INNUMERABLE HOSTS OF BEINGS. 497 



exploding. They were exceedingly minute and 

 quite invisible to the naked eye, only covering 

 a space equal to the square of the thousandth 

 of an inch. Their numbers were infinite ; for 

 the smallest drop of water which I could remove 

 contained very many. In one day we passed 

 through two spaces of water thus stained, one 

 of which alone must have extended over several 

 square miles. What incalculable numbers of 

 these microscopical animals ! The colour of the 

 water, as seen at some distance, was like that 

 of a river which has flowed through a red clay 

 district; but under the shade of the vessel's 

 side it was as dark as chocolate. The line 

 where the red and blue water joined was dis- 

 tinctly defined. The weather for some days 

 previously had been calm, and the ocean 

 abounded to an unusual degree with living 

 creatures."* 



The enormous shoals of herring and mackerel 

 which at times appear on our coasts, and on 

 those of other lands, shoals, the number of 

 individuals in which defy the power of calcu- 

 lation and baffle conception, these, too, fur- 

 nish us with a striking view of the vast numbers 

 of beings whose abode is the ocean. Yet, just 

 as in the case of marine vegetation, there are 

 laws which regulate the distribution of ocean 



* Journal, p. 16. 



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