The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1888-11-15
nEEP.sEA pEsoLArIok.

Catholic AagiGiene.
Despite the faneiful pictures which
some writers have drawn Of the
ocean bed, its desOlAtlOn, at least In
its deepest parts, must be extreme.
Beyond the first mile IL is a vast
desert Of slime aud core, upon which
II constantly dripping . rain Of dead
carcGsses from the surface, which
carcasses supply the nOurishment
for the scanty fauna inhabiting the
abyssnal regiOn-in some places more
than five miles from the sunshine
aud the microscope reveals that the
Shiny matter covering this deepest
ocean bed IL very similar In com
position to the ancient chalk OF the
eretaceous period, while mixed with
Il here and there are minute
metallic aud magnetic bodies, which
have been proved To be dust from
meteorites. At long intervals q
phOsphOrescent light CLEANS from
lie head Of some passing fish which
has strayed thither from "A higher
and happier Z1ne. But IL Is not
until we have mounted q good deal
nearer the surface that the scene
changes for the better. We now
meet with forests Of brilliantly
cOIored sponges. while the phOsphOr-
escent animals swimming about are
much more numerous; aud the
nearer we get To the littOral zone
more aud more phOsphOTesee':t
lights appear, till II length the
scene becomes truly amin ated.
When only 10 feet separated us
from the sunshine, we come upon
the first seaweed and kelp 4 I'D feet
IL the deepest limit Of plant life in
water: but we must rise still
another ,OOO feet and more, and get
as near the top "a l3D feat before We
ind any Teef-bUilding cOrals. AZ
plants do not exist In deep sci, the
deep-sea animals either prey ON one
another or get their food from dead
organism aud plants which sink
down To them. Thus MHury says:
1.-The sea, like the snow cloud with
lis fakes In 4 calm, IL always letting
fall upon its be showers Of micrOs-
copic shells" An experiment
proves n tiny shell would take about
q week tO fall from the surface
60 the deepest depths. Since sun
light does not penetrate much far
ther than the littOral zone, there
would he beyond this perpetual
darkuess. expect for phUsphOTes-
cence. Many Of the animals in
habiting the continental and Abyssal
zones have merely Tudimentary
eyes; but these blind creatures have
very long feelers, which help them
to grope their way along the bottom.
Other deep sea animals, ON the
contrary, have enormous eyes, aud
these very likely cOngregate around
such Of their number ~ are phos-
phOrescent, and may perhaps follow
the moving lamp-pOsts about wher-
ever they go. And so bright Is this
light on many of the fish brought up
by the DIRE, ge that during the brief
space the animals survive IL Is not
difficult to read by IL.
The EeasOn why fishes and
mOllusEs living more than three
miles under water are able To bear n
pressure OF several IONS is that they
have exceedingly loose tissues.
which allow the water to flow
through every inteTstice and thus tn
equaliZe the weight. When the
pressure IL removed they perish.
In the Challenge expedition sent
out by the British government, all
the sharks brought up from a depth
Of little less than thTee-quarteTs of
a mile were dead when they got TO
the surface.