The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-30

numerous down to depth OF eix hun.
dred feet as they are near the surface
there would be more than sixteen tons
of calcareous shells OF carbonate OF lime
in the uppermost one hundred fathons
of every square mile OF ocean.
The rainstorm is the falling of these
countless shells to the bottom. They
are ever dying; the animal is destroy
ed, and the little shell sinks, piling up
at the bottom and forming the we'll
known globigerina ooze. The increas-
ing weight grinds up the lower stratum
into an impalpable powder, and slowly
piles up the bottom forming a mass
which is elevated above the surface
would resemble the chalk cliffs Of
Dover which were formed at the bottom
of the ocean in much the same way.
! Descending into deeper depths we still
life. Many of the fish are blind nearly
all have phosphorescent lights, and their
shapes and forms are strange and I'M
canny. Sunlight does not reach below
one thousand fathoms; beyond this no
plant life exists, and the various forms
of life prey upon one another. Among
the deep sea fish especially there is
constant warfare.
! Assuming that we are walking on the
ocean bottom at the depth of over a
mile, we move cautiously along in water
icy cold, and suddenly are confronted
with a blaze of light and find ourselves
in field of light giyers Imagine a
cornfield with stalks from two to four
feet in height, the tips cleaning with
| light and waving gently to and fro
Such an appearance the fields Of UNI
bellularia present. Off st. Vincent the
| Challenger dredged in a field Of light
giving gorgonias, with stems about two
feet long. The trawl came UP choked
with them from a region mile below
the surface, each one emitting vivid
| lilac coored light
Above this forest of living lighte
strange and weird fish are passing,
which we recognize as forms that have
been dredged from great depths by the
Albatross, the Challenger and others.
One, the chiasmodon, dashes by emit
ting light from it's own body, and, worl-
der of wonders! we zee 1t seize fish
five times it's own bulk and draw itself
over it like glove It's jaws by a spec
! ia arrangement separate, and the
mouth is cavern of india rubberlilSe
possibilities. A similar fish, malacoste-'
us, is of a rich black velvet hue, and as
| it poises we see upon its head two large
lights. One emits a golden light, the
other throws out fitful green rays,
which have some hidden menaing in the
economy of nature. Some of the fish
seem to be literal mouths. Such is the
eurypharnyx, or pelican fish. The
mouth is enormous, the bones of the
jaw being attached to the skull by
movable joints, so that is has enormous
powers of distension.
A curious black fish, called echiostoma
has it's lanterns arranged about it's
head two are juet below the eyes, while
there are several others at various por-
tions of the head At a depth of two
miles we find others more remarkable.
A hideous snakelike creature is stomias,
with pointed teeth and row of lights
along it's ventral surface like the lights
that are seen in dark night in the
car window as the train daehes along.
This fish has been taken from mile
and a quarter beneath the surface by an
English dredger
Beneath our feet are forms equally
weird, the bottom blazing with light at
every step. Here are phosphorescent
crabs, and sea fans that emit golden,
green and lilac hues. Blue scintilla-
tons come from sea pens, while others
give out CLEANS of gold and green. AL
most every animal is a light giver. Some
of the crabs are phosphorescent over the
entire surface, others have their lights
on stalked eyes, while the very mud that
rises seems to scintillate with light that
would appear to be an essential feature
of the deep sea- We might in this walk
of the imagination descend to depth
of six miles beneath the sea and still
find life.
In all probability the largest and most
remarkable fishes have not been eeen
and escape the dredge. Many Of these
strange forms Of the abysmal depths
are types of extinct forms, and we can
only imagine what wonders the deep sea
hides In the Atlantic and Pacific gil
gantic squids from fifty to seventy feet
in length are found, and glimpses of
strange snake of eellike sharks are sug-
gestive of the uncaught mysteries and
unseen jewellers in the deep sea- Among
the curious light givers is shark which
was caught by DR.. Bennett 1t was per-
fectly black but emitted a strange
phosphorescent light, which remained
some time after the animals death. The
shark was placed in jar in the cabin
of the vessel, and is described as pre-
sentng a ghostly appearance, emitting
a rich green light, almost sufficient to
read by.
In descending into the intermediate
depths, the jellyfish and forms that live
In the open water attract our attention
Here is a jellyfsh, it's disk six feet
across, it's train of tentacles possibly
emitting a vivid light and stretching
away in maze of brilliant lines for
perhaps one hundred feet Such ie the
Cyanea, one Of about this dimension be-
ing seen by Mrs. Agassiz off Nahant
Such a jellyish moving through the
upper depths might well be compared
to great comet
Other forms-huge disks-are the
moons and lesser plants of this sub
marine world Of space The variety of
tints and colors emitted by the jelly
fish is almost beyond comprehension,
and so diverse are the lights that the
belief is forced upon the beholder that |
they have some marked significance in
the economy of nature. One known as