§ r,GG. THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN. 309 



lern, was one of the difficulties first to be overcome. It was a 

 common opinion, derived chiefly from a supposed physical rela- 

 tion, that the depths of the sea are about equal to the heights of 

 the mountains. But this conjecture was, at best, only a specula- 

 tion. Though plausible, it did not satisfy. There were, in the 

 depths of the sea, untold wonders and inexplicable mysteries. 

 Therefore the contemplative mariner, as in mid-ocean he looked 

 down upon its gentle bosom, continued to experience sentiments 

 akin to those which fill the mind of the devout astronomer when, 

 in the stillness of the night, he looks out upon the stars, and won- 

 ders. Nevertheless, the depths of the sea still remained as fath- 

 omless and as mysterious as the firmament above. Indeed, tele- 

 scopes of huge proportions and of vast space-penetrating powers 

 had been erected here and there by the munificence of individuals, 

 and attempts made with them to gauge the heavens and sound out 

 the regions of space. Could it be more difficult to sound out the 

 sea than to gauge the blue ether and fathom the vaults of the sky ? 

 The result of the astronomical undertakings^ lies in the discovery 

 that what, through other instruments of less power, appeared as 

 clusters of stars, were, by these of larger powers, separated into 

 groups, and what had been reported as nebulae could now be re- 

 solved into clusters ; that, in certain directions, the abyss beyond 

 these faint objects is decked with other nebul.a3, which these great 

 instruments may bring to light, but can not resolve ; and that there 

 are still regions and realms beyond, which the rajs of the bright- 

 est sun in the sky have neither the intensity nor the force to reach, 

 much less to penetrate. And what is more, these monster instru- 

 ments have revealed to us, in those distant regions, forms or ag- 

 gregations of matter which suggest to some the idea of the exist- 

 ence of physical forces there that we do not understand, and which 

 raise the question in speculative minds. Is gravitation a univer- 

 sal thing, and do its forces penetrate every abyss of space ? Could 

 we not gauge the sea as well as the sky, and devise an instrument 

 for penetrating the depths of the ocean as well as the depths of 

 space ? Mariners were curious concerning the bottom of the sea. 

 Though nothing thence had been brought to light, exploration 

 "had invested the subject with additional interest, and increased 

 the desire to know more. In this state of the case, the idea of a 

 * See the works of Herschel and Rosse, and their telescopes. 



