The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-07-28
PHOTOS UNDER THE SEA.
Recent Experiments Have Been Sue
cessfuI-SOme Benefits to
Be Derived.

Surpasses that of the dry land. What
do we know of this part of the globe
hidden by the seas and oceans? Very
little, it must be admitted. Except along:
the immediate edge of these Immense
bowls which can be explored in diving
bells, the means which naturalists hava
at their disposal for the examination
of these depths are most rudimentary.
Nobody can go down into them, as the
tremendous pressure of the water rem
ders this impossible. For long time,
therefore, it was imagined that the
bottom of the sea was one vast extent
of mud, without the presence of living
things; but numerous scientific eXpedi-
tons finally proved that such was not
the case, and that multitude of Curl
Gus and even fantastic animals were
to be found there.
The product of even single catch,
including many sharks, as made by US
at the Arago laboratory, convinced me
that at the depth of 800 meters the bot
tom of the ocean is full of life. All these
big sharks (Centrophorus ganulosus(
are carniyorous. In order to live these
animals must eat other animals; so
there must be many other animals
whence these come, although we know
almost nothing about them.
As regards the sea, the naturalist is
In the same situation as would be an in
habitant of the moon who could live in
the ethereal space, but could not breathe
the air which envelopes our earth. Let
us suppose that this voyager from the
ethereal regions should come in contact
with our atmosphere. He would float
above the highest strata without being
able to penetrate them, separated from
the earth by the gases which surround
it. What must he do if he wishes to
know something of what exists below
the layers of cloud which hide our globe
from his view? He would do as our
naturalsts have done - construct
dredges and nets, and, having weighted
them, would let them down like the
anchor of balloon, and try to pull them
along the surface of the earth. Do you
think that with such primitive instru-
ments he would obtain very precise
ideas of the terrestrial globe? Every
agile animal would flee before the ap-
paratus, which, if it did not get ire
trievably caught in some oak, rock or
lofty factory chimney, might bring
back, after having scraped for some
time along the surface of the earth, bits
of leaves, pebbles mingled with soil,
etc, all of which, however, could give
only very vague idea concerning the
constitution of the globe.
Up to the present time our natural
lists have done hardly more than this.
Though it is quite true that the appa-
ratus used is as perfect as possible,
and that the most illustrious students
VI nature have displayed in their labors
an ingenuity which | should never
dream of calling into question, at the
bottom the proceeding is the same in
both cases. They drag the rudimentarv
instruments blindly through the depths
of the seas.
What a change will come over the sit
uation the moment it becomes posi-
Bile to let down to the bottom of the
ocean Photographic apparatus provid-
ed with a powerful artificial light! AL
though this camera will not be able to
bring back pictures of wide extent. may
it not succeed in satisfactorily photo
graphing 100 square meters of spacet
And will not such photographs contain
most precious fund of information?
Everything leads one to believe that
1t will soon be possible to construct
Photographic apparatus which will ac-
complish its work successfully at any
depth of water But without going so
far as this, and without launching
forth into the hypothesis which have
not yet been realized, it may be assert
ed that submarine photography can al
ready produce useful results.
In the immediate vicinity of the
coasts the photographingo of landscapes,
the interiors of grottoes, animals
caught in their medium, furnishes the
student useful and precious informa-
ton; and from an industrial point of
view one may see how it can be en-
pioyed practically. Suppose, for in
stance, a ship to be at the bottom Of
the sea. How are we to know its exact
position, and to determine the extent of
the damage which it has suffered? A
good submarine photograph would be
more valuable to the engineers than all
the information which divers could fur
nish.-Prof. Louis Boutan, in Century.
Purchase Price of Manhattan Island.
The sum of 60 guiIders (about S24)
was not a big one to pay for so big an
island as Manhattan, 10 miles in length
from north to south and for the greater
part two miles broad. But it satisfied
'the lord sachems of the MaEhathes,"