1 66 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



A NATURE CLASS STUDYING THE POOLS AND ROCKY BEACH 



plants to the animals, I notice with re- 

 newed interest, the resemblance of sea- 

 animals to land-plants, and am re- 

 minded of the curious fact that the 

 spores of some sea-plants have the 

 power of independent motion. The 

 creatures that first meet my eye are 

 the sponges — red, yellow and green — 

 which show so little sign of animal life 

 that a microscope is needed for a care- 

 ful study of them. 



Much higher in the scale of life are 

 the sea-anemones, whose family name 

 is actinia. These are among the most 

 beautiful of sea-animals, though in this 



cold water they have not such brilliant 

 colors as in a warmer latitude. Here 

 they show all shades and tints of 

 brown, with now and then a salmon 

 pink, and occasionally a bright orange. 

 The largest specimen that I ever found 

 measured, with tentacles spread, four 

 or five inches in diameter. How like 

 a little flower-garden is a cluster of 

 these small ones, with their delicate 

 pink and fawn-colored tentacles mov- 

 ing to and fro in the clear water ! 



Their power of mending themselves 

 when injured is wonderful. I have 

 read of one which was cut trans- 



"THE SEA-ANEMONES 



ARE AMONG THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF SEA- ANIMALS" 



