New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-17
THE OCEAN DEPTHS.
LIFE IN THE MARINE ABYssEs.

ALONG TIE ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED
STATES, FROM 1877 TO 1880 BY Alexander
Acassiz. In two volumes Svo. PIP. xii, 3l4; ~
Hsughton. Mifin & Co.
These handsome volumes arc offered by Professor
Agassiz contribution to American Thalass-
ography" They contain the record of three cruises
in the steamer Blake for the purpose of taking
soundings and obtaining information concerning
the fauna and fora Of the ocean spaces. Though
the vessel employed this service was far too
small, that her instability when there was
much sea on constantly hindered the delicate work
of sounding and trawling the men of science on
board her missed opportunities. and IN the
end succeeded in performing an amount of work
which compares favorably even with the results
OF such magnfccnty equipped expeditions as that
of the British ship Challenger" Professor
AgasSiz also made careful studies of the coral
formations on the Florida coast AT the outset
he was struck by the appearance of several con-
ditions which seemed incompatible with Darwins
welknown theory of the growth Of coral rec S, and
the further his Investigations proceeded the more
convinced did he become that, however well OAR
wins hypothesis explains the atoll formations, 1t
docs not apply to the coral growth on the Florida
coasts, where the existence and constant opera
ton Of a complicated system of currents produce
peculiar and possibly unparalleled conditions, to
which the coral insects compelled TO adapt
themselves.
Much new light has been thrown upon the
conditions of animal life in deep water by these
cruises though it is evident that the arrangements
for bringing the deep-sca creatures 70 the surface
arc yet far from complete The deep-sca sounding
apparatus invented by Sir William Thompson has
been greatly improved by American naval officers
and The improved machinery was used on the Blake
BY il much greater accuracy in registering the
dcpth was obtained, while soundingS at enormous
depths taken, the highest being nearly i've
thousand fathoms. Many valuable improvements
have been made in the instruments for recording
the pressure at great depths for registering the
temperature of the water and for bringing up
samples of the ocean bottom. The dredging and
trawling apparatus has also been made much more
effective; but hitherto means have been devised
for overcoming the effects upon the deep-sea
organisms Of the diminution of pressure in rising
TO the surface The animals which are organized
30 withstand enormous pressures in the depths OF
the ocean, when relieved from it, fall to pieces
or so nearly that on reaching the surface their
structure is usually disOrganizcd as to render
the examination of them very difficult and often
impossible In the case Of the decp-water crustacae
this obstacle is not serious bat with the soft
tiSsued fishes the removal of pressure effects
strange metamorphoscs, sometimes reducing the
creatures to q spOngy state and sometimes causing
them TO collapse almost into Jelly.
Much insight was gained into the state OF the
ocean bed in its deeper parts. 1t was ascertancd
that there vast SPACES where the only deposits
appear to he peagc the remains of these creatures
slowly sinking through regions which appear to
be characterized by medal belts of uninhabited
water-though at present this can only be regarded
ms a working hypothesis, the data for definite
conclusions being insufficient. There is evidence
tending to the belief that beyond certain quite
moderate depth the inhabitants of the ocean spaces
diminish rapidly in numbers and activity; but
IT is also apparent that at the lowest depths that
U.s. on and near the bottom life of many kinds
abounds. Ocean life is largely affected by differ
onceS in temperature, and therefore, by the opera
0ton and detection of currents change of
View degrees will populate depopuate large
This, of course, is only in the upper strata
Of the In deep water, the temperature is
nearly the same everywhere, so that the fauna
are cosmopolitan, and for the same reason many
older types have been preserved in the depths
The speculations of scientists concerning the
possible survival in the profound ocean deeps of
the fauna which abounded in the earths earlier
ages have not been borne out so far by any dis
coverics. No evidence has been obtained of the
existence Of great fishes, or crusaceans, or other
archaic forms Of life, with the exception of the
gigantic cephalopods Of the North Atlantic and
some parts of the Indian Ocean. That there are
no such creatures in the ocean depths cannot, of
course, DC asserted. SclentDc research
has been so far little more than tentative. Nor
is the question as TO the exclusion of light from
the ocean depths, and the effect of darkness upon
the Inhabitants of those depths, satisfactorily de-
termined
Many forms of life have been found in which the
eyes aborted, plainly in process of abortion
but the other hand, many deep-dwelling
creatures have been brought up with well-de-
vcloped organs Of sight In some instances even
the ooze-dwcllers are able TO see, though it is
difficult to understand what eyes be to
them Nature, however rarely preserves organs
which have ceased to be seryiceabe, and it may
perhaps be cOnjectured that the animals which
retain their eyes while inhabting the dark ocean
depths are not stationary but migratory Species
and have come to their present habitat from
regions TO which the light penetrated. This is
the more probable inasmuch the older types
generally found TO be blind, the useless eyes
being replaced by an increased delicacy of tactile
sense Another interesting fact is the frequent
phOsphOreScence of deep-Sea creatures. In those
abysseS they carry their own Illuminating APP
paratus with them. The Arrangement must have
its drawbacks for strong preylng fishes, since
such devourerS always have yet more powerful
enemies to pursue and destroy them. 1t might
be thought too, that the phosphorcscence would
of their natural prey but perhaps il operates
as fascination and attracts it, 1t may safely
be concluded, from the survival Of phosphOrescent
creatures, that their conspicuousness is more adj
vantageous than hurtful TO them. Nature never
adapts her creatures out of existence but in every
change she makes, seeks TO bring them into closer
conformity with their environment
Below few hundred fathomS the filtration Of
light ceases, and with it the growth of marine
vegetation. Now innumcrabe creatures subsst
upon the vegetation which is abundant in moderate
sea-dcpths and when vegetation becomes i'm
possible, it is apparent that many forms of life
also excluded. In the vast abysmal spaces
Of the great oceans therefore the probability is
that immense areas are as void Of organic life