LIVING LIGHTS. 



CHAPTER L^ 



STARS OF THE SEA. 



AMONG the many revelations of modern science, none 

 have a more absorbing interest than those relating to 

 the illumination of the deep sea. Until within a few years 

 the ocean has been a sealed book. The surface forms only 

 were known ;. and it was assumed :that,_ow:ihg to the enor- 

 mous pressure, lack of. sunlight, and consequent darkness, 

 Nature, at least in the abyssal depths, was at fault, and this 

 vast region was devoid of life and Incapable of supporting it. 



Recent investigations, however, have shown the reverse, 

 and that this great area, with its plateaux, its mountain 

 ranges, and its isolated, coral-capped peaks, whose valleys are 

 now known to lie miles in ocean depths, teems with living 

 forms, and, far from being the dismal realm we had sup- 

 posed, is a region of surpassing wonder; which we may, 

 in fancy, term that lower firmament, where float sparkling, 

 gleaming constellations, meteor-like disks and globes with 

 trailing luminosity, single stars and nehulce of living lights. 



The phosphorescence of the sea is no new discovery, and 

 those who have visited the seashore at night must have 



