II 



COLLECTING 



IT has been said that everything on the land has its counterpart 

 in the sea. But all land animals are separate and indepen- 

 dent individuals, while many of those of the sea are united into 

 organic associations comprising millions of individuals insepara- 

 bly connected and many of them interdependent, such as corals, 

 hydroids, etc. These curious communities can be compared only 

 to the vegetation of the land, which many of them resemble in 

 outer form. Other stationary animals, such as oysters and 

 barnacles, which also depend upon floating organisms for their 

 food, have no parallel on the land. 



The water is crowded with creatures which prey upon one 

 another, and all are interestingly adapted to their mode of life. 

 Shore species are exceedingly abundant, and the struggle for life 

 is there carried on with unceasing strife. In the endeavor to 

 escape pursuers while they themselves pursue, these animals 

 have various devices of armature and weapons of defense ; they 

 have keen vision, rapid motion, and are full of arts and wiles. 

 One of the first resources for safety in this conflict is that of con- 

 cealment. This is effected not only by actual hiding, but very 

 generally by mimicry in simulating the color of their surround- 

 ings, and often by assuming other forms. Thus, for instance, 

 the sea-anemone when expanded looks like a flower and is full of 

 color, but when it contracts becomes so inconspicuous as to be 

 with difficulty distinguished from the rock to which it is attached. 

 They also have stinging threads (nematophores), which they dart 

 out for further defense. 



6 



