PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. 7 seen at a great depth in the clear water, which in the night-time become jet black. Often through this dark, yet limpid medium, have voyagers amused themselves by tracking the routes of large fishes, such as porpoises or sharks, gleaming along in lines of light beneath the abyss, itself invisible with gloom. As Captain Tuckey passed in his voyage towards Prince's Island, the ship seemed to be sailing on a sea of milk. In order to discover the cause of such an appearance, a bag, having its mouth distended by a hoop, was kept overboard, and by means of it vast numbers of small animals were collected. Among them were a great many pellucid scalpæ, with innumerable little creatures attached to them, to which Captain Tuckey principally attributed the whitish colour of the water. Thirteen species of cancer were observed, not above one-fourth of an inch long; eight having the shape of crabs, and five that of shrimps. Among these, some luminous creatures were discernible. When one species was examined by the microscope, in candle-light, the luminous property was observed to reside in the brain, which, when the animal was at rest, resembled a most brilliant amethyst, about the size of a large pin's head; and from this there darted, when the animal moved, flashes of a brilliant and silvery light. 8 PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. Of the number of these little creatures, of some of which a magnified representation has been given, some interesting statements are furnished by Captain Scoresby. “During a run of fifty leagues," he says, "the sea was constantly of an olive green colour, remarkably tinted; but on the afternoon of the 17th of April, it changed to transparent blue. This green appearance of the sea in these latitudes was occasioned by myriads of small marine animals. A calculation of the number of these animals, in the space of two miles square, and 250 fathoms deep, gave an amount of 23,888,000,000,000. On September the 1st, the sea was observed coloured in veins or patches of a brown colour, or sometimes with a yellowish green; and this water, on being examined by the microscope, appeared swarming with minute marine animals. A drop of this water contained 26,500 animalcules. Hence, reckoning sixty drops to a drachm, there would be a number, in a gallon of water, exceeding by one half the amount of the population of the whole globe. It affords an interesting conception of the minuteness of some tribes of animals, when we think of more than 26,000 indivials living, obtaining subsistence, and moving perly at their ease, in a single drop of water." A sea equired for a whale to sport in; but a common THE CARE OF GOD. 9 tumbler affords abundant space for a hundred and fifty millions of these little creatures. The phosphorescent appearances presented by them are not, however, without an important design. It is probable that God, whose knowledge is unbounded, foreseeing that man would learn to traverse the mighty deep, and explore the most distant regions of the globe, has given this brightness to the ocean to lessen his dangers, and to render his nights less gloomy. Especially will this seem likely when it is remembered, that it is only seen in the night season, and is vivid in proportion to the darkness. It disappears before even the feeble light of the moon, and increases with the agitation of the sea; so that during the prevalence of storms, it greatly diminishes the dense gloom which at such times even the moon and stars cannot penetrate. It casts such a light on the ship and the rigging, that the sailors may execute their allotted tasks with certainty; and at all times it points out to the cautious mariner the lurking danger of sunken rocks, shoals, and unknown coasts. How delightful is it to dwell on such proofs of the Divine care! "Are not," said the gracious Redeemer, "five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs It is a singular fact, that while Moses says, when the earth was without form and void, "Darkness was upon the face of the deep," some traces of this truth are found among most nations. Aristotle speaks of some of the learned, as saying, "All things are born from night." Hesiod describes chaos as the origin of all things, from which Erebus and Night arose. Aristophanes also intimates that this idea was common among the intelligent men of Greece. The Anglo-Saxons began their computation of time from night, and their year from that day in winter corresponding with our Christmas, which they called, "Mother Night," as if it were the parent of all things. The Tahitians, and other islanders of the Great Pacific, refer the first existence of their principal deities to the state of darkness, which they make the origin of all things. These are said to be, "Fanau Po," born of night; "Po" is the world of darkness. How delightful is it to the Christian, when reading such facts, to review his own exalted privilege, in being possessed of the revelation of that God to whom "the darkness and the light are both alike!" Psal. cxxxix. 12. According to the sacred historian, the first element parated from the chaos was light, the most wonderful ! useful of all material objects. The Divine com |