of my inland readers whose conception of Nereis 

 has been gained from words or pictures, further 

 attempt at description here would not only be use- 

 less and unenlightening, it would also be a sinful 

 waste of space. For the bald truth is, the likeness 

 of such a creature cannot be reproduced. Of course, 

 one can set down such coldly accurate details of 

 its entire structure as the ten feelers and the four 

 black eyes which adorn its head, the multitudinous 

 blue-green segments of its body, each bearing a 

 pair of pink leaf-like gills at the fore and shading 

 into vermilion at the rear, and the sheaf of golden 

 bristles under each flame-like gill . . . But that 

 would not be Nereis — Nereis is an impalpable 

 vision of dream-colors, an intoxicating shimmer of 

 intangible shades, rather than a being of substance 

 and form. And graphically to represent its appear- 

 ance as such, with even a fraction of verisimilitude, 

 is not within the province of the brush any more 

 than it is within that of the pen. Ultra-chromatic 

 spectacles like this are to be translated only by 

 means of symbols. Yet I grope in vain for such 

 symbolic aids as will adequately convey my own 

 impressions of Nereis's charm: metaphors are 

 meaningless, similes seem stupid, and superlatives 



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