Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1894-12-12
IN OLD OCEANS DEPTHS.
WONDERS AND MYSTERIES OF
LIFE BENEATH THE WAVES.
Where Fishes Carry Lanterns An
Almost Unknown World Blazing
with Moving Lights.

should III tne IlhlH lluu uupllcate
of terrestrial conditions. The bed of
the present ocean has ut some time
been dry land; has been cut by wind
and weather, washed into river beds
by streams; thrown up by volcanic
action into mountains, or elevated
and depressed by oscillations of the
crust. 1t has undergone all the
changes of the land with which we are
familiar, and in measure resembles
it.
To make the ocean bed reality |
will ask the reader to imagine that he
is equipped with IL divers armor capa.
bic of resisting pressure and accom-
pany me into the deep sea. AS we
descend into the blue depths we realize
that we have entered another world,
where to all intents and purposes the
water is the atmosphere. If we en-.
tered the ocean on the Pacific coast
from the beach we would gradually
walk down an easy descent for many
miles; and the same is true of the
Atlantic Almost Immediately the
light fades, SO that when at depth
of 500 feet it is comparatively dark
and intensely cold. Deeper we
descend, the sunlight gradually fail.
ing, until at depth of II quarter of n
mile the darkness is intense so far as
the sun is concerned.
In shallow water we have passed
through the region OF abundant life.
Along the shore are schools of pOr-
poises, immense whales that OCCASION
ally venture far below the surface,
and number of air-breathing, fish
like animals that are kept near the
surface by their structure and require
ments. Here are schools of stish--
salmon and sardines; and passing is
migrating herd of seals. Deeper we
pass and leave them behind, descend
ing to depth of150O feet in darkness
profound. An electric light would
show singular change. Many of the
fish are of gay colors, and could we
whisk one to the surface its eyes
would be popping from its head when
it arrived, from the sudden change.
Strange animals inhabit this region,
and the deeper we go the more re-
markable they appear, and finally, at
mile or so, they fairly compel our
admiration Here are scarlet scrimps;
crabs on stilt-like legs; others that
are blind; more that carry their own
lights, for long ago we saw living
stars, moons and comets in this abys-
nal region that serve variety of
purposes in the economy Of nature.
Everywhere there is life.
Descending into deeper depths we
still find life. Many of the fishes are
blind; nearly all have phosphorescent
lights, and their shapes and forms are
strange and uncanny. Sunlight does
not reach below 1000 fathoms; beyond
this no plant life exists, and the
various forms of life prey upon one
another. Among the deep-sea fishes
specially there is constant warfare.
Assuming that we are walking on
the ocean bottom at the depth Of over
q mile, we move cautiously along in
water icy cold, and suddenly are con-
fronted with blaze of light, and find
ourselves in a field of lightgivers.
Imagine cornfeld with stalks from
two to four feet in height, the tips
cleaning with light and waving gently
to and fro. Such an appearance the
folds of umbellularia present. Off
st. Vincent the Challenger dredged in
a field of light-giving gorgonias with
stems about two feet long. The trawl
came up choksd with them from q
region mile below the surface, each
one emitting vivid lilac -colored
light.
Above this forest of living lights
strange and weird fishes are passing,
which we recognize as forms that have
been dredged from great depths by
the Albatross, Challenger and others.
One, the Chiasmodon, dashes by,
emitting a light from its own body |;
and, wonder of wonders; we see it
seize fish five times its own bulk and
draw itself over it like glove. Its
jaws, by special arrangement, sepa-
rate, and the mouth is cavern Of
indla-rubber-like possibilities. A
similar fish, Malacosteus, is of rich
black velvet hue, and rs it poises We
see upon its head two large lights.
One emits q golden light, the other
throws out fitful green rays, which
have some hidden meaning in the
economy of nature. Some of the
fishes seem to be literal mouths. Such
is the Curypharynx or pelican fish.
The mouth is enormous, the bones Of
the jaw being attached to the skull by
movable joints, SO that it has enor
nous powers of distensIon.
A curious black fish called Echios-
toma has its lanterns arranged about
its head; two are just below the eyes,
while there are several Others at var
ious portions of the head. At the
depth of two miles we find the fish
Bythites, and at three miles we shall
find others more remarkable. A hid.
eous snake.like creature is Stomias,
with pointed teeth and row of lights
along its ventral surface like the
lights that are seen in dark night in
the cur window as the train dashes
along. This fish has been taken from
a mile and a quarter beneath the sur
face by an English dredger.
Beneath our feet are forms equally
weird, the bottom blazing with light
at every step. Here are phospores-
cent crabs, and seafans that emit gold
en-, green and lilac hues. Blue scintil.
lations come from sea-pens, while
others give out CLEANS of gold and
green. Almost every animal if light
giver. Some of the crabs are phos-
porescent over the entire surface ;
others have their lights on stalked
eyes, while the very mud that rises
seems to scintillate with light that
would appear to be an essential fea-
ture of the deep sea. We might in
this walk of the imagination descend
to depth of six miles beneath the sea
and still find life.
In all probability the largest and
most remarkable fishes have not been
seen, and escapes the dredge. Many
of these strange forms of the abyssal
depths are types of extinct forms. and
we can only imagine what wonders the
deep sea hides. In the Atlantic and
Pacific gigantic suuids from tifty to