Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
- Page 224 of 779 - First - Home
The Causes That Unroot These Weeds At Depths Where It Is Generally
Thought The Sea Is But Slightly Agitated, Are Not Sufficiently
Known.
We learn only, from the observations of M. Lamouroux, that
if the fucus adhere to the rocks with the greatest firmness before
its fructification, it separates with great facility after that
period, or during the season which suspends its vegetation like
that of the terrestrial plants.
The fish and mollusca which gnaw
the stems of the seaweeds no doubt contribute also to detach them
from their roots.
From the twenty-second degree of latitude, we found the surface of
the sea covered with flying-fish,* (* Exocoetus volitans.) which
threw themselves up into the air, twelve, fifteen, or eighteen
feet, and fell down on the deck. I do not hesitate to speak on a
subject of which voyagers discourse as frequently as of dolphins,
sharks, sea-sickness, and the phosphorescence of the ocean. None of
these topics can fail to afford interesting observations to
naturalists, provided they make them their particular study. Nature
is an inexhaustible source of investigation, and in proportion as
the domain of science is extended, she presents herself to those
who know how to interrogate her, under forms which they have never
yet examined.
I have named the flying-fish, in order to direct the attention of
naturalists to the enormous size of their natatory bladder, which,
in an animal of 6.4 inches, is 3.6 inches long, 0.9 of an inch
broad, and contains three cubic inches and a half of air.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 224 of 779
Words from 60858 to 61118
of 211363
