Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-05-22


1. Sir c. Wyvilie Thompson has Just pul
lished an account Of the cruise Of Il
ship Challenger, of England Captai
Mares, sent ont forom Portsmouth i
December, 1872. for series Of deepse
explorations The cosrse Of fhe- ,yesst
I was succesivcly TO Gibraltar, Canar
Islands, the West Indies, the Bermuda.
Haiifax, tbs Bermudas again, the Asorsa
Cape Verde, Bania and the Cape Of Geo,
Hope. From this point the vessel pass
ed into the Indian and Pacific oceans
After her temperance in the Atlanti
ocean through the Straits of Magellan
the Challenger visited the Falkland
Islands, Montevideo, Ascension. and a,
back to England. She arrived at Ports
mouth, completing the cruise, after Al
aDsence Of three and half years, OF
May 70, 1876. From the narrative oil
Professor Thompson, the director Of the
civilian scientific staa, we quote these
interesting extracts:
The absence Of eyes in many deep aes
animals, and their full development in
Others, is very remarkable. In deep wa.
ter, say ITO to $40 fathoms, eye-stalks
are present, but the animal is apparently
blind, tic eyes being replaced BY round.
ed calcare0us terminaticns to the eye.
stalks. In examples taken from 500 to
700 fathoms, in other localities the eye.
stalks have lost their special character,
have become fixed, and the examinations
combine into . strong pointed rostrum.
In this case we have gradual modifica-
tion, depending apparently upon grad
ual dlminution and final disappearance
Of solar light. On the other hand some
animals from equal depths have their
eycs unusually developed and apparent
~ OF great delicacy. It ia possible that
IN certain cases, as the suns light dimin-
isiles, he power of vision becomes more
acute, :.sil at length the eye becomes
susceptible ct the stimulus of the faint
er light OF phosphorescence.
In the course Of the CHALLENGER from
the Canary lslanda to the West Indies
it was found that Ne depth went on in.
creasing to distai~e of 1.l5O miles
from TeneriGe, reachAg. finally 3l50
fath0ms, or aboutthree md : half m;les
There the clay is pare ana smn,th with
scarcely trace OF kme. Frnn I'M.
great depth the bottom tradnalIv r;ses sa'
and with decreasing depthths gray color
and the calcareous compoktioh ~ The
ooze return. Passing from the 1r;.,Jie
plateau ef the Atlantic to the west-n
trough, with depths little over S,OG
fathoms. the red clay returns in all its
purity. The general concurrence Of
many observations would go far to prove,
what seems now, indeed, to stand in the
position of an unascertained fact, that
wne9eves the depth increased 55em sSSs sssas
formation Of the Atlantic passes into q
clay.
OF the Brazilian coast the ship en-.
countered an immense swarm Of butter
fiies, which futtered over the sea as fal
AZ the eye could reach, qaiverine in thu
sir like withered leaves. Such shower
of these insects are not uncommon ir
this locality. Sometimes the country il
absolutely devastated by the caterpillar
The moths or butterflies, when caught
by the land breeze, are waited out K
sea, where myriads are drown, b rem
nant, perhaps, floating back again by tn.
usual shifting OF the wind in the even
ing.
The most prominent and remarkabl,
biographical result Of the recent investi
cations is the final establishment of tht
fact that the distribution of living be
ings has no depth limit; but that ami
mails of al! the marine invertebrats
classes, and probably fishes also, exis
over the whole floor Of the 6cean, and
some of the most interesting If the prob
lens which are now before us have ref
erence to the nature and distribution o
the deep sea fauna and to its relation
with the fauna of shalloHer water
and with the fauna of past periods i
the e2rth's history. The fauna at grea
depths was found to be remarkably uni
form. Species of ynany familiar genera
and nearly allied to those found in shal
low water, were taken in the deepes
hauls, so that it would seem that the enol
nous pressure, the utter darkness, an,
the difference in the chemical and physi
cal conditions of the water and in th
proportions of the contained gases, de
pending upon such extreme conditions
do not influence animal life TO any grea
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