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§ 580-582. THE BASIN AND BED OF THE ATLANTIC. 315 



CHAPTER XIY. 



§ 580-618. — THE BASIN AND BED OF THE ATLANTIC. 



580. The wonders of tlie sea are as marvelous as the glories 

 The wonders of the of the heavens; and thej proclaim, in songs divine, 

 ^^^' that they too are the work of holy fingers. Among 

 the revelations which scientific research has lately made concern- 

 ing the crust of our planet, none are more interesting to the stu- 

 dent of nature, or more suggestive to the Christian philosopher, 

 than those which relate to the bed and bottom of the ocean. 



581. The basin of the Atlantic, according to the deep-sea sound- 

 its bottom and cMm- ings made by the American and English navies, 

 *^°^^^°- is shown on Plate XI. This plate refers chiefly to 

 that part of the Atlantic which is included within our hemisphere. 

 In its entire length, the basin of this sea is a long trough, separat- 

 ing the Old World from the New, and extending probably from 

 pole to pole. As to breadth, it contrasts strongly with the Pacific 

 Ocean. From the top of Chimborazo to the bottom of the Atlan- 

 tic, at the deepest place yet reached by the plummet in that ocean, 

 the distance, in a vertical line, is nine miles. 



582. Could the waters of the Atlantic be drawn off so as to 

 An orographic view, cxposc to vicw this great sca-gash which separates 

 continents, and extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic, it would 

 present a scene the most rugged, grand, and imposing. The very 

 ribs of the solid earth, with the foundations of the sea, would be 

 brought to light, and we should have presented to us in one view, 

 in the empty cradle of the ocean, " a thousand fearful wrecks," 

 with that array of dead men's skulls, great anchors, heaps of pearl 

 and inestimable stones, which, in the poet's eye, lie scattered on 

 the bottom of the sea, making it hideous with sights of ugly death. 

 To measure the elevation of the mountain-top above the sea, and 

 to lay down upon our maps the mountain ranges of the earth, is 

 regarded in geography as an important thing, and rightly so. 

 Equally important is it, in bringing the physical geography of 

 the sea regularly within the domains of science, to present its 



