Evening star., 1899-11-09
Some of Sciences Speculations About
the Secrets of the Ocean.
WONDERS RIVALING THOSE OF TIE SKY
Abysses Which Would Swallow the
loftiest Himalayan Peaks.
RING THE PTH S
?. T. Bulien in the London Spectator.

tnat mas not felt an almost childish inter-
est and curiosity in the aspect of a portion
of earth's surface hitherto concealed from
our gaze? The feeling is probably univer-
sal. arising from the natural desire to pene-
trate the unknown. and also from a primi-
tive anxiety to know what sort of an abode
the inhabitants of the water possess, since
we almost always consider the water folk
to live as do the birds. really on land with
the water for an atmosphere. But If this
curiosity be general with regard to the
petty depths mentioned above, how greatly
is it increased in respect of the recesses
of the sea. For there is truly the great
unknown, the undiscoverable country of
which, in spite of the constant efforts of
deep-sea expeditions, know next to
nothing. Here ina ginat!on may (and doeS)
run riot attempting the impossible task
of reproducing TO our minds the state of
things in the lightless, silent depths where
life, according to our ideas of it, is impos-
sible-the true valley of the shadow of
death.
Suppose that it were possible for some
CONFUSION of nature to lay bare. let us say.
the entire bed of the North Atlantic ocean.
With one bound the fancy leaps at the pros
pect of a rediScOvery of the lost continent.
the tabled Atlantis, whose wonders have
had so powerful effect upon the imagi-
nations of mankind. Should we be able to
roam through those stupendOus halls climb
the giants of elder world, or gaze with
Stupefed wonder upon the majestic ruins
of cities to which Babylon or Palmyra, with
all their mountainous edifces. We're but as
d suburban tOWnlet? Who knows? Yet
maybe the natural wonders apparent in the
foundations of such soaring masses as the
Azores, the Cape Verde Islands or the Ca
harles, or greater still the altitude Of
such remote and lonely pinnacles as those
of the st. Pauls Rocks. would strike us
as more marvellous yet. To thread the cool
lntricacies of the still veXL Bermoothes''
at their Easements and seek out the caves
where the sea-monsters dwell who never
saw the light of day, to wander at will
among the windings of that strange maze
OF reefs that cramp up the outpouring of
the benehcent gulf stream and make it is
sue from its source with that turbulent en-
ergy that carries it, laden with blessings
10 our shores; what a pilgrimage that
would be. Imagine the vision of that great
chain of islands which we call the West
indies soaring up from the vast plain 5000
feet below. with all the diversity of form
and color belonging to the lovely homes OF
me coral insects, who build ceaselessly for
themselves, yet all unconsciousIy rear sta
BILE abodes for mankind.
An Awe-Inspiring View.
1t would be an awful country to view,
this suddenly exposed floor of the sea. A
barren land OF weird outline, of almost un-
complexity of contour. but with
the dry earth by the kindly sun. For its
beauty depends upon the sea, whose prolific
waters are peopled with life so abundantIv
that even the teeming earth is barren as
compared with the ocean. But at its great
est depths all the researches that man has
been able to prosecute go to prove that
there is little life. The most that goes on
there is steady accumulation of the dead
hushs OF once living organisms settling
slowly down to form who knows what new
GRANTEES. marbles, pOrphyries, against the
time when another race on reOrganiZed
earth shall need them. Here there is moth
ing fanclful for If we know anything at all
OF prehistoric times, it Is that what is now
nigh land, not to say merely dry land was
oIce lying cold and dormant a the bottom
OF the sea being prepared throughout who
can say what unrealizabe periods of time
for the use and enjoyment of its present
lords. Not until we leave the rayIess gloom
the incalculable pressureS and universal
cold of those tremendous depths do we find
the sea floor beginning to abound with life
1t may even be doubted whether anything
of mans handiwork such as there is about
q ship laundering in mid-ocean, would ever
reach in a recognizable form the bottom of
the sea at depth of more than 2,G00 faith
oms. There is an idea, popularity current
among seafarers, that sunken ships in the
deep sea only go down a certain distance
no matter what their build or how pom
derous their cargo. Having reached a GER
tain stratum, they then drift about slowly
Gisntegrating, derelicts of the depths,
swarming with strange denzens. the shad
owy fleets of the lost and loved and
mOurned. In time, of course, as the great
solvent gets in its work they disappear,
becoming part of their surroundings but
not for hundreds of years, during which
they pass and repass at the Will of the
undercurrents that everywhere keep the
whole body of water in the ocean from be-
Coming stagnant and death-dealing to ad
jacent shores. weird fancy truly, but
surely not more strange than the silent
depths about which it is formulated
In his marvellous penetrative way Kip
Ling has touched this theme while singing
the Song of the English"
The wrecks dissolve above us; their dust drops
Down to tie dark the utter dark where the blind
white Seasnahes are.
There is sound, no echo of sound, in the des-
On the great gray level plains Of ooze where the
shel-burred cables creep.
Here in the womb Of the world-here ON the tie
ribs OF earth.
w0fas nhd Sna the words Of men, flicker and 1'teF
Warning. sorrow and gain. salutation and mirth-
For a Power troubles the Still that has neither
voice nor feet.
Results of Recent Investigations.
Surely the imagination must be dead
indeed that does not throb responsive to
the thought of that latter-day workman
ship of wire and rubber descending at the
will of man into the vast void, and run
ranges, across sudden abysses of lower
depth, through the turbulence of up-burst-
ing submarine torrents where long -pent-up
rivers compel the superintendent ocean to
admit their Saltless waters; until from con-
tinent to continent the connection Is made,
and man holds converse with man at his
ease though distance were not. Recent
go to prove that chief among
the causes that make for destruction Of
those communicating cables are the up
heavals of lost rivers In spite Of the pro-
lection that scientific invention has pro-
vided for the central core Of conducting
wire. these Irresistible outbursts of under
sea torrents rend and destroy it, causing
endless labor Of replacement by the never
resting cable ships But this Is only one Of
the many deeply interesting features of
oceanography, a science of comparatively
recent growth. but full of gigantic posi-
blities for the future knowledge of this
planet. The researches of the CHALLENGER
expedition, embodied in Atty portly vol
umes, afford vast mass Of material for
and yet 1t is evident that what
they reveal is but the merest tentative
dipping into the great mysterious land that
lies hidden far below the level surface of
the inscrutable sea.
That veteran man of science, Sir John
Murray, has In a recent paper (Royal Geo
graphical Society's Journal, October). pub
lshed his presidential address to the
geographical section OF the British asso-
citation at Dover, and even to the ordinary
reader his wonderful resume