Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1883 — Wonders of the Vasty Deep. [ARTICLE]

Wonders of the Vasty Deep.

As to the quantity of light at the bottom of the sea there has been much dispute. Animals dredged from below 700 fathoms, either have no eyes, or faint indications of them, or else their eves are very large and protruding, drabs’ eyes are four or five times as large as those of a crab from surface water, which shows that that light is feeble, and that eyes to be of any use must be very large and sensitive. Another strange thing is that where the creatures in those lower depths have any color it is of orange or ’ red, or reddish orange. Sea anemones, corals, shrimp and crabs have this brilliant color. Sometimes it is pure red or scarlet, and in manv specimens it inclines toward purple, jtfot a green or blue fish is found. The orange red is the fish’s protection, for the bluish-green light in the bottom of the ocean makes the orange or red fish appear of a neutral tint and hides it from enemies. Many animals are black, others neutral in color. Some fish are provided with boring tails so that they can burrow in the mud. Finally, the surface of the submarine mountain is covered with shells, like an ordinary sea beach, showing that it is the eating-house of vast schools of carnivorous animals. A codfish takes a whole oyster into its mouth, cracks the shells, digests the meat and spits out the rest. Crabs crack the shells and suck out the meat. In this way come whole mounds of shelln that are dredged up.— Prof. Pen'ill.