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DISTURBING ACTION OF MAN. 517
discovered by the geologist of that name and his companions in 1744, and
frequented in great numbers the coasts of Behring Straits, became completely extinct in the course of twenty-seven years, and since 1768 not
one of them has been seen; not even an entire skeleton is left. The
whale, which recently enjoyed a short*respite, owing to the American war
and the working of the petroleum springs, is now again most energetically pursued, and soon will not find any sea where it can take refuge; the
seals are every year slaughtered by hundreds of thousands; the sharks
themselves diminish in number along with the fish which formed their
pre $ the latter having become the spoil of the fisherman. The butchery,
year after year, ofthe birds which feed upon insects has resulted in a formidable increase of the numerous tribes of ants, termites, locusts, caterpillars, etc., and in the same way the cetaceae and fish which have disappeared are replaced by myriads of medusas and infusoria.
With regard to this subject, Mr. Marsh expresses an opinion which at
first sight can not fail to surprise, but is none the less worthy of being
taken into serious consideration. In his opinion, the very remarkable phenomenon of the phosphorescence of sea-water has become more frequent
in modern times, and more beautiful than it was 2000 years ago. Homer,
who often speaks of the*' thousand voices " of the iEgean Sea, makes no
mention of its thousand glimmerings. In the same way, the poets who
have represented Venus as springing from the foam of the sea, and have
peopled the "watery abodes" with so many nymphs and divinities, have
not given us a description of the sheets of liquid gold on which, during
the night, the bright shining goddesses were used to recline. The love
of the Greek poets for broad day and the full light of the sun might tend
to explain this strange silence; but why is it that savants also have maintained such a sobriety of language in describing this very extraordinary
appearance of the phenomenon of the phosphorescent glittering of sea-
water ? Aristotle, who speaks but briefly of it, attributes this light to
"the greasy and oily quality of the sea." iElian, the compiler, mentions
the gleam emitted by the sea-weed* on the shore; and Pliny, the encyclopaedist, tells us that the body of a species of medusa emits a certain brilliancy when it is rubbed against a piece of wood. This is a point to
which science had reached before the observations made by Americus
Vespuccio on the phosphorescence of tropical seas. Since this epoch,
there is not probably a single traveler who has not remarked on the jets
of light springing forth during the night-time round his ship,, not only in
the West Indian seas, but likewise in the Mediterranean, on the European
coasts of the Atlantic, and near the icebergs of the Polar Ocean. If .Mr.
Marsh's ingenious hypothesis is true, those among us who walk along the
shore or* sail over the sea when the waves are, as it were, on fire, enjoy a
spectacle much more splendid than ever was given to our forefathers to
contemplate. This, however, would be but a poor compensation for the
ravages which have been made by our fishermen.
The action of man has also caused a rupture in the harmony primitive-
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000574 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | DISTURBING ACTION OF MAN. 517 discovered by the geologist of that name and his companions in 1744, and frequented in great numbers the coasts of Behring Straits, became completely extinct in the course of twenty-seven years, and since 1768 not one of them has been seen; not even an entire skeleton is left. The whale, which recently enjoyed a short*respite, owing to the American war and the working of the petroleum springs, is now again most energetically pursued, and soon will not find any sea where it can take refuge; the seals are every year slaughtered by hundreds of thousands; the sharks themselves diminish in number along with the fish which formed their pre $ the latter having become the spoil of the fisherman. The butchery, year after year, ofthe birds which feed upon insects has resulted in a formidable increase of the numerous tribes of ants, termites, locusts, caterpillars, etc., and in the same way the cetaceae and fish which have disappeared are replaced by myriads of medusas and infusoria. With regard to this subject, Mr. Marsh expresses an opinion which at first sight can not fail to surprise, but is none the less worthy of being taken into serious consideration. In his opinion, the very remarkable phenomenon of the phosphorescence of sea-water has become more frequent in modern times, and more beautiful than it was 2000 years ago. Homer, who often speaks of the*' thousand voices " of the iEgean Sea, makes no mention of its thousand glimmerings. In the same way, the poets who have represented Venus as springing from the foam of the sea, and have peopled the "watery abodes" with so many nymphs and divinities, have not given us a description of the sheets of liquid gold on which, during the night, the bright shining goddesses were used to recline. The love of the Greek poets for broad day and the full light of the sun might tend to explain this strange silence; but why is it that savants also have maintained such a sobriety of language in describing this very extraordinary appearance of the phenomenon of the phosphorescent glittering of sea- water ? Aristotle, who speaks but briefly of it, attributes this light to "the greasy and oily quality of the sea." iElian, the compiler, mentions the gleam emitted by the sea-weed* on the shore; and Pliny, the encyclopaedist, tells us that the body of a species of medusa emits a certain brilliancy when it is rubbed against a piece of wood. This is a point to which science had reached before the observations made by Americus Vespuccio on the phosphorescence of tropical seas. Since this epoch, there is not probably a single traveler who has not remarked on the jets of light springing forth during the night-time round his ship,, not only in the West Indian seas, but likewise in the Mediterranean, on the European coasts of the Atlantic, and near the icebergs of the Polar Ocean. If .Mr. Marsh's ingenious hypothesis is true, those among us who walk along the shore or* sail over the sea when the waves are, as it were, on fire, enjoy a spectacle much more splendid than ever was given to our forefathers to contemplate. This, however, would be but a poor compensation for the ravages which have been made by our fishermen. The action of man has also caused a rupture in the harmony primitive- |
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