The Mighty Deep 



homoeopathic globules," giving to each a single 

 opening. 



And still another, of again a different species, 

 forms a test of divers compartments, with a tiny 

 doorway leading from each into the next. 



Behind all these extraordinary constructions 

 lies a Mind. But — not the mind of the jelly- 

 speck ! 



Soft oozes, formed chiefly of Foraminifera and 

 other shells, varying in size from a pin's head 

 to almost invisible specks — though some few 

 kinds are larger — cover immense reaches of the 

 ocean -bed, extending, it is said, over fifty 

 millions of square miles. 



Yet they are not found everywhere below the 

 sea. Near to Continents, if they exist they are 

 lost sioht of amid the masses of sand and mud 

 carried down from the land. And in the pro- 

 founder abysses of the ocean they are lacking. 



This last fact was long a puzzle. If the waters 

 above were swarming with live Foraminifera, 

 the dead shells of which must be ever pouring 

 in a quiet rain to the ocean-bed, why should not 

 the same ooze be found there, as elsewhere ? 



That the waters above, at least in all warmer 

 climates, do swarm thus, is certain. Towards 

 north and south, in colder seas, they rapidly 



146 



