The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-25
IN THE DEEPS OF THE SEA
CURIOUS AND MARVELLOUS FORMS OF
LIFE BENEATH THE WAVES.
BY Prof. Chas. r. Holden, Author OF
"AIOng N Florida Reef and other
Works of Similar Character.

followed the INVESTIGATIONS OF students VI
the deep sea, it is difficult to realize how
life can exist where the pressure IS so great
that IL is compared TO a train OF cars load
ed with pig iron bearing down upon a
mans shoulders, or many tons 10 the
square inch. Neither are the conditions OF
life readily understood at a depth where q
ray of sunlight never has reached. where
eternal night apparently reigns. where the
temperature is nearly at the freezing point.
and where in all probability a silence 80
profound exists that a sound has never
broken the quiet OF ages. Such a region.
finding its extreme depth in five or six
miles, does not appear 10 offer many ia-
ducements TO the investigator; yet IL has
been a most fruitful field. and the discov.
cries which have been made during the
last few years have entirely changed pub
lie sentiment regarding IL.
The deep sea, while forbidding and I'M
inviting, has its inhabitants that are wsl
adapted to the strange conditions within
it's borders, where eternal darkness was
supposed TO reign. We have every reason
to believe that there is at times a wonder-
full assemblage of light-givers, who nlum-
inc the dark unfathomed caves OF the ocean
and change its abysmal regions into scenes
of weird splendor. If the ocean bed. which
is popularity supposed to occupy three
fourths of the worlds surface, should sud-
denly he laid bare we should, in the main,
find a duplicate of terrestrial conditions
The bed Of the present ocean has at some
time been dry land. has been cut by wind
and weather, washed into river beds by
streams, thrown up by volcanic action into
mountains or elevated and depressed by
oscillations OF the crust. Il has undergone
all the changes OF the land with which we
are familiar, and in a measure IL.
To make the ocean bed a reality 1 will
ask the reader TO ina me that he Is equip
ped with a divers armor capable OF resist
ing pressure and accompany me into the
deep sea. AS We descend into the blue
depths we realize that we have entered an
| other world, where TO all lntents and pur-
| poses water is the atmosphere. II We en-
| tered 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 Almost i'm
mediately the light fades, SO that when at
| a depth Of 500 feet it is comparatively dark
and intensely cold. Deeper we descend.
the sunlight gradually fading. until at a
depth of a quarter OF a mile the darkness 10
intense so far as the sun is concerned.
PROFOUND DARKNESS.
In shallow water we have passed through
the region of abundant light. Along the
shore are schools Of porpoises, immense
whales that occasionally venture far below
the surface, and a number of .air-breathing
| fsh-like animals that are kept near the
- .ho;- S+r,,ofnrra and ra0rirc-
ments. Here are schools OF fsh-salmon
and sardines; and passing is a migrating
herd of seals. Deeper we pass and leave
them behind, descending TO a depth of l.5N
| feet in darkness profound. An electric
light would show a singular change. Many
of the fish are OF gay colors, and could we
whisk one TO the surface its eyes would De
popping from its head when It arrived from
the sudden change.
Strange animals inhabit this region, and
the deeper we go the. more remarkable
they appear. and finally at a mile or so
they fairly compel our admiration Here
are scarlet shrimps, crabs on stiltlike legs:
Others that are blind; more hat carry their
own lights, for long ago We saw living
stars, moons and comets in this abysmal
region that serve a variety of purposes
| IN the economy VI udluit. EftAy
there is life. Every drop of water Is
alive; and standing in this strange region.
at a depth Of a mile or SO we find our
selves I'm a rainstorm beneath the sea-
All about are countless objects drop
ping upon US. invisible to the eye. but 50
result-producing in the aggregate hat the
raindrops pile and heap up in such masses
that with those that die on the bottom.
they round off the tops of submarine hills
and mountains, fill up the valleys. and
the thick gelatinous ooze through which
we have walked with so much difficulty IL
the visible result OF the rain. In brief.
we are I'm the region OF the globigerins
ooze-a condition found in great depths.
but not always in the greatest. IL has
been estimated that If lime-secreting or
ganisms are so numerous down TO a depth
of six hundred feet as they are near the
surface, there would be more than six
teen tons of calcareous shells or carbonate
of lime i'm the uppermost one hundred
fathoms 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 destroyed, and
the little shell sinks, piing up at the bot
tom and forming the wcII-known giobi-
gerina ooze. The increasing weight
grinds up the lower stratum into an inn
palpable powder, and slowly piles up this
bottom, forming A mass. which. If elevated
above the surface. would resemble ths
chalk cliffs OF Dover. which were formed
at the bottom Of the ocean I'm much the
same a
AT THE OCEANS BOTTOM.
Descending into deeper depths we sti1
fna life. Many OF the fishes are blind:
nearly all have phosphorescent lights. and
their shapes and forms are strange and
uncanny. 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 fishes especially there is constant war
fare.
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 a field
of light-givers. Imagine a cornfield with
stalks from two TO four feet I'm height.
the tips cleaning with light and waving
gently TO and fro. Such an appearances