Deems, Charles

FORCE, D.D., LL.D., clergyman and educator, born in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 4. 18:20. Graduated in 1839, from Dick in son College, Car lisle, Pa., and engaged in preaching and teaching, occupying Methodist Episcopal Churches in the South and becoming profe or in the University of North Carolina, in RandolphMacon College, and president of Greensboro Female College. In 1866, established and became pastor of the Independent Church of the Strangers in New York city. Was also president of Rutgers Female College and of the American Institute of Christian Philosophy. He edited Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine and published various works, including: The Light of the Nations; Wit, Wis dom and Pathos; Devotional Melodies; Home Altar; Chips and Chunks for Ecery Fireside. Died Nov. 18, 1893. Deep Sea Exploration. Investigation of the deeper areas of the ocean began well within the 19th century, and its extended prosecution, with the phenomenal results obtained, is a matter of the last 30 years. The 100 fathom line has long been known to navigators as the "deep-sea lead," the water below that depth being considered as the "deep sea." Further research has led to divisions based on more extended knowledge, the ocean depths oeing laid out on more scientific principles, into two main regions. The first of these is the littoral region, that extending out from the shores of the continents, and comprising that portion of the ocean throughout which light can penetrate, marine algæ grow and herbivorous animals live. The 100-fathom mark may be taken, in a general way, as the extreme depth of this. The gradual slope of the littoral region usually changes somewhat abruptly into much steeper slope, descending to the floor of the ocean, which averages about 2,500 fathoms in depth, and spreads out in a gently undulated plain over a vast area. This is known as the benthal or aby al region, while the intermediate sloping area has been called the arch i benthal region. These last two regions constitute the "deep sea." For the method of exploring this deep area, see DEEP SEA SOUNDINGS. In the present article we propose to confine ourselves to the efforts and results of exploration. It was long held that the aby al depths of the ocean were destitute of living organisms, and this opinion was not set aside by the early attempts to explore these depths. The earliest revelation made of the life of the deeper ocean was attained by Sir John Ro , during his first Arctic voyage in 1819, when he sounded to a depth of 1,000 fathoms, and brought up strange forms of life attached to his sounding line. In 1838 some dredging was done by the Wilkes' expedition, and in 1846 Sir John Ro dredged to a depth of 400 fathoms, finding the waters prolific of life at that depth. Others followed, but this depth was not exceeded until 1860, when the Bulldog , sent to examine a proposed northern cable route, brought up on her sounding line 13 star fishes from a depth of 1,260 fathoms. A telegraph cable, laid under the Mediterranean, from Sardinia to Africa, was found when taken up to be covered with animals on parts that had lain in water 2,000 fathoms deep. Yet these significant indications made little impre ion on the minds of naturalists, Edward Forbes advocating, as a result of his researches in the Ægean Sea, that the ocean is barren below the 300-fathom line. His conclusions were generally accepted, the facts to the contrary being overlooked or ignored. Yet still earlier the Profe ors Sars, father and son, had dredged in the seas off the Norwegian coast and shown the presence of life at depths of from 1,000 to 1,400 fathoms. These researches only served to extend the depth in which known forms could exist, the faunas found being very similar to those of the littoral waters, so that the opinion was still generally held that only stragglers from the surface waters descended to the depths and that their range of descent must be very limited. This scientific dogma was overthrown in 1867, as a result of the explorations made in the Florida straits by the U.S. Coast Survey, the depth reached being 850 fathoms. The result was startling to the adherents of the old theory. The animals brought up were not alone profuse in number, but were so strange and peculiar in character that it became evident that a new world of animal life had been reached, and the interest of naturalists everywhere was strongly aroused. These Coast Survey explorations were diligently continued in the two succeeding years, while on the Blake , from 1877 to 1880, Alexander Aga iz and other naturalists obtained most important results. The U. S. Fish Commi ion entered diligently into the same field of work, with the specially adapted ve els Albatro and Fishhawk , which have been engaged since 1872, on both shores of America, in explorations of the most valuable and fruitful character. - European Explorations . The work thus done by Americans has been ably seconded by the English, French and other nations. Between 1868 and 1872 the deep waters of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic were investigated by Carpenter, Thomson and Jeffreys, in the Lightning , Porcupine , Valorous and Shear water. Norway continued her explorations with the Voringen, 1876-78; France followed with the Travail leur and the Talisman , and Italy with the Washington, the result being a vast increase of our knowledge of the aby al conditions of the Mediterranean and Atlantic waters. But of those explorations far the most important was that made by the Challenger (See CHALLENGER EXPEDITION).- Deep - Sea Life . The animals found in the depths of the ocean belong to nearly every marine cla , the Challenger in a depth of over a mile bringing up 200 specimens belonging to 79 species and 55 genera; in a depth of two miles, 200 specimens belonging to 84 species and 75 genera; and in a depth of three miles, 50 specimens belonging to 27 species and 25 genera, not counting Protozoa. Even at a depth of four miles fishes and animals belonging to all the chief invertebrate groups have been found. Algæ, on the contrary, are not found at depths below 200 fathoms, so that this deepsea animal life must be in great measure nurtured on animal food or on microscopic surface-forms, such as diatoms and oscillator i a, which sink to the ocean depths after death, and yield some relics of nutritious ti ue as food. Many of them again prey upon their weaker neighbors, being provided with remarkable adaptations to aid them in this. These are light-yielding or phosphorescent organs, which are supposed to be intended to light up the ocean depths and reveal their prey to carnivorous forms, or otherwise to aid in the exigencies of the dark depths of ocean. These organs vary in character, being in some cases rows of tubercles; in others, eye-like spots extended in rows along the body; again, large round spots of the brightne of mother of pearl, also in rows; and fourthly, diffuse particles of a white glandular substance. All these organs are believed to be light-yielding, and are probably at the command of the fish, which is capable of lighting its way animals are of large size, and sometimes of immenso proportions, indicating their use in vision under circumstances of very feeble illumination. The blind forms often po e enormous tactile organs, touch with them taking the place of vision. Affinities of deep-sea life . It was at first supposed that the deep-sea fauna would yield us antique forms, relatives of the ancient geologic fauna, preserved by the homogeneous temperature and conditions of their habitat. This has not proved to be the case, so far as the forms yet found are concerned. Some of them, indeed, show indications of antique origin, but the ma of them approach in character the forms now dwelling in the littoral region, and probably originated in the gradual descent of such forms. In truth, the range of deep-sea fishes is very great. Certain forms which dwell in the surface waters of some regions have been dredged from great depths in others, and the presumption from this is that littoral forms can, without great difficulty, adapt themselves to the widely different conditions of deep-sea life. This may also serve to explain the variety of coloration found, which is quite considerable; while some of the colors are bright, certain crustaceans being of brilliant red hue. Many of these animals also display indications of protective mimicry, and some have burrowing habits, conditions not likely to arise from the exigencies of a life pa ed in darkne . Thus, there is much reason to believe that these animals are, generally at least, descendants of recent surface forms, and have preserved some of their original features and habits, while varying in others. They present, it is true, many abnormal conditions of structure, the head or jaw being in some cases enormously developed, while the body is reduced to a ribbon form. Yet, despite this strangene of appearance, they do not belong to new orders, but are simply modified types of surface genera. As regards the immense pre ure of water to which they are subjected about a ton to the square inch at 1,000 fathoms' depth -they have no difficulty in sustaining it. The ti ues of the animals are permeated with the water, and the pre ure, thus equalized within and without, is not felt. On bringing them to the surface, however, the effect of the sudden diminution of pre ure becomes evident, they appearing often in a dilapidated condition. Deep-sea fishes po e very fragile ti ues, and light and fragile bones, at times nearly destitute of calcareous material. The muscular system is also feebly developed, the muscles being thin and the connective ti ue loose and feeble. The great pre ure may have something to do with this, as it would tend to compre these loose ti ues. Bottom deposits. Deep-sea exploration has yielded other information of much interest. Outside the littoral sediments, arising from land drainage, and which extend some distance down the outer slopes, we reach, at a considerable distance from land, pelagic deposits whose origin is in part still a matter of question. The intermediate and most extensive deposit is a воcalled "Blue Mud," found just outside the 100-fathom level, of grayish or bluish color, and containing particles of minerals derived from the land, principally quartz. This blue mud is estimated to cover about 14,500,000 sq. miles of the earth's surface, and is found along the const of continents and large islands, and in all partly enclosed seas. Off the coast of Brazil it is of a red color, from the ferruginous matter brought down by the rivers, while elsewhere it becomes green, due to the presence of the mineral glauconite. Volcanic mud and sand are deposited around islands of volcanic origin, and coral mud and sand around oceanic coral islands. Of true pelagic deposits there are five types, four being of organic origin, the fifth and most extensive, of inorganic origin. The four are named from the remains of organisms they display. Globigerina ooze receives its name from its multitude of dead shells of Foraminifera, largely belonging to the genus Globigerina. These live in the surface waters of the ocean, and after death their shells descend to the bottom and accumulate in moderate depths. On reaching greater depths these gradually disappear, their calcareous substance perhaps being di olved. Pteropod ooze is closely similar, except that it has a greater abundance of the shells of small surface mollusca, the Pteropods and Heteropods. Diatom ooze is characterized by the silicious shells of diatoms, and Radiolarian ooze similarly by a preponderance of silicious radiolarian shells. In all these oozes there is more or le mingling of forms, their special names coming from the preponderating form. The abundance of shells present shows that there is a considerable and steady rain of the minute surface-forms to the bottom as they die, and indicates the main source of nutriment for deep-sea animals. Nearly the whole of the deeper aby es of the ocean is occupied by a red clay, its color being due to the oxides of manganese and iron. In its shallower regions calcareous fragments appear, but in the deeper red clay only a mere trace of carbonate of lime is present. Silicious remains are generally found, with minute particles of volcanic origin. Concretions of iron and manganese are often present, of all sizes up to that of a potato. These gather around nuclei, such as sharks' teeth and the ear bones of whales. Red clay, whose origin is not clearly known, appears to accumulate very slowly. It covers in all about 51,000,000 sq. miles of ocean bottom, of which 37,000,000 are in the Pacific. also light-yielding, the contents of the trawl, when drawn to the surface, often being brilliantly phosphorescent. An important argument in favor of this interpretation of the organs mentioned is, that while in many cases the animals brought up are blind, their eyes being atrophied, yet, as a rule, the eyes of deep-sea depth of the ocean began in the 18th century, where a depth of 234 fathoms was attained in the Arctic Ocean. In 1818, Sir John Ro reached a depth of 1,000 fathoms, but the true abysmal depths were first sounded in 1840 by Sir James Clarke Ro , who employed a small line with a weight of 300 pounds and touched bottom at the depth of 2,677 fathoms. In 1843, Commander Davis, of the U. S. Coast Survey, touched bottom off Block Island at 2,100 fathoms, and in 1847, Capt. Stanley, of the British Navy, reported a depth of 2,500 fathoms. Yet the heavy lead and thick line usually employed in these early experiments rendered their results somewhat uncertain, the weight of the rope continuing to drag it down after the bottom had been reached. Iron and steel wires were next used, but they broke from their weight. Thin lines, with heavy weights, were also tried, the line being cut when bottom was touched, and the amount of cord lost estimated by deducting the length of that remaining from the known length of the whole This system seemed promising, yet proved uncertais in its results. In 1854, John M. Brooke, a pa ed midshipman in the U. S. Navy, invented a method which is still in general use. The weight on his line had a detaching apparatus, which was thrown off on reaching the bottom, so that only the line, bringing a small sample of the bottom, needed to be drawn in. This method has been improved by Commander Sigsbee, the detachment of the sinking weight being rendered more certain, while the sounding rod is provided with a valve that encloses a satisfactory sample of the bottom. The use of wire in sounding having proved unsatisfactory, hempen line was tried, and this alone was used in the numerous Challenger soundings. A machine for using steel piano wire for this purpose was produced in 1872, by Sir William Thomson. The weight unwinds this wire from a reel, which register its number of revolutions, thus allowing the length of wire run off to be easily calculated. This device, in connection with the Brooke and Sigsbee detaching apparatus, has revolutionized D. S. S. Various contrivances for obtaining specimens of the bottom have been devised, as also for determining the deep-sea temperature by means of self-registering thermometers, while bottles for obtaining samples of water and instruments for determining the direction and force of currents have been added.-Dredges. For bringing up specimens of the deep-sea fauna various forms of dredges and trawls are used. The "tangles," which are merely large swabs of hempen rope picked out into twine, are very effective in entangling the spiny forms. Organisms of a rough or spiny character may be brought up in great numbers by this arrangement in places where a rough bottom prevents the use of the dredge. The dredge and the beam-trawl are of the same character as those used in shallow water, the latter being double, s0 that it will work, no matter which side reaches the bottom. To these steel wire rope is fastened, and steam power is employed to draw in the dredge. Those are for bottom use. To explore the intermediate water, nets or traps of various forms are employed, so made that they can be sent down closed, opened at a certain depth, and closed again before being drawn up, so that the depth at which the catch, if any was made, may be known. Deer'ing, in Maine , a post-township of Cumber land co., adjoining Portland; contains the villages of East Deering, Stroud water, Stevens' Plains, ., and is the seat of extensive and varied manufacturing interests. Pop . of township (1897) about 5,875.