ROCK TIDE POOLS OF NAHANT 



Bii Roil W. Minn- 



NAHAXT on the north shore of Massachusetts is a region of wonderful 

 rock tide-pools. The eastern face of the Nahant peninsuhi is 

 formed by a chfl'-wall of slate, granite and igneous rock occasionally 

 rising to a. height of sixty feet ahove the ocean. A certain jjooI at the 

 foot of these cliffs, is spanned l)y a natural flying buttress of harnacle- 

 covered and seaweed-draped rock which seemingly l)races the precipice 

 above. At low tide, in the water overshadowed by the arch, a marvelous 

 profusion of animal and plant life is disclosed to view. Amid masses of 

 " Irish moss," its finely cut lobes brilliant with purple lustre, rise the conical 

 chimneys of gray-green spimges, while clustering groups of sea anemones, 

 orange, brown or white, slowly unfold their petal-like tentacles. Starfishes 

 of various sizes and contrasting colors — brilliant crimson, orange, purple 

 and yellow — are seen everywhere on the pebble-strewn l>ottom or crawling 

 slowly over ledges dotted with pink coralline and feathered with ruby- 

 centered hydroids. Here and there is the green of sea lettuce beneath 

 which hu'k rockcral)s, while l)rown kelp reaches its great fingers toward 

 the surface. 



This particular pool lias Ijeen selected for reproduction in the Museum 

 and was carefully studied during the past summer by the writer, accom- 

 panied l)y Messrs. ^Nlatausch, Shimotori and Kirschner of the ^Museum staff. 

 To transport this fairy cavern and enclose it bodily within museiun walls 

 seems a presumptuous undertaking, yet it is hoped that within the coming 

 year an approxinuitely faithful semblance of its beauties may form one of 

 the new series of groups now under construction for the Darwin Hall. 



AN EXPEDITION TO THE BLACK MOUNTAINS 



Bjl Will in III Uriifi'iniiiUIrr 



THE lilack Mountains being the loftiest of the Appalachians represent 

 a region in which the remains of pre-glacial life can i)e studied 

 to the best advantage. The insect life of the great .Vi)i)alachian 

 Mountain System is the most alpine of the southern Alleghenian fauna and 

 therefore most typical of that fauna which skirted the gi'cat ice pack of the 

 glacial epochs. The species of this fauna occupied a large i)art of the area 

 of eastern North America during glacial tinies, when most of them 

 became extinct. Therefore the species of the Appalachian System are a 

 remnant of a fauna, at one time \ery extensi\e. Their present relation- 

 ships are to a certain extent with the modified forms of lower altitudes, 

 but to a far greater extent with the boreal forms found in more northern 

 latitudes, 



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