St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-10-14

3 .XFH4.-N0. a..
or OCEAN OEPTsss.
fksy 1au = Fssess Whes ths Prsesme =
Wstsf Ne L6ogef Hssdb YAs0 3e0se4sAs
The new submarine -wurlih now ex-
plored sud mapped out presents . vefy
af1erent picture from that painted toe
n by the poets. But . short time has
elapsed since the bottom Of the ocean
Was supposed to be the Counterpart Of
The face Of the earth above wster-wfth
hills sudi Valleys with prsoipitoae
lifting toward the surface
and profound .gorges sinking to AM
depths. The ocean A0Or b
far less diversified tlispthe lsnd.
/ Here and there. 70 Be sare. ialaad6
in nid-oeean are the, sunmits of
enormous mopntains. rising moro
or less .Ahuptly. from > gener.
ally level surface, and the -
lying over . nAxrOw,s depressed
region in the-pxthwestern Pacific
reaches itA ereatest depth. Bat
this is exceptional; in its general char.
acter the ocean bottom CONSISTS Of vist
Aat -essalightly uhdulating rlsinA An
extraordinary circunstsnee that has
been noticed with interest, and thst
olways creates surprlse when Ars<
learned, is the entire absence Of fo~
eign matter in-$heAeepsr part Of TIE
oceans hoor. .s....t
i OF all the vessels lost In midocean:
of al the human beings that havebeeo
drowned;. Of. ALI the marine aninals
that have persisted, of al the clay,
sand and gravel let fall by dissofvin9
iceher&s; Of all the various substances
drifted fron every shore BY hitting
currents, not . trace remains; bat In
their place water irom one thouaoad
to twenty-five hundred fathOms IN
depth covers the sniSsrm deposit Of
thick, BLUSH, teuscious slime. called
globigerina ocee. A bit Of this under
. powerful lens IL . revslitioa q bssu-
~ not readily forgotten. The oose b
composed almost entirely Of the dsin-
tiest, most delicately beautiful Shells
imaRinobIc. sa.fa - fi- l4ss : sss.a sstss
3 At depths greater than two thousand
Eve hundred fathoms the bottom Of tie
sea consists mainly Of products arising
from exposure, foe. .almos1 inealeu1a1ao
periods, TO the chemical action Of -
water, Of pumice and other volcanie
matters. This flnslly@ results IN the
for1stioa ol the rad clay depesits thet
arc considered. Characteristic Of the
profoundest depths Of the ocean Car.
bonate of lime, which In the Torn o1
the shells Of forsminifera, makes mp -
large . part Of the globigerina ooas. Il
here almost entirely absent
Sea water ID very nearly unfvssua1
solvent, and before any shall. large q
small, reaches the bottom of these tre-
mendous abysms it Is chemically eaten
MP, literally dissolved-a result which
the enormous pressure Of the water
must natesislly hasten. At one thoa-
sand fathoms the weight Of The water
pressing On all .seaes 'of m objoot In
mersed to that depGh iavssy ready cae
ton to the squase ineh. .og moro than one
hundred times that sustained et Tie
sea level. aud at the greatest dep1hs The
pressare u 90 4ncr1ased thst itWoald
seem aothing coNA withstand rit-in
fact, heavy metal cylinders lee, down
'Ssithsthe Rounding apparatus osso0e'
'4inAs, - being drawn up sgai4 70 ~
surface, found bent and co(apeqd;
sttongly-made glass vessels wh3ch the
metel inclosed are shattered i14o mag.
mentA r .E..iift'l-.s s+, ..a-s sfgf
In the profoundest sbysms q the go
are strange forms Of life. tbAt never.
save when brought up By thS tzswl.
see the upper light The wogecarrie4
on BY means Of the United .Stttes AL
commission vessel, the Albat9tss. has
established the fact that fot11s of -
life inhabitipg upper waters msy DE-
scend 70 about twelve hun1ted fest
from the surface, but that 'b930w thia.
to : depth Of three hundred 5or thrse
hundred and sixty fathoms. > barren
sone intervenes where marine life
sesms absent Bat still deeper.
strange 70 say. has been discov.
cred an abundant and varied
fsnns, new to science, living
under, ceaditioss Of tsemendoua
pressure, and paucity Of the liSe-sus'
tanning element Of oxygen. that in.
duesd an eainens soologist 20 cay quits
recently: what We know Of the great
est ocean depths forbids ~ TO expect
to find them Inhabited BY living
orRsnisms." Here indeed. survive
forms Of life the like Of which no In
habitant Of the upper world. not even
the sun himself, has looked upon BE-
fore the dredges Of the Challenger. the
Albatross, the Blake, and similarly
equipped vesssls dragged up marine
creatures from eougenial cold and
dark.
IL might reasonably be supposed
that the denisens Of great ses .dsp9ha
would be built more firmly and strong.
" than surface animals TO resist The
pressure Of the element in which they
live, bat il u Just the contrary. tn
most universal Characteristic Of thesl
creatures i the looseness and Aabbl
nessof texture they exhibiA lndsed
they seem 70 need i, the exees
sive pressure of the water sboat
them TO keep their parts together, fol
when they ars brought - ths aarfael
they are ready TO fall TO pisesa II y I
problem. % strangely are some Of then
formed, how they can move from plael
- place; were they not entirely bslo~
the disturbing element of wave aetios
they would, TO al ap2earsnes, Be help
1esA Etfr
Inhabiting these abyssmal spaces. .
completely cut on from eomnunicatios
with the upper waters - We are fros
tie Inhabitants of other planets. VI
car only va0aely speculats O thsi
habifs and judge their nannsss q III