670 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



foliage instantly disappeared down into the tree trunk, leaving only 

 the brown stem standing. 



Aghast with surprise at the sudden revelation that this charm- 

 ing foliage, like the petals of the flowers in the last tank, was also 

 a cluster of living suckers, I asked what name they were called 

 by, and heard with disgust the answer " worms." These beautiful, 

 curious creatures only the things we know by the loathsome word 

 " worms ! " 



These sea worms, or annelids, as the scientific scholars call them, 

 build up for themselves the brown tubes that resemble the rough 

 stems of pines or palms, and from the top they send out their worm- 

 like bodies in clusters, where they wave back and forth in the water, 

 to sweep in any food that may be near, always holding themselves in 

 readiness to withdraw into their holes at danger. 



Whether the brilliant foliage of each tree was but the many ten- 

 tacles of a single animal emerging from the tube, or whether it was 

 a whole family of worms come up to the top of their home to gaze 

 from the chimney, so to speak, we could not discover. But, strange 

 to say, the grotesque little sea horse seemed to be trying to decide 

 that question for himself, for, after swimming away a moment in 

 fright at this sudden disappearance, he returned and appeared to be 

 peeping down into the tube. 



The next tank revealed even greater surprise than we had yet 

 seen. Here in the water long white gauze ribbons were waving, as 

 if hung from above, and so transparent that we could see quite 

 through them, almost as if they were composed of the white of an 

 egg. It was only by looking closely that up near the top we could 

 see a tiny black dot, like a pinhead, in each fleecy scarf. This was 

 the head of the animal, or its eye, or mouth, or whatever such a 

 delicate dot might be called. 



These are of the jellyfish family, and have only lately been 

 added to the aquarium. Owing to the difficulty of procuring such 

 pulplike masses, they are extremely rare specimens, and can be seen 

 nowhere else. Surely nothing more frail, more delicately lovely- 

 exists on land or sea, in plant or animal life, than these gauzy living 

 sashes of the sea. 



But not all the denizens of the tanks are beautiful to look upon. 

 There is a tank near the door of entrance filled with objects so hide- 

 ous that one starts away from them with horror. These are the 

 octopi, or devilfish. Imagine the ugliest, biggest black spider that 

 you ever saw, and enlarge it to the size of the largest turtle you ever 

 saw, and on the end of each of the spider's legs fasten a wicked- 

 looking mouth, and you can form some idea of how frightful an 

 octopus can be. 



