TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 
9 
point of intersection on June 25, or 
thereabouts, a meteoric shower is ex- 
pected. Such a shower was observed 
when the comet appeared in 1916. This 
will probably be the most interesting 
thing to be observed in connection with 
the visit of the comet, as the comet it- 
self will not be bright. 
Beneath the Ocean Surface. 
BY CHARLES NEVERS HOLMES, NEWTON, 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
Above the ocean surface there is air, 
beneath it there is water. Both air and 
water have weight, both are being 
drawn towards our earth’s center. 
Fresh water weighs about 773 times 
as much as air ; that is. 62 ’4 pounds 
per cubic foot. Ocean water is heavier 
than fresh water, owing to the salts 
which it contains, and one cubic foot 
of ocean approximates 64 3/ 10 pounds. 
Our world possesses an ocean area of 
about 140,000,000 square miles, and in- 
asmuch as the average oceanic depth is 
about 24/10 miles, the total amount of 
water in our earth’s oceans approxi- 
mates 336,000.000 cubic miles. Accord- 
ing to these statistics, the total oceanic 
weight approximates 3,000,000,000,000,- 
000.000.000 pounds ; that is, one and 
one-half quintillion tons are pressing 
against the bottoms and shores of our 
oceans. In other words, our oceans 
weigh about one-four thousandth of our 
world’s weight, and about one-fiftieth 
of our moon’s weight. 
It has been stated that a cubic foot 
of sea water weighs about 643/10 
pounds and, therefore, a cubic inch 
weighs about .037 of a pound. There- 
fore, for each inch that we descend be- 
neath the ocean surface, there will 
be an additional .037 of a pound upon 
every square inch of our body. That is. 
since the total area of an adult human 
body approximates 1,900 square inches, 
at one foot beneath the ocean surface, 
the pressure upon an average man’s 
body will amount to about 844 pounds. 
In other words, at 12 inches beneath 
the surface, there would be a weight 
upon each square inch of our body of 
.444 of a pound. And, as we descend 
into oceanic depths, this pressure will 
increase directly as the depth. At one 
hundred feet it would amount to 100 
times .444 of a pound per square inch, 
or 100 times 844 pounds pressure upon 
our whole body, about 42 1/5 tons. If 
one thousand feet below the ocean sur- 
face, the pressure upon each of us 
would approximate 422 tons. Such be- 
ing the oceanic pressure upon a small 
object like a human body, what must 
be the stupendous pressure upon a huge 
object like a sinking ship? 
It is evident, since water is prac- 
tically incompressible, since any sink- 
ing body is heavier than the same bulk 
of the surrounding water, and inasmuch 
as oceanic pressure is equal in every 
direction, that a sinking body will de- 
scend to the very bottom of the Pacific 
or some other ocean. Now, the very 
bottom of the Pacific, as far as is 
known at present, has the great depth 
of about 32,000 feet or 6 miles. If we 
multiply 32,000 feet by 12 inches, we 
obtain the distance in inches from the 
top to the bottom of our largest ocean. 
Then, by multiplying 384,000 inches by 
.037 of a pound, the result gives us 
what would be the approximate weight 
upon each square inch of our body were 
we 10 sink to the very bottom of the 
Pacific. The answer is a little over 
7 tons! But there are about 1,900 
square inches upon the body of an 
average man, so that, at the very bot- 
tom of the Pacific, such a body would 
be crushed by a total pressure of ap- 
proximately 13,500 tons. Those of us 
who dwell at sea level are surrounded 
by an atmospheric pressure of 14 tons 
per each individual, but were we to be 
placed suddenly at the bottom of our 
greatest ocean, we should be instantly 
destroyed by a weight equal to about 
964 atmospheres. And were a cubical 
block of iron, 35 feet in each of its three 
dimensions, about the size of an ordi- 
nary dwelling house, to sink to the very 
bottom of the Pacific, the total oceanic 
weight upon the six sides of this iron 
block would approximate 7,514,640 
tons. The sides of such a large block, 
provided it were hollow, would cer- 
tainly have to be very thick and strong 
in order to sustain a total pressure of 
15 billion pounds. 
Nature is our steadfast neighbor, 
Ever at our beck and call, 
And between us there is never 
Any sign of boundary wall; 
All her purlieus standing open, 
Waiting for our lagging feet, 
And whene’er we deign to enter, 
Always sure of welcome sweet. 
— Emma Peirce. 
