THE ARCTIC SEAS. 167 
and sixty thousand of these microscopic suckers 
upon the head of one Clio; an apparatus for pre- 
hension perhaps unequalled in the creation.” 
Numerous as are the hosts of these frolicsome 
little beings, there are, however, others which vastly 
exceed them in number; which pass, indeed, beyond 
the possibility of human computation. Navigators 
had often noticed, in certain parts of the Arctic Sea, 
that the water, instead of retaining its usual trans- 
parency, was densely opaque, and that its hue was 
gYass-green, or sometimes olive-green. It is com- 
monly known as the “green-water,” and though 
liable to slight shiftings from the force of currents, is 
pretty constant in its position, occupying about one- 
fourth of the whole Greenland sea. Mr. Scoresby 
was the first who ascertained the cause of this pecu- 
liar hue: on examination he found that the water 
was densely filled with very minute Meduse, for the 
most part undistinguishable without a microscope. 
He computes that within the compass of two square 
miles, supposing these animalcules to extend to the 
depth of two hundred and fifty fathoms, there would 
be congregated a number which eighty thousand 
persons, counting incessantly from the Creation un- 
til now, would not have enumerated, though they 
worked at the rate of a million per week! And 
when we consider that the area occupied by this 
green water in the Greenland seas is not less than 
twenty thousand square miles, what a vast idea does 
it give us of the profusion of animal life, and of the 
beneficence of Him who “openeth His hand, and 
satisfieth the desire of every living thing!” 
