INFUSORIAL EARTH AT SANTA BARBARA. 9 



gills and mouth retaining their natural color. There are 

 many forms of singular appearance, still waiting for some 

 expert to determine their character. Some are in form leaf- 

 like, some seed-like, others insect-like. 



The foot of the bed, and much of the surface, is covered 

 with gravel and boulders, in the form of drift, from the Santa 

 Ynez range; and the layers have been so faulted and folded 

 in the upheaval, that it is extremely difficult to estimate its 

 thickness; but it can hardly be less than two hundred feet. 

 The summit is over eight hundred feet above sea level; and 

 the lowest exposed surface about four hundred feet. The 

 specific gravity of this earth is less than water, and its porous 

 structure enables it to absorb and retain an immense amount 

 of water; and lying here as it does, between the mountains 

 and ocean, it acts as an immense sponge, absorbing the surplus 

 water in the rainy season, and in the dry season quietly part- 

 ing with its store of water, to supply the wells and springs of 

 the hillside, or the water-bearing strata under the city. 



If it extends under the city, as it probably does, whoever 

 penetrates it with an artesian boring, will find an inexhaust- 

 able supply of water. 



In Ventura county, I have seen large quantities of petroleum 

 issuing from a bed of infusorial earth. Whether it answers 

 simply as storage for the petroleum, or, whether the infusoria 

 furnish the oil, or material for its manufacture in nature's 

 labratory, are at least open questions. 



The soil, resulting from the decomposition of diatomaceous 

 earth, is light and mellow, does not wash easily with rain, is 

 very easy to cultivate, produces good crops of the cereals, and 

 will, I think, excel in fruits; if persons can be found to culti- 

 vate them. 



The organisms whose silicious secretions form this earth or 

 rock, are a microscopic algse, and though a simple vegetable, 

 possess powers of locomotion, and in some other respects 

 resemble the animal type. 



They live in both fresh and salt water, and are made up of 

 a great many species and genera. 



