56 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



according to this computation, than five or six millions of these 

 mites of flinty shells, the materials of which their inhabitants had 

 collected from the silicious matter which the rains washed out 

 from the valleys, and which the rivers are continually rolling 

 down to the sea. 



162. The medusae have the power of sucking in the sea- water 

 Thewatersofthesea slowly, and of cjccting it again with more or less 

 abundantly! forcc. Thus they dcrivc both food and the power 

 of locomotion, for, in the passage of the water, they strain it and 

 collect the little diatomes. Imagine, now, how many medusa^- 

 mouthfuls of water there must be in the sea, which, though load- 

 ed with diatomes, are never filtered through the stomachs of these 

 creatures ; imagine how many medusa the whale must gulp down 

 with every mouthful ; imagine how deep and thickly the bottom 

 of the sea must, during the process of ages, have become covered 

 with the flinty remains of these little organisms ; now call to 

 mind the command which was given to the waters of the sea on 

 the fifth day of creation ; and then the powers of the imagination 

 are silenced by the emotions of wonder, love, and praise. 



163. The sea has its climates as well as the land. They both 

 Contrasts between change with the latitude; but one varies with the 



the climates ot land . .. 



and sea. clcvation abovc, the other with the depression be- 



low the sea level. The climates in each are regulated by circu- 

 lation ; but the regulators are, on the one hand, winds ; on the 

 other, currents. 



164. The inhabitants of the ocean are as much the creatures 

 Order and design, of climatc as are thosc of the dry land ; for the 



same Almighty hand which decked the lily and cares for the 

 sparrow, fashioned also the pearl and feeds the great whale; He 

 adapted each to the physical conditions by which his providence 

 has surrounded it. Whether of the land or the sea, the inhabit- 

 ants are all his creatures, subjects of his laws, and agents in his 

 economy. The sea, therefore, we may safely infer, has its offices 

 and duties to perform ; so, may we infer, have its currents, and so, 

 too, its inhabitants ; consequently, he who undertakes to study 

 its phenomena must cease to regard it as a waste of waters. He 

 must look upon it as a part of that exquisite machinery by which 

 the harmonies of nature are preserved, and then he will begin to 

 perceive the developments of order and the evidences of design ; 



