THE OCEAN WORLD, 
CHAPTER I. 
THE OCEAN. 
’’kpKTTOV /xev 88up — “ The best of all things is water.” — Pindar. 
We have said that the sea covers nearly two-thirds of the surface of 
the earth. The calculation, as given by astronomers, is as follows : The 
surface of the earth is estimated at 31, 625,625-^ square miles, that 
portion occupied by the waters being about 23,814,121 square miles, and 
that consisting of continents, peninsulas, and islands being 7,811,504 
miles ; whence it follows that the surface covered with water is to dry 
land as 3-8 is to 1"2. The waters thus cover a little more than seven- 
tenths of the whole surface. “ On the surface of the globe,” Michelet 
remarks, “ water is the rule, dry land the exception.” 
Nevertheless, the immensity and depth of the seas are aids rather 
than obstacles to the intercourse and commerce of nations ; the mari- 
time routes are now traversed by ships and steamers conveying cargoes 
and passengers equal in extent to the land routes. One of the features 
most characteristic of the ocean is its continuity ; for, with .the exception 
of inland seas, such as the Caspian, the Dead Sea, and some others, 
the ocean is one and indivisible. As the poet says, “ it embraces the 
whole earth with an uninterrupted wave.” 
n epl Ttaa-av 6 * flAuraoutvov 
X$6v aicmy^rcp peii/xan. 
■/Erchylus in Prometheus Vinctm. 
The mean depth of the sea is not very exactly ascertained, but 
certain phenomena observed in the movement of tides are supposed to 
be incapable of explanation without admitting a mean depth of three 
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