Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-01-21
THE SEAWEED CONTINENT.
Plant and Animal Life of a Strange
Part of the Globe

plOred regions of both north and
south, have from time immemorial
furnished subjects of never-ending in
terest to the scientific and those filled
with the love of adventure. Among
the mysterious forms of nature con-
corning which knowledge has been
sparingly diffused is the Sargasso sea.
1t will be found on the maps of the
world, marked on the Atlantic ocean
and located due east of the southern
portion of the United States, about
midway between the eastern bounda-
ries of the American continent and
the Azores. 1t is a sea floating upon
a sea. From the meagre book know
ledge upon the subject it is ascer-
tanned that it has not changed it's
relative position since the time it was
first discovered by Columbus on his
first westward voyage of discovery.
The SargassO sea is a great mass of
seaWeed, miles and miles in extent,
and Of such density that navigators
report that the progress of vessels
through it has been greatly retarded.
The fact that it has held its present
position for such an incalculable
length of time, and the fact that vege-
table life in the form of gulfweed, to-
gether with all manner Of driftwood,
is always found there, calm and undis-
turbed, are unaccounted for by those
who have theoriZed upon the subject
as resulting from the set of the ocean
currents which sweep around it, leav-
If a if hn of
circle.
NJ. F. Maury, lieutenant in the
United States navy, writing on the
subject of physical geography, back
IN 1855, touches upon the Sargasso
sea, and speaks of it in this manner:
Midway in the Atlantic, in the TRAN
gular space occupied between the
Azores, Canary, and the Cape Verde
Islands, is the Sargasso sea, covering
an area equal in extent to the Missis-
s1ppi valley. 1t is thickly matted over
with gulfWeed Fucus natans). To the
eye at distance it seems substantial
enough to walk on"
OF the botanical and animal life ax-
listing in and about this mysterious
BODY comparatively little is known.
GultWeed predOminateS. 1t lives upon
air and water having no connection
WIN Uhe SOIL. In fact, from the great
depth OF the ocean at this point, any
other form of vegetable life but water
plants would be out of the question OF
this species there are only a few yarie-
ties. fucus natans and Fucus no.
doSus are botanical names applied to
gulfWeed of the Sargasso sea. The
course of the Challenger in 1873, from
the Bermudas eastward, skirting the
edge OF the Sargasso sea, passed
through the Azores and thence to Ma
delra. Observations were made daily
by the British scientists on board.
The Winds currents, surface appear
ance of the water animal and yege-
table life, were all subjected to scru-
tiny and observation. Sir Wycille
thompson, one of the party, wrote IN
account of the voyage, which was pub
hshed under the title, Voyage of the
Challenger" In this work is found
brief description of the results of
their examination of the peculiarities
OF the SargaSSO sea. He saws
Some gulf weed was passed from
time to time of the species fucus, either
Fucus nodOsus or very nearly allied
form, evidently living and growing
and participating in the wandering
and pelagic habits of sargassum. The
floating Islands of gulfWeed with
which we had now become very fam
liar, as we had now nearly made the
circuit of the SargassO sea, are usually
found from a couple of feet to two or
three yards in diameter, sometimes
much larger. We have seen on one
or two occasions fields, acres in extent
and such eXpanses are probably more
frequent near the centre of it's area
of distribution. They consist of
single layer of feathery punches of the
weed (SaraSassum bacciferum), not
matted, but floating free of one an
other only sufficiently entangled for
the mass to keep together.
Each tuft has a central brown,
thread-like branching stem, studded
around with air yesicles on short
stalks, most of these near the centre
dead and coated with a beautiful net
ted, white polyzoon. After a while
N1SlGISS ~ luCIuSlSu break OH, anu
where there is much gulfweed the sea
is studded with these separate little
white balls \ short way from the
centre, toward the end of the branches
the serrated, willow-like leaves of the
plant begin, at first brown and rigid,
but becoming further on in the branch
paler, more delicate, and more active
in their vitality. The young fresh
leaves and the air vesicles are usually
ornamented with stalked vases of a
campanularia. The general color Of
the mass Of weeds is thus olive in all
its shades, but the golden olive of the
young and growing branches greatly
predOminateS. This color, however,
is greatly broken up by the delicate
branching Of the weed, blotched with
the vivid white of the incrusted poly
zoon, and riddled with reflections from
the bright-blue water cleaning
through the spaces in the network"
Some of the form of life existing in
the Sargasso sea were observed by the
party on board the Challenger. These
observations were restricted to the
surface inhabitants and disclose some
peculiar and interesting facts. On this
point Sir Wyville Thompson says;
These islands have inhabitants pecu-