VABIETT OF C0L0R8 OF THE SEA. 37 



The Greenland sea varies in color from ultramarine blue 

 to olive green, differences which have been found, on exam- 

 ining the water, were due to the presence of innumerable 

 minute animals. The red, brown, and white patches of the 

 Pacific and Indian Oceans, are attributed to the presence of 

 swarms of animalculae, and the colors of the Red and Yellow 

 Seas to matters of vegetable origin. On both sides of the 

 island of Ceylon, during the south-west monsoon, a broad 

 expanse of the sea assumes a red tinge, considerably brighter 

 than brick-dust; and this is confined to a space so distinct, 

 that a line seems to separate it from the green water which 

 flows on either side. On examining some of this water with 

 a microscope, it proved to be filled with animalculse, prob- 

 ably similar to those which have been noticed near the 

 shores of South America, and whose abundance has imparted 

 a name to the Yermillion Sea off the coast of California. 



Captain Kingman passed through a tract of water twenty- 

 three miles in breadth, and of unknown length, so full of 

 minute (and some not very minute) phosphorescent animal 

 organisms, as to present the aspect at night of a boundless 

 plain covered with snow. Some of the animals were ser- 

 pents six inches in length, of a transparent jelly-like nature. 

 This appearance is noticed by Dr. Collingwood as a '* milky 

 sea," the whole surface composed of a white fluid-like milk. 

 The contrast of the ocean, thus colored, with the dark sky, 

 is very striking. 



This proceeds from a great variety of marine organisms, 

 some soft and gelatinous, and some minute shelly animals. 

 They mostly shine when excited by a blow or by agitation 

 of the water, as wheu a fish darts along or oar dashes, or, 

 in the wake of a ship, when the water closes on its track. 

 In the latter case are often seen what appear to be lamps 

 of light rising from under the keel, and floating out to the 

 surface, apparently of many inches in diameter. One of the 

 most remarkable of these luminous creatures is a species of 



