The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-03-27

On. RI. ... Bern ..- che Bahamas --.
- sandwich Islands. Cha. .l.- y.sH
mus. De- .---..E modified As -r che
question 20 .ta Cd. --.- -r.-- depth -I"g
had rather negative evidence. .-.'-.
Ing even some "H.-.. .ra... |.-alr.
from o. steep .ul-.-#E.a. slope Cd T.
WAS always found Es.r..E= .n sI-u.-.
20. ..- deep sea life. .T- u Cd disc
.-.f where -ra -.ara-- land '- fE..
mixes .l -ED directions. -la Na-H-s.l-
ana che sandwich Islands. ;ra -r-1E
.. food from land isl very small .lI.e.
.- compare son EI D. Che enormous area
yE chat basin Of tle Pacific ard rE.
auut. ions are entirely lEIiu.r che eN-
--sroa OF any large amount ~ life
They made "a large number OF Eau.s
from 30 y. Lat 90 - :. iu that region
sG-ls-- from land. and they were dis
appointed by the results. The trIw
usually brought mp samples Of the bot
tom. with an isolated -.arii~l or So
nothing OF any novelty. - that at
-vLpts % make collections In the deep
sea were practically abandoned.
He pointed out on the map thar.
while 10 bore a large number Of words
there was really very little land iu
the aggregate OF the various island
groups. and that was why there was so
little animal life in that part Of the
Pacific. in contrast with the region OF
the Galapagos. the vicinity OF Japan.
or the coasts Of Sumatra Indeed. he
remarked in passing the amount 81
animal life that existed of the coast
OF Japan and off the West Indies was
quite colossal. in those two areas IL
seemed 20 thrive in a way that was
simply astonishing. Turning 10 an
imal life on the surface and below. he
said they made many hauis before
reaching the region OF the trade winds.
and they found the fauna richest on
the surface. From $50 fathOms below
IL diminished very rapidly. and deeper
than go fathOns they found nothing
but the earcasses OF the animals that
had fiOurished higher up. now settling
down towards the bottom. When these
remains reached a depth OF 500
fathOms they entered a temperature OF
40 degrees Fab. in which things do
not decay. There was no light. no
heat, and consequently. animal matter
going towards the bottom decOmpOsed /
very slowly. The effect Of this was
that over a district 10 10 20 degrees I'm |
width these remains were scattered by |
the equatorial currents.
He knew no better dredging ground |
than the track of the Gulf Stream. /
where great deal of life dropping TO |
the bottom supplies a sort of pelagic |
broth TO the animals living at the bot /
tom. which. being partially decOm- !
posed, they can readily assimilate. 4
While on this subject he noted as a 4
curious fact that at depths of 1000 TO |
2,200 fathOms. where the pressure il /
about 2 tons to the square inch. car
bonic acid was dissolved with great
readiness and che consequence was
that the foraminifera were more or
less rotten and decomposed. and. with
the exception OF a few stouter and
stronger specimens, rarely occur down
there, Below $500 fathoms the bot
tom was red clay. consisting OF VOL
canlc material with. siHceous particles
the whole highly triturated. After
having spoken OF the finding OF man
ganese nodules at great depths. as I'm
the case or the Challenger, Mr.. Agassiz
went on to deal with the formation of
coral reefs. He recalled that more
than SO years ago Darwin in his vow
age ON the Beagle visited some coral
reefs. He examined an atoll in the Inf
dian Ocean and he visited Tahiti and
examined the Barrier Reef. and then
he studied a number OF hydrogranbic
charts and endeavOred to construct a
theory OF the formation OF atolls. His
Lheory was a very ingenious one. and
was adopted in few years by almost
every geologist living. not ONLY by
those who had not visited atolls hui
also by two men who had Inspected
mem closely. One of these was Mr.
'ukes, who was in charge of the Geo
oglcal Survey OF Australia. and who
examined the Great Barrier Reef. Tbisl
as IL seemed TO him. was
perfectly accurate in his description
md mt on the true explanation. differ
ng from Darwin's. yet ne was so car
led away, so fascinated by the ev- ,
'lanatfon OF Darwin that he simnI,
IDandoned his whole line of raasonin. /
ma wound up by saying that DarU-in's /
vas perhaps the OILY theory that could !
explain the eDrmatlon of the Rarrier J
teef-Whereas he had figures and facts )
nat ought 10 have shown him Oar {
'lh explanation was not acceptable
"ds 70 the speaker incredible that a
nan VINO mad nit the nail on the head
Mould come 20 that conclusion.
Another observer in the same field
vas Professor Dana, who had exam
ned reefs in the Fills and the Glberts
ma the Paumotus, and whose knowl-
dse or the reefs was far more exten-
I've tnan any who preceded him or
ny who followed him till the expedi-
ION OF the Albatrcss. He wrote A bo,L a
n coral reefs-perhaps the best ac- v
cunt yet Dublished-in which he q
uJp'eI oar wins theory from end 10 ri
no. Darwin's view was never oues-
Toned TIL. about 25 years ago. a Ger p
IAN naturalist visited the PeIlew Isl- G
ms and found 1t absolutely impossi- r
e 20 reconcile what he saw with Oar 81
On view Then Professor Rein. who :,
LII Ll.iny years in Japan. visited the
dunlOtus and came out with a paper e
aying Darwin's theory could not b. u
Ppiled TO that group. In 1877 tbe