New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-12
THE SEAWEED CONTINENT.
SOME OF THE CURIOUS FEATURES OF THE
SARGASSO SEA.

sARGASSO SEA.
The currents Of the sea. Its winds and tides, us
Islands and iceioes animal and vegetable Iife' anu
unexolored regions both north and soutn' nave io'
time irnmemorll furnished subjects OF never e" '.s
interest to the scientific ana those me-
the love of adventure. Among the mysterious go
OF nature concerning which knowiedse mas -,
sparngly diffused is the Sargasso sea. !. VIII 80
found on the maps of the world marked on .,''
Atlantic Ocean and located due east Of the SOUTH
crn norton of the United States, about midway oe
tween the eastern boundaries OF the American |o'-
tnent and the Azores. 1t Is sea noat'hs upo.
sea- From the meagre book knowieuse upon -
subject II Is ascertaired that IL mas ho'
its relative position since the time II was 's' o.'
covered by Columbus on his first WESTWARD '''Ne0
OF discovery. s
The sareass, Sea Is a great mass OF seaweeu'
miles and miles in extent and OF such density tha'
navip,tors report that the progress Oh 'esoe''
through It has been greatly retarded Inv
that II has held It's present position ioi 'u'" ~
incalculable length Of time, and the iact '""'
table life in the form Of gulfweed, together wa" o.
manner OF driftwood. 10 always fouhd 'he'e 80
and undIsturbed ere accounted for by tfose VINO
have theorizsd upon the subject as resulting '''
the set Of the ocean currents which sweep aiou"u
I, leaving II az Il were the centre OF vast circle
N r. Many a lieutenant in the United ota,e'
Navy writing on the subject OF phys.cai scos'
back In 1856 touches upon the Sarsaseo '" w
speaks of # in this manner: MIDWAY III '"e "
Iantic IN the triangular space occupied pe'"e.'i
,he Azores canary and the Cape Verde islands IS
tho sareasso Sea- covering an area equal III eA
font n the Mississippi Valley. IT Is thcKly ma''eu
,.or With grIfyeed 0ucus natans). To the eye at
= ,,,t,a distance II seems substantial enough 10
walk on"
casso Sea Is spoken of as part OF the .>oi'neI"
Atlantic remarkable for its abundance OF ''oa''ns
nIants chiefly species Of the gulfweed Inc oo.'
renee Of the weed was first noticed by Coiu'"DO''
wbo records that his whole course was through a
mass Of weeds from the 18th Of September u ''e
discovery of Guanahani October IL, 1892 The area
,yubn which its occurrence Is most frequent ana 10
which accordingly. the name SareasSo "e' may
confined is an epse with It's long axis r. anu J"
about 20 to Is degrees w. and its snort axis aoo" -
to % degrees NJ
or the botanical and animal HE EXISTING III anu
about this mysterious body comparatively h'"e 10
t,own Gulfweed predominates. II lives upon ar
ard water having connection with the soil /"
fact from the great depth OF the ocean NJ .'''S pm
any other form OF vegetable HE nut water -P''
o,,,d no ont Of the question. OF this species there
arc only a few varieties Fucus natahs anu i"Ou7
nodosus are botanical names applied 10 'he gun
- -, tho sarrasso Sea. Tho course or the 'hA'-
,o,,or in 1874 from the Rermudas eastward sk''.-
ing the edge Of the Sargasso sea- paSse" '''e
tho Azores and thence to Madeira 'ose' ''o',7
were made daily by the British scientists on poa,p
Tho winds currents, surface appearance OF 'he
wa.or animal and vegetable life were all supJec'e"
~ scrutinv md observation. Sir Wyville thomson"
one Of the party. wrote an account OF the No!ak'
which WAS published under the title voyage OF 'he
challenger" In this work is found brief descrip
ton of the results OF their examination OF the Pc
o,u, -,,les Of the Sargasso Sea. He says:
Same guifweed was passed from time % time OF
,ho snec,os fucus either fucus nodosus or a very
nearly allied FORM evidently living and growing ana
participating In the wandering and pelagic hap''s
Of sargassum The floating ISLANDS OF s"'"ee'
with which we mai now become very tamlI'ar' d.
we had now nearly made the circuit OF me SarsaSso
Sea are usually found from couple OF feet 10 TWO
ar three Yards In diameter sometimes much larger
We have seen on one or two occasions helds acres
~ ox,cn, and such cxpanscs probably more fire.
cucnt near the centre OF it, area OF disiriputioh
They consist OF a single layer OF feathery punches
OF the weed (sargassum bacciferum) not matted
I'm, floating free OF one another. only suhicienty
cntangled for the mass to keep together Each tuit
has central brown thread-like branching stem
,sel r,,tnd with air vesices short stalks. most
~ these near the centre dead and coated WIN
beautiful nettcd. white polyzoon. AFTER WINE
,c.icles so incrusted break on. ana wnere there -
much erllf-weed the sea Is studded with these
eopara,e little white balls. short way from Inc
ccn,r. toward the end OF the branches the serrated
wnov-like leaves OF the plant begin. al hrst brown
and rigid. but becoming further on IN the orah'h
paler more dccate and more active In their VITAL
nv The young fresh leaves and the air vesices are
usually ornamentcd with stalked vases OF a cam
nanui,ria The general color of the mass OF weeds
Il thus olive In all It's shades Dut me soiu.n o,s'
OF the young and growing branches grSa ~ pr pr
dominates This color however. is greatly broken
~ by ;he delicate branchnE oil ,ne Vol olyz,1 and
rddled with reflections from the bright blue water
samns h5ons 9ar lns s@GfS e exs T IN the sar
easso Sea we're observed by the party on board the
Challenger These observations were ,, ~
the surface inhabitants ard disclose som pvculn
ana interesting facts. on this point sir Wyviie
Thompson says: These Islands nave annan ass
example OF protective resemblance than that which
is shown in the guf~eed fauna Animals drlt np,S
about the surface OF the sea with suCh sVan's
cover as the single broken layer Of seaweed must
eyed sea bIts lowering oyer them ana tne nunsiE
fishes searching for prey beneath; but one ana all
OF these creatures initiate IN such wonderful way
both IN form and color their foating habitat ana
consequently, one another thai we can wen
hc Ie os, cro 11sn Of the smifweed ami
mails is the grotesque ltt!e fish. aniennarius mar
frog dophius piscatorius) often thrown up on tne
coast OF Britain. and conspicuous for the dispro-
general ugliness and rapacity None OF the gulf
weed antennari which We have found nave been
doubtful whether such individuals have reached
their fun growth and size II is this singular little
weed bound in bundle with cords OF viscid secre-
ton. which have mentioned az abundant In
the path Of the Gun stream ocNne peiag'a, one
uant OF the gulfweed \ little short-ta!led crab
mautllarlus m.nutus) swarms on the weed and
very Heating object and 1t is odd TO how the
little creature corresponds In color with whatever
| fl may happen to inhabt
The gulfweed animals. fishes. mollusks and crabs
do not simply initiate coors OF the weed 10 do so
! would be 10 produce suspicious patches OF contin-
| nous olive They all bloched over with OPAQUE
white the blotches sometimes irregular. but at
little distance absolutely indstingushable from the
patches OF membranpora the weed. Mr., Muir
raw who superntended our surface work. brings In
curious stories OF the lttle crabs. He observes
| that while everything floating on the surface is
| covered with them. th4y are rarely met with
swimming free. and that Whenever they are dis
| lodged and removed little way from their resting
| -. rak, yirnrnus nffnrts 10