Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11
THE FLOOR OF THE SEA.
Some Queer Facts About the Funny
Little Shells in the Ocean.

~ WRITER for The STAR looked
INV through amagnifying glass yesterday
us Eafternoon at the bottom Of the sea,
NM| vthree miles down beneath the surface,
"M<aAwhere there is everlasting night, a
pressure of water that would crush you to a
Jelly In a moment, and an eternal silence,
while all the time descends from above a gen.
tie and continuous rain of almost microscopic
shells contributed by dead animals
called 'foramlnifera," because their lit
tie limy houses are mostly pierced
with small holes through which they
extend portions Of their jelly-like bodies, per-
haps for the purpose Of seeking food. 1t is of
such shells that all the chalk beds Of the world
are formed. The white cliffs OF Albion, seen
from the English channel. were made of the
same material when what is now land was sea.
The very stones OF which the Pyramids of
Egypt were built are found upon examination
TO be composed wholly of these ''rhiZopods."
DIR. Flint of the National Museum exhibited
| some scraps of the material yesterday, brought
direct from Ghizeh. All the stone in that
region, he said, was made up of shells
OF this kind Biologists call it mum
mulltlc rock" because the shells somewhat
resemble in shape the money of the ancients.
They are readily enough discerned with the
naked eye in the limestone. The doctor was
=,
glass that magnitied by about ten diameters
at some specimens which he had raked up from
the bottom OF the ocean three miles down or
more-the Atlantic is five miles deep in some
places, its floor far below the level as the
peaks Of the highest mountains are above it
and mounted for inspection.
WHAT COULD BE SEEM
One can hardly imagine anything more inter-
esting than these little shells-the biggest OF
them not more than one-eighth of an inch in
Its greatest dameter-of creatures that have
done so much to make up the world as it is to-
day. Under this comparatively small magnify
| ing power they revealed the utmost beauty and
elaboration OF structure, presenting varying
characteristics according to their many differ
| ent families. For example, the lens first
brought into view four pearly chambered
nautiiuses--at all events they looked for all the
world just like those famous shells OF myth
and story, shining bright with the sheen of
mother-of-pearl. Next came four shells in the
shape OF pearly snails with long horns.
and following these half dozen shells of lob
| ster-like shape with calcareous whiskers In
each set OF specimens one two of the shells
were seen disSected. That Is to say, they were
cut IN half, so that one could their inte-
rior structure. DIR. Flint had managed this by
fastening each shell SO treated in the end of a
piece OF sealing wax and grinding it away upon
fine milestone until half was gone. In this
manner the merest speck of a shell showed un-
the biggest conch you ever saw, and the OBJ
server was made to realize that it was once the
dwelling place OF living creature.
LIKE GLASS TUBES.
Some OF these foraminifers were in the like
ness OF transparent glass tubes, bulging in the
middle and tapering toward the ends, while
| others were strings of Opaque white bulbs with
the finest OF prickes all over them. Not a few
specimens resembed so closely the work of the
glass blower that you would hardly imagine
they were not such. Four specimens of an in
teresting variety resembled most closely in
color and shape the rolls one eats at breakfast
others were III form highly elaborated pretzels
1ne lo' mad the aspect OF SO many young and
dainty mushrooms, another of set of orna-
mental plates with perforated designs, an
other OF lot of rose-colored flowers.
another Of SO many balls OF translucent glass,
another Of several OF bright, new china soap
dishes for the washstand with their covers on
another OF five iremen hats, another of cream
candy balls, another of pinespples, another of
silk cocoons and SO on ad infinitum. One of
the most beautiful specimens that were ground
away to show the internal structure might have
been called the Shield of Achilles, SO elaborate
was the design OF its concentric circles.
COMPOSITION OF THE SHELLS
The better one is acquainted with these
foraminifera the more respect one has for
them, taking into view their usefulness an vel,
as their beauty. Some Of them obtain the car
Donate Of lime that makes their shells by sepa-
rating 1t by q process of natural chemistry
from Its solution in the sea water. Others
make their dwellings, by building them of such
materials as sand and employing the lime they
gather merely for the purpose of mortar to
fasten the component parts of their houses to-
gether. DIR. Flint is trying to find out some
good way OF getting the shells that still remain
sufficiently intact out Of the pieces of stone
which he has obtained from the great pyra-
mids in order that he may examine in detail
these things that were of remote antiquity
when Rameses the Great ruled Egypt thirty
five centuries ago.