New Britain herald., 1924-08-28
FLOATING ISLANDS
 AROUSE INTEREST
Scientists Say They Carry Ami
 nal Species 10 heR Lands

AAfamEFs ihifahlns iat lanes aI th'
 sllurlng taeina occasionally Fepor
 the apps arance ot mkslsrlous float
 ing islands, q Phsnamenon whiei
 has stirred the imagination al maT
 since the sHeienls Aoss the roman
 tle story about the ehaining d0WT
 Of the floating island Of neles," say,
 bulletin rom the Washington, D { c, headquarters Of the National
 Geographic society,
 Within our own times q floating
 island ioo feet square, upon which trees SO feet hlgh were growing, . dntied l,0a0 miles out into the At-
 lantle, probably from the coast of
 the United States,
 "pnrlRg July 1892 this island,
 the tan trees of which made il ls-
 ihle fer seven miles, was first seen about 3ha miles southeast from han- tuekst, Ry September II had drited
 about 6 degrees farther north and s2 degrees farther east with the Gulf stream, and II may have eyen- tually landed on the eeast of Eu- rope,
 Scientists feel the lure of the se- erets these drifting islands hold and eudgel their wits over the part they might have played At various times in tho history Of the earth, Some be- lieyo these tangled masses of trees, brushwood and water plants, when they noated away and finally land cd npon the shores Of some other land, have been instrumental at various times in transmitting squir- rels, feld-mice, insects and land shells to other parts of the earth's surface where certain species did not originally exist,
 ''The formation Of these jack. o. lanterns Of the oceans and rivers comes about in very simple way. The grasses and rushes which grow along the edges of the water begin pushing their way farther and farther out from shore and in time moss grows over the decaying vege- table matter Soon water-loving plants such as alders. sheep-laurel and sweet gale grew with the moss, and then cranberries and pitcher plants push their way out on the shelf until the mat becomes about three feet thick. When 1t has be- come firm. black spruces and arches begin anchoring it together firmly with their roots.
 When the water rises the floating mass rises also, but the surrounding shore cannot, and when the wrench is great enough the mat breaks off and floats about. These floats are often met with in tropical waters, particularly in the Amazon. among the Moluccas and the Philippines.
 "One of the most remarkable of the Mississippi rafts began forming in the Atchafalaya, a lower arm of the river. in 177S. By 1916 it had become 10 miles long, more than 600 1 feet in width, about feet deep, and had become solid enough to support a growth of trees, some of which were 60 feet in height. Finally the | State of Luisiana had to remove the ! obstruction at great expense, the | work occupying four years.
 'The United States government 1 has since that time removed a raft | which blocked the channel of the | Red river for 45 miles.
 The mysterious bits of floatsam were known in the days of Pliny who wrote that there was dark wood in the lake of Nadimonis which was never seen in the same place for a day and a night to- yether. He also described some is- lands made of reeds in Lydia which were driven about by the wind and which could be pushed about from place to place by poles.
 There are thousands of floating stands in Klamath Lake. Oregon, lpon which the jules grow 12 feet nigh, but which will seldom bear he weight of a. man.
 Island Changes Shores
 "In Sadawga Lake, Whitingham, fermont large floating island ,roke off from the west shore. drift d across the lake and has now be- ome attached 10 the eastern side.
 "Floa ting gardens, which are the ultivated variety Of floating islands, ave been known in various parts f the world from early times, par icularly in regions where gardens lanted on terra firma would be coded, such for instances as the oatins gardens of Kashmir and of 'ochimilco. The latter supply Mex "a City with practically all its egetables and flowers.
 Sometimes these mats are 20 rmly anchored 10 the shore that hey do not break off with high 'ater but become submerged. For hem to appear above the surface 1e water must subside or some eency must push the vegetation up- ard. Marsh gas, which has a light 'ecif1c gravity, occasionally does 1is, when it is present In large uantities and can escape only at the lrface. After the gas has escaped le island again becomes sub ereed
 One of the best known islands of 1is type is the floating island is one of the loveliest f the English lakes, It appears and isarrears st the upper end of the Ike at intervals with the accumula- on Of gas beneath it"