The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-04-27

Some of the Curious and Beautiful
Things In Ocean Life.


down with pitiless rays upon the CLASSY
sea drives most pelagic life from thu
surface Of the water to a depth of seve'
raj feet, until the burden and heat of the
day has passed away The fiery orr
then dips beneath the horizon, revealing
for an instant those remarkable greer
rays which are seldom or never seer
outside the torrid zones. And then the
sea creatures, impelled by a certain in.
stinct, once more seek the surface, hold
ing grand carnival throughout the Won
drous brilliance of the night. AS the
light fades away myriads of spheroid
bodies, like bits of scintillating glass, ca
reer madly in the translucent ocean, the
gyrations being distinctly visible from
the deck of ship to the naked eyes. 1t
is the observation of such trifes, says
the London Standard, which renders a
prolonged calm at sea endurable, FOR
there is grace, poetry and vivid inter-
est in everything that moves in the vast
abyss of ocean space, and the beauty OF
the organisms surpasses the widest I'M
agination. The glittering particles of
animated matter are, in reality, floating
shells belonging to the ''wing-footed"
group of the mollusca; they are distrib-
uted chiefly in mid-ocean, and are, con-
eequently, little known in the regions Of
the seacoasts
They occur in varying form, in every
cline. Nansen, when imprisoned In the
Arctic seas, cut holes in the ice in order
to obtain a series of the northerly spec
les, such as Clio Borealis, and the wri-
ter has collected many kinds in every
latitude from Kerguelan In the south. to
the region Of the Western Isles in the
northern hemisphere. The Indian
ocean, perhaps. has the maximum de-
velopment of the Pteropoda, or wing
footed molluscs; and there they swim in
countless millions at the fall of eventide.
The strange thing is that a regular sue
cesson of different species rise in the
water with unfailing exactness. follow
ing each other in orderly sequence from
sunset far into the darkness of tropi
cal night Thus, at six o'clock, shell
known to conchologists as Cavellina
Trspinosa appears at the surface. fol-
lowed an hour later by Cleododa Triden-
tata. We have only to improvise the
bag of trawl in order to capture hum
dreds of these vivacious little creatures
for closer examination on board the
ship. A bucket of sea-water forms
handy receptacle, in which the attrac-
tive little animals pursue their inter-
rupted evolutions once again. A sinble
specimen of the Cavellna, if placed In
glass trough such as is used for living
objects on the microscopic stand, pre-
sents singularly beautiful organism as
it swims to and fro. The semi-opaque
valves Of the shell are Joined together
into one test with Sits for the head,
feelers and the lateral wing feet used
in propulsion. Each shell resembles
miniature rounded purse, colored with
milky white tortoise-shell hues, and a
rim of deep crimson spines project be-
fore and behind. AS the heshly head OF
the mollusc appears through the termi-
nal slit, the tongue can be seen elected
at intervals in search of particles of
food. In the meantime the propellers at
either side wave vigorously with inces-
SAINT action.
The shapes and sizes Of the floating
shells vary considerably. Another
genus has tubular case, sharply point
ed as a needle, so transparent that the |
internal organs of delicate rose color |
are CLEARLY NlSlDlG. ilS ISdl dllu WlIlSS
protrude from circular orifice, reveal |
ing form and color Of most wondrous
beauty; indeed, the whole anatomy is
seen with the aid of low magnifying |
power The free-swimming larval ami
NAL is also found in the sea water. 1t
resembles small cone of glass; with
the rose-colored embryo inside. At this
stage the immature shell Is propelled by
ella constantly at work. Off the Cape |
Of Good Hope within the influence of
the Agulhas current, one of the needle
shaped pteropods occurred by millions,
with green and yellow bodies contained
in the CLASSY sheath.
One of the finest shells that floats in
the ocean is the splendid purple sea-
snail a creature that braves the sun,
and floats by day The intense violet Of
the shellis not easily portrayed, and the
tints fade sadly in the preserved speci-
mems. When the creature Is alarmed, or
injured, it elects a quantity of deep pur-
pie fluid, from which. it is said, the Tyr
ian dye of ancient days was obtained.
It projects from the mouth of the shell,
and is divided into numberless water
tight compartments, which, when requi-
site, can be inflated with air. The con-
.rivance has the appearance of froth ex-
lded from the she'll and it also serves
rs raft for the support of rows of ova
In rough weather the purple sea- snail Is
able to sink for several feet beneath the
surface, and thus protects itself against
he dangers of shipwreck. Another Pc
,ular shell which floats in these lati-
udes is commonly called by the sailors
he "ram's horn" on account of it's con-
yoluted shape. A transverse section
shows the structure inside to be cham
)ered like the pearly nautilus, thus af-
ording a key to the correct classified
ion. 1t is not, in fact, an external shell
It ALL but really the internal shell be-
ongng to a cuttle-fish. The cast-off
pecimens found afloat at sea are highly | :
ornamental, somewhat fragile, and
,early white in texture. They are found
OCCASIONALLY infested with parasitic colo :
lies of immature barnacles in the full
igor of life-very interesting creatures
or examination and priced by concho-
ogists.
One of the great treasures floating Off
he African coasts is the extremely brit
lie shell of the paper Argonaut which is
he habitaton of the female of another
ind of cuttlefish. The beautifully
ibbed white shell is familiar in almost
,zar,y an11eotip1o AriCtptla l,,o ~, |