CHAPTER VI 

 Atlantic Ooze 



IF it were possible to descend to the floor of the 

 Atlantic Ocean, at a point half-way between 

 Ireland and America, where the waters are two and 

 a half miles deep, we should meet with many objects 

 which would attract our attention and excite our 

 keenest interest. When our engineers, skilled in the 

 practical application of electricity and magnetism, 

 were making preparations for placing the first cable 

 between our shores and the great western continent, 

 they longed to know the exact nature of the bed of 

 the ocean. Were there any creatures which could 

 damage the covering of the cable, and thus expose 

 the copper wires to the action of the sea water? If 

 so, how could they live under such a terrific pressure ? 

 Were there any creatures sufficiently powerful to 

 break the cable, or, was life so abundant that organ- 

 isms would be attached to it in vast numbers ? and if 

 so, would their calcareous and other deposits form 

 accretions detrimental to the stability and continuity 

 of this all-important means of communication which 



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