'
SEA WATER
225
smashed inwards, so that eventually there would be-no
-
air to buoy the ship up and it would be simply a mass of
solid iron and wood whose combined density would far
,
exceed that of the sea water surrounding, so that the ‘
ship would be bound to sink to the bottom.
Sir John
Murray said "
During the Challenger expedition, after a
funeral at sea, the bluejackets sent a deputation ait to
-
ask if ‘ Bill ’ would go right to the bottom when committed
to the deep with a shot attached to his feet, or would be
‘
nd his level ’ and there oat about for evermore ? ”
_
It is said that a man at 2,000 fathoms would bear on his
*
body a weight equivalent to that of twenty locomotive
engiries, each with a long goods train loaded with pig iron.
This was said however in 1873 when engines and trains
were
considerably smaller than nowadays.
One of the
effects of living at these great pressures is that when animals
are brought up quickly in_ the traw1'they break to pieces
—
owing to the sudden reduction of pressure.
'
.
Most sea animals must beable to stand a considerably
wide range of pressures as they are able to make large
journeys up and down. Whales when harpooned have
.
been known to “ sound ”
as deep as four hundred fathoms.
Many small animals living in the drifting community
make upward j ourneys of fty to a hundred metres or more
.
almost every night of their lives retirig to the deep levels
‘
again in the daytime;_
In the laboratory small unicellular
animals have been subjected to pressures of as much as
,
600 atmospheres, without suffering any apparent _harm.
’One of the most
conditions
life is light.
Without light there would be
plant life, for it is by the
help“ of the sun’s rays that the plant can build up the
necessary starch and sugar from the carbon dioxide in the
'
air orinthe water.
Practically all animals are ultimately
dependent upon plant life for their food, and if in the sea
SEA WATER
225
smashed inwards, so that eventually there would be-no
-
air to buoy the ship up and it would be simply a mass of
solid iron and wood whose combined density would far
,
exceed that of the sea water surrounding, so that the ‘
ship would be bound to sink to the bottom.
Sir John
Murray said "
During the Challenger expedition, after a
funeral at sea, the bluejackets sent a deputation ait to
-
ask if ‘ Bill ’ would go right to the bottom when committed
to the deep with a shot attached to his feet, or would be
‘
nd his level ’ and there oat about for evermore ? ”
_
It is said that a man at 2,000 fathoms would bear on his
*
body a weight equivalent to that of twenty locomotive
engiries, each with a long goods train loaded with pig iron.
This was said however in 1873 when engines and trains
were
considerably smaller than nowadays.
One of the
effects of living at these great pressures is that when animals
are brought up quickly in_ the traw1'they break to pieces
—
owing to the sudden reduction of pressure.
'
.
Most sea animals must beable to stand a considerably
wide range of pressures as they are able to make large
journeys up and down. Whales when harpooned have
.
been known to “ sound ”
as deep as four hundred fathoms.
Many small animals living in the drifting community
make upward j ourneys of fty to a hundred metres or more
.
almost every night of their lives retirig to the deep levels
‘
again in the daytime;_
In the laboratory small unicellular
animals have been subjected to pressures of as much as
,
600 atmospheres, without suffering any apparent _harm.
’One of the most
conditions
life is light.
Without light there would be
plant life, for it is by the
help“ of the sun’s rays that the plant can build up the
necessary starch and sugar from the carbon dioxide in the
'
air orinthe water.
Practically all animals are ultimately
dependent upon plant life for their food, and if in the sea