strength is necessary to provide
gainst the extraordinary pressure of the sea,