178 THE SEA. 



colorific power at that depth. Dr Wallich has not 

 alluded to the colours of his Ophiocoma; but as he 

 compares it to 0. granulata, we may fairly assume 

 that there was no great disparity in hue. Now this 

 species is of vivid colours : black, brown, orange, 

 roseate, are the tints of the disk ; and that of the 

 rays, dusky white, or bluish. Can the colour-pro- 

 ducing rays of the sun, then, penetrate through a 

 stratum of water a mile and a half thick ? " No ;" 

 say the philosophers, " absurd 1" "Yes;" says the 

 Opldocoma, " ecce sic/num!" 



