Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-09-26

Sledges aud dogs have been pro
cured from the coast Of Iceland, fur
clothing and provisions were supplied
in abundance, and the explorer is san
guine that, with the aid Of q party Of
Esquimaux that he had secured, the
country can be SECURED for hundreds
Of miles inland with gratifying res
suits. rlcifs
Forests of the Sea.
In a lecture delivered recently in
Philadelphia Professor Rothrock said:
Human knowledge lies pretty much
on the surface. We are in ignorance
Of the deeper parts Of the earth, and
even Of the mysteries Of our own
creation. What wonder then that we
should know SO little Of the sea which
is so changeable. and to us 50 unape
proachable in its depths. Wyville
Thompson says "the area Of the bot
tom OF the deep sea, which has been
fairly dredged, may be reckoned by
the square yard There was a tradi-
ton. no one knew how old, but learned
by Plato from the Egyptian priests,
Of a sunken island. once large, rich
aud populous, situated to the west of
the Pillar Of Hercules, in an ocean SO
vast that the Mediterranean itself
might be regarded as a mere harbor.
This took shape in the tale(we hardly
dare call it 6ction) Of Atlantis. II
was believed by many to represent
the geological fact that such a land
had actually once existed. Indeed,
we have not yet quite ceased 10 hear
Of it as more OF less probable. Sailors
had heard how ships venturing too
far from land became fast in its con,
cealed shoals and there, beyond all
hope Of rescue, the crews awaited the
time when their ships should rot and
themselves consigned TO the waves.
We may, hence, well understand with
what prejudice aud fear Columbus had
to wrestle, when, in September, he
found his vessel in a vast meadow
formed of seaweed, which was so thick
as to impede sailing, | need hardly
say that this meadow is what is now
known as the Sargassa sea. This lies
between the twentieth and fertieth
degrees Of north latitude, and west oil
the fortieth degree Of longitude. II
occupies an area estimated at 260, 600
square miles, which is larger than that
OF Austria, or twice the size Of Eng
land, Wales, Scotland, Ireland aud
the adjacent islands.
So far as may be learned it has now
about the same position that it had in
the days Of Columbus. The origin Of
this mass was long a matter of doubt
Il is now pretty we'll understood that
the portion alluded to represents sim.
ply one mode of reproduction. The
plant then floats on the water, has nc
connection with the bottom, but cen.
fury after century has reproduced it
self and increased by process Of bud.
ding alone. This form has the con
%spicuous air bladders, by means Of
which the plant floats. The other
form, which reproduce by mean Of
spores analogous to seed), is found
growing anchored to the bottom in
shallow waters of the West Indies
Both forms constitute the so-called
Gulf weed. The plant is eliveNgreen
10 color, from six to sixteen inches
long and much branched. The main
interest in the above mentioned plant
is not from its economic value, but in
its historical and biographical rels.
tions. 1t has many points Of structure
in common with the common bladder
wrack or kelp, which lines our shores.
This has economic value, in manufac
ture Of soda and iodine. 1t is also
used as a fertilizer for the soil.
There are other forests of the sea
which do have the most important
practical connection with human
wants; some which affect not only 10
dividuals, but also influence national
prosperity. Thus extending from the
10th degree OF latitude down the At
lantic coast, round Cape Horn aud
clear up the Pacific as far as Alaska,
is a plant known to the botanists as
Macrocystispyrifera, the largest known
plant, certainly 400 feet long, and
alleged to attain a length Of 1900 feet
This forms great tangled masses,
which Darwin says contain more ami
NAL life than any forest Of the land,
corallines, mollusks, fish, cutie. fish.
crabs, sea cucumbers, star fish, all
feeding and living among its leaves
Even on the coast Of Terra del Fuepo,
where the land was barren TO the last
degree, the sea in which this plant
grew was tull of animal life. Ii the
plant were destroyed there would also
be destroyed all the animals it pro
tects and nourishes, and the pfeda.
cious insects which feed upon them,
including THE Buegian savaRes. the
miserable lord Of this miserable land.
who would redouble his caunibal
feast, decrease in numbers and per-
haps cease TO exist"
1t grows, al has been stated. over a
vast geographical range, buoying rocks
aud marking shoal places wherever the
water is less thai twenty four iathoms
deep. II is strange that its stem, soft
and plisble and but little over an inch
thick, should resist the action of the
waves 10 places where even solid rocks
are speedily eroded, BY its mere mass
also it converts the bays Of the Pacific
coast into safe harbors, for it serves AZ
q natural and effective break vaier 10
the heavy waves which como in from
the ocean. II Is hard TO estimate its
importance 10 this respect to the com
merce Of the region. After speaking
OF the curious Neresey SITS, or Sea OF.
ter Kohl, which was found from the
coast Of California to that of Alaska.
sud in which the sea otter lives, and
N the large air bladders on which Il
Il iats and rests, the microscopic forests
0 the sea we're alluded to- forests 90
small as to be invisible to the naked
eye, but which IN the long course Of
ages had come to have changed the
shape OF the oceans bottom. blocked
up harbors, modified channels, and
even formed extensive deposits 10
what 10 now the solid surface of earth
The special group representatives OF
which had accomplished these results,
was that known to naturalists as the
Diatomaoe@. Their sandy skeletons
are often marked with such exceeding
delicaoy as almost to defy the best
powers Of the best microscopes. Yet
tue plants we're perpetuated genera
ton after generation, true in all their
specific details. and followed a regular
order in their life history. No research
has shown less OF the wonderful in the
microscopic than in the telecopic
world. It is strange that so
msny can see the glory Of God in the
heavens, but so few can discover il In
the minutest things Of earth.
Instantly Relieved.
Mrs. Ann Lacour, Of New Orleans, La.
writes. | have n son who has been sick
for two years; he has been attended by