The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-04-22

sponges. resembling plumes OF spun glass
whch-that Is to say, the skeIetons-were
regarded in Europe as curiositics OF ia
! panese art.
One of the first things to call attention
to the existence OF a fauna in the depths
was the finding OF various animals grow-
! Ing on cable extending between Sardinia
and Africa. The scientific experts were
| puzzled at the beginning as to the ma
| ture OF curious organic slime that was
brought up from the bottom, sometimes
I'm such quantities as to befoul the dredg-
| es with Its glairy substance like white
of egg. They imagined that Il was a pri-
mordial life-stuff from which all life on
the earth might originally have been de-
| rived, and they gave II the name OF
'bathybius." or "depth-life." But subse-
| quent investigation has proved that IL Is
composed OF the decaying bodies OF crea-
| lures that have died at or near the sur
face and have sunk to the bottom. De-
composition progresses very slowly in deep
water, being retarded by cold and alb
SERGE of light. Thus thin layer OF
highly nutritious slime is spread over the
whole of the ocean floor so that the ami
mails living there are at no loss for food.
1t has been said that the most thickly
populated tropical jungle does no. COM
pare in wealth Of animal and vegetable
life with a coral reef. The shadows OF
the ocean are vastly rich in both fora
and fauna. Along the continental slopes
long stretches Of bottom are fairly car
peted with brilliantly colored creatures
closely packed together. with here and
there n forest of seaweeds. Professor
Alexander Asassiz says: 1T requires but
little imagination to note the contrasts
as we pass from the shadows. fun OF
sunlight and movement, into the dimly-
lighted but rchly-pOpulated middle wa
tiers: then further TO conceive the gradual
decrease OF the continental fauna as II
fades into the calm, cold, dark abyssal
regions Of the ocean floor. The monoto-
ny. dreariness and desolation Of the
deeper parts of this submarine scenery
can scarcely be realized The most bar
rem districts Of dry land must seem d.
vcrsiiied when compared with the vast
expanse Of graylsh or sometimes green
ism ooze which covers the bottom of the
ocean-a monotony only relieved by the
fall Of the dead carcasses of surface
animals which slowly find their way
downward"
However. though sunlight is wholly alb
sent and the temperature OF the depths
Is in the neighborhoOd Of freezing point.
all 10 not darkness The abyssa animals
Elimination. Swimming among forests OF
sea fans. which become luminous as the
currents cause them to move, torch
bearing fishes pass in procession. Some
OF them carry lights on their heads or
fins. like electric bulbs. while others are
provided with search-lights which they
can turn on or off at WILL as they may
wish to attract prey or to conceal them
selves. The pressure. so far down. Is
enormous, amounting to several tons TO
the square inch. but the bodies Of the |
fishes are so permeated with water, even
thcir bones being soft and cartilaginous.
that they do not experience any incon- |
venience. When drawn to the surface,
they are apt TO burst open; their swim
ming bladiers protruce from their
mouths and their scales fall of.
Just as the fishes here described live In |
the depths Of the sea- so do we ourselves
dwell in the depths Of another fluid. which |
we call the atmosphere. Suppose that |
some strange and remarkable creatures
occupying the upper ether should fish for |
rs thence with some ingenious contri- |
vances of their own. On being fetched |
up to a height of twenty miles say. from |
the surface look as If they were boiled. |
would be sadly altered. our eyes would /
be starting from their sockets. our tom |
CUES would hang out Of our mouths, and, |
If not already defunct. we would imme- |
diatey die This would be in part be- |
cause we were removed from the pressure |
to which we are customarily subjected.
1t Is the same way with the fishes and |
other creatures Of the depths. The crabs |
and other crustaceans. when brought 70
the surface. look as II the were boiled.
On one occasion the officers Of the coast
survey steamer Blake, at that time en-
gagged in deep-sea dredging. lowered a
bottle of champagne 10 200 fathoms-
They wanted to cool il, being in the
tropics and having no ice. The bottle |
came up cold, but filed with muddy salt
water which had been forced by the |
pressure through foil and cork, replacing
the more palatable original contents.
Abyssal sea urchins. mollusks and crusta-
ceans nave been kept alive for good
many days by freezing them in ice. 1t
is said to be very interesting to draw up
in the trawi, from equatorial waters, mud
that is so cold as 10 almost freeze the
hand As a matter Of fact. the wa ter OF
the tropical ocean below couple OF
thousand feet never rises above 40 de-
grees Fahrenheit
Naturally. the surface fauna OF the f,
warm Gulf stream IS as rich as that OF
any ocean water in the world. At the
same time the bottom over which this
current flows iS swept almost bare OF I
animal life Among the curiosiueS
brought up by dredging from the depths
are great numbers of the teeth of sharks
and the bones Of cetaceans. The former. |
of course. are protected from destruction |
by the hardness Of their enamel. Among |
the latter the earbones Of whales, being |
extremely hard, are conspicuous. The
only perfectly equipped deep-sea expiora-
ton vessel afoat is the United States
fish commission steamer Albatross, which
has done a vast amount OF this sort OF
work. II can make a dredge from the
ocean floor in three hours whereas the
famous Challenger required twenty-lour |
hours for a similar operation.
From the oceanic deposits OF to-day
NAV be studied the formation OF the
rocks Of past ages. In fact, science re-
builds from them the geology OF vanished
epochs. of the shores OF Florida the
travis have brought up fragments OF
limestone actually i'm process OF formation,
helms, composed OF the hard parts OF mol
lusks. sea urchins, corals, sea cucumDers,
&c, recently dead. OF such
material is mainly composed the great
submarine plateau which extends 10 the
south and west OF the Florida peninsula.
The KEYS and reefs are exposed portions
Of this plateau.-Rene Bache, in'tne wash
ington Star.