DISTRIBUTION OF MARINE LIFE. 407 



perpetually succeeded by new creations of equal beauty. Happy 

 the man whose eye is open to their charms ! Every ramble 

 through the woods and fields is to him a banquet of pure and 

 inexhaustible delight. 



The causes which confine the life of animals and plants tc 

 circumscribed localities are in many cases easily to be traced. 

 The warmth or coldness of the sea, resulting from currents, 

 geographical position, and depth ; tranquil or disturbed, pure or 

 troubled waters; abundance or scarcity of food, solidity or softness 

 of the ground, sufficiently explain why many species of marine 

 animals appear in some places in considerable numbers, while in 

 others they are totally wanting. A superficial view of their 

 organisation often shows us at once the physical properties their 

 habitat must necessarily possess. By looking at a fucus we 

 immediately see whether it requires the protection of tranquil 

 waters, or is able to bid defiance to the floods ; whether it is 

 made to anchor upon the rock, or to sink its roots into a more 

 yielding soil. 



In many cases, however, the causes which regulate the distri- 

 bution of the sea-animals are still enveloped in darkness, and we 

 no more know why the tropical seas bring forth in some places 

 numerous coral-reefs, and none at all in other to all appearance 

 just as favourably situated localities, than we do why the tea- 

 plant is confined to a small corner of Asia, or the Peruvian 

 oinchonas to a narrow girdle on the Andes. 



Evidently, besides the influences known to us, there are 

 many other hidden ones at work, whose conflicting powers draw 

 round every living creature a mysterious circle, whose bounds it 

 is unable to transgress. Their discovery belongs to the future, 

 and certainly forms one of the most interesting subjects for the 

 naturalist's inquiries. 



The geographical distribution of the terrestrial plants and 

 animals is undoubtedly much easier to be ascertained than that 

 of the denizens of the ocean. The naturalist is able to climb 

 the highest mountains beyond the extreme limit of vegetation, 

 and far above their most towering peaks his eye, piercing the 

 transparent atmosphere, sees the condor soar in solitary majesty ; 

 he can Wander through the deepest glens, or even, penetrating 

 into the bowels of the earth, examine and collect the forms of 

 the subterranean flora ; but it has not been given him to peram- 



