THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA 



Modern Interest in the Deep Sea : Conditions of Inquiry. — Shape of Ocean-floors : 

 Absence of Mountains and Valleys. — Coral Reefs. — Continental Shelf. — Permanence of 

 Continents. — Plants and Animals of the Sea. — Conditions of Marine Life : Absence 

 of Seasonal Changes. — Marine Communities. — Abysmal Life. — Detrital Accumulations. 

 — Fate of Sunken Ships. 



Ever since man began to speculate concerning the unseen 

 parts of nature, the spaces of the sea have shared with the 

 vaster reahiis of the encircHnor heavens the manifold excur- 

 sions of the imagination. The poet and the philosopher, 

 whose paths upon the land most often lie far apart, have 

 alike sousfht to tread over the hidden ocean-floors. For a 

 time the realms of the sky, because they are more visible than 

 the submerged realm, were the favorite field for speculation. 

 The Greeks, by far the most richly endowed in constructive 

 imagination of any of the ancient peoples, gave little thought 

 to the regions beneath the sea. The true love of the deep, 

 and interest in its hidden regions, is a matter of modern 

 days. The people of northern Europe have felt these 

 motives more strongly than those of any other lands. 1 he 

 Scandinavians were the first navigators of our race who 

 learned the pleasure which comes to those who break into an 

 unknown sea ; a thousand years ago they dared in frail barks 

 the fierce tempests of the North Atlantic ; led thereto by no 

 clearly defined purpose of conquest or propagandism. but 



