THE GREAT DEEPS 113 
from place to place. This is ooze. One kind 
consists mainly of the beautiful lime-shells of 
certain types of chalk-forming animals or 
Foraminifera (Globigerinids) which live on 
the surface of the sea. When these animals 
are killed the shells sink to form Globigerina 
deposit, which is very abundant on some parts 
of the floor of the Atlantic. Similarly there 
is Radiolarian ooze, consisting chiefly of the 
beautiful flint-shells belonging to another set 
of pelagic animals. Pteropod ooze consists 
mainly of the remains of the delicate shells 
“‘sea-butterflies,” and Diatom ooze 
consists mainly of the siliceous shells of these 
very simple pelagic plants. Then there is 
what is called “Red Clay,” though it is 
neither red nor clay, a fine powdery stuff 
made by the final disintegration of mineral 
materials—all sorts of things reduced to their 
lowest terms. In a general way we must think 
of the ooze as due to the settling down of “ the 
dust of the sea.” In its softer forms it has 
been described as “like butter in summer.” 
If there were rapid currents the ooze would 
be swept about and make life impossible, but 
it is well suited for a world of calm. When 
we think of the ooze we can readily under- 
of certain l 
