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08 



THE OPAL SEA 



Etjuipment 

 fcr defense 

 and flight. 



The dismal 

 extstence. 



Coloring of 



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row and hide, and an inconspicuous back color- 

 ing to disguise them. The crabs and sea 

 urchins are defended somewhat by thin shells 

 and spines, the octopus by tentacles and ink- 

 bag, the medusce by poison; while some of the 

 others are given power in flight, or breed to 

 brave destruction. Just how they manage to 

 exist and keep their numbers is something not 

 well understood as yet. In fact the whole life 

 down there seems somewhat dark, distorted, 

 and dismal. But perhaps we are not the best 

 judges of it. It has been said that to un- 

 derstand how an octopus feels about existence 

 and happiness one would have to become an 

 octopus. 



And it may well be that there is some loveli- 

 ness in the imder-world of the violet sunbeam. 

 For many of the dwellers there have great 

 beauty of color. The gloom of the waters has 

 not given them a pallor or deathlike hue, though 

 a number of them have black or gray colorings 

 or are black-backed and silver-scaled. There 

 are red, pink, lilac, even bright green fishes, 

 and fishes with scales of gold, topaz, and silver, 

 living in the depths. All the crustaceans are 

 as brightly hued in one water as another, the 

 jelly fish are violet and opal, the sea cucumbers 

 purple and green, the corals and sponges al- 



