Rocky Ford enterprise., 1900-05-04
ON THE OCEANS BED.
LIFE BENEATH
THE WAVES.
Creatures That Light Their
Own Ways by Electricity Ia the
sunless Depths - squids Seventy Feet
Long.

sea II Is dificult to realize how life
can exist where the pressure Is many
tons to the square inch. where a ray
% sunlight has never reached and
where eternal silence relgns.
To make the ocean depths reality,
writes Prof. Charles +. Holder, l will
ask the reader to imagine that he is
equipped with divers armor capable
Of resisting pressure and accompany
Inc into the deep sea. As We descend
into the blue depths We realize that
We have entered another world. where
to all intents and purposes water is
the atmosphere. II we entered the
ocean on the Pacific coast from the
beach We would gradually walk down
an easy descent for many miles: and
the same Is true OF the Atlantic. Al
most Immediately the light fades. so
that at depth OF 500 feet II Is COM
paratively dark and intensely cold.
Deeper We descend. the sunlight
gradually fading. until At a depth OF
quarter Of a mile the darkness Is in
tense. so far as the sun Is concerned.
In shallow water We have passed
through the region OF abundant life.
Along the shore are schools OF por-
poiScs. Immense whales that occasion
ally venture far below the surface.
and q number of air-brcathinH. nsh-
like animals that are kept near the
surface by their structure and require
ments. Herr are schools OF hsh-sal-
mon and sardlncs: and passing Is
migrating herd OF seals. Deeper We
pass and leave them behind. descend
ins to = depth OF 1900 feet In dark
ncss profound.
Everywhere there is life. Every
drop Of water Is alive: and standing
In this strans. region. at depth OF
mile or so. We ind ourselves In a
rainstorm beneath tho sea. All about
arc countless objects dropping upon
us. invisible to the eye. but 80 result
producing In the aggregate that tho
rails drops pile and heap up In such
maAirs that with those that do on
tho bottom they round Oh tho tops OF
submarine hills and mountains. NIL
up valleys. and the thick gclatinous
oolc through which VIC have walked
. with 20 much disficuity 10 the visible
result Of the rain. In brief. VIC arc
In tho region OF the siobiscriua oosc.
Il has been estimated that II lime
sccrctiuK organisms arc as numerous
down to depth Of 600 feet A. they arc
near tho surface there would bc more
i than sixteen tons OF caiearcouR shells
or carbonat. of lime In the uppcrmost
100 fathoms Of every square milo Of
the ocean.
The raius,orm In the falling Of these
| countless shells to the bottom. They
arc ever dying: the animal IL destroy
ed. and the little shell sinks. pilins mp
at the bottom and forming the well
known oofc.
Descending into deeper depths we
still md life. Many Of the nsh are
blind: nearly all have phosphorcsccnt
lights. and their shapes and forms
docs not reach below 1000 fathoms:
beyond this no plant life exists. and
che various forms Of life prey upon
one another. Among the deep sea ash
especially there is cons,an; warfare.
Assuming that wc are walking on
the ocean bottom q, the depth OF over
a mile. We move cautiously along In
water icy cold. and suddenly arc con-
fronted with a blaze Of iish, and find
ourselves in a field OF light givcrs. I'm
agine a cornficid with stalks from two
TO four feet in hisht. the tips Elcam-
Ing with iight and waving gently TO
and fro. Such an appearance the
fields OF umbcilularia present on St
Vincent the Challenger drcdscd in
field Of light giving sorgonias. with
-
came up choked with them from a
region mile below the surface. each
one emitting a vivid. lilac-colorcd
light
In ali probability the largest and
most remarkable fishes have not been
seen and escape the dredgc. Many of
these strange forms of the abysmal
depths are types OF extinct forms.
and We can only imagine what won
dcrs the deep sea hides. In the At
lantic and Pacific gigantic sauids
from fifty to seventy feet in length
are found. and glimpscs OF strange
snake or eel-iike sharks are suggestive
OF the uncaught mysteries and un-
seen dwcllers in the deep sea. Among
the curious light Eivcrs is a shark
which was caught by DIR. Bennett 1t
was perfectly black. but emitted a
strange phosphoresccnt light, which
remained some time after the animals
death. The shark was placed in a
Jar in the cabin Of the vessel. and is
described as presenting n ghostly APP
pearanCc. emitting a rich green light.
almost sufficient to read by.
In descending into the intermcdi-
ate depths. the jcllyfish and forms that
live in the open water attract our at
tention. Here is a jellyfsh. its disk
six feet across. its train of tentacles
rpssibly emitting vivid light and
stretching away in maze Of brill
liant lines for perhaps 100 feet.
Miiiioas Of False Teeth.
l.La,it N QQQ QQQ Galces t1ath a Iar !