H2 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



VERY DARK 



Very sensitive bromo-gelatine plates, auto- 

 matically exposed and closed again at a depth 

 of 500 fathoms about half a mile show that 

 some rays of light reach that depth. For 

 practical purposes, however, it is dark at 250 

 fathoms. Thus the deep sea is a world of 

 dreadful night, and the utterness of the dark- 

 ness must be almost intensified, one would 

 think, by the fitful gleams of "phosphores- 

 cent" light given forth by various deep-sea 

 animals, both sedentary and wandering. Per- 

 haps it is like the very badly lighted suburbs of 

 a big town ; perhaps it is like a moor on a very 

 dark night, with only a few stars overhead. 



VERY CALM AND SILENT 



The deep sea is a place of silence and calm, 

 for no sound can reach the depths, and the 

 severest storms are comparatively shallow in 

 their grip. There are no swift currents, but 

 at most a gentle flow over the beds of ooze. 

 What is this "ooze"? Over vast tracts of the 

 ocean-floor there is an accumulation of minute 

 particles, as fine as dust, varying in character 



