FlozverUke Forms and Fantasies 165 



quite the same light as I had been prone to look upon 

 them before. . . . 



A later and closer acquaintanceship with things 

 marine, naturally, has dissolved much that was mysteri- 

 ous to me on my initial meeting; nevertheless, this fuller 

 familiarity has in no wise tended to diminish their ear- 

 lier charms. Seldom do I venture along the shore with- 

 out encountering some feature, not necessarily novel or 

 strange, yet sufficiently impressive to awaken a respon- 

 sive thrill. It must be confessed, however, that the 

 waters of tide pools are more fertile of interest and in- 

 cident in this respect than any other region of the shore. 



As Harbor Beach is graced wuth a large and particu- 

 larly attractive example of one of these natural marine 

 aquaria, needless to say it surrenders to me many 

 secrets of the sea. In the shallow water of this ex- 

 pansive basin (it is two or more acres) are often 

 found, congregating throughout their proper seasons, 

 representatives of nearly every type of life peculiar to 

 these latitudes. Here are found the forms that line 

 the high-water mark as well as those which range the 

 deeper levels. For not infrequently is some strange 

 straggler from the outer reaches caught unawares and 

 left imprisoned by the retreating tide, unable to escape 

 until the next succeeding flood. Sponges, too, swept in 

 from darker and cooler depths, continue to grow with- 

 out perceptible restraint in the genial currents of their 

 newer habitat. 



Such a one is the finger sponge {ChaUnopsiUa 

 oculata), a dull orange-red individual with compressed 

 fingerlike branches that look like lobes of melting 



