GARDENS OF THE SEA 



185 



was when they were called " flower-animals " 

 and " animal-plants," but the terms are ob- 

 solescent. The division line between the flora 

 and the fauna of the sea is not, however, too 

 finely drawn, even at the present day. Many 

 forms of the fauna favor the flower, the shrub, 

 the branch; and yet these are but an outer 

 guise — perhaps a disguise planned by nature 

 ■whereby the animal lures prey within its reach. 

 The likeness to the plant in such creatures as 

 sea anemones, sponges and coral is curious 

 enough; but the real interest lies deeper. The 

 organisms are marvels of design, wonders of 

 form and color. The care and wasdom of Crea- 

 tion are not more marked in planet and solar 

 system than in the tiny dwellers in the ocean. 

 The smallest specimen of globigerina or for- 

 aminifera — too small to be seen without the 

 microscope — is moulded with perfectly radiat- 

 ing arms or symmetrical shell, and the sluggish 

 form of the jelly fish is cast in iris hues more 

 perfect because more delicate than those of the 

 lily or the burnished dove. Indeed, the mar- 

 vels never cease in " the world below the brine." 

 The variety — what seems the infinity — of 

 marine life is merely beginning to dawn 

 upon us. The discovered species mount into 

 the hundreds of thousands. As fast as they 



' 'Flou'er- 

 animala.' 



The like- 

 ness to 

 plants 

 superficial. 



Marvels of 

 design and 

 color. 



