30 Pfof. Ernst Haeckel. 



snails, mussels, star-creatures, worms, etc., whose nourish- 

 ment consists exclusively of the flesh of the coral animals 

 on which their habitations are fixed ; and these coral-de- 

 vourers — one may appropriately term them ' parasites ' — 

 have, through adaptation to their peculiar mode of life, ac- 

 quired the most astonishing forms, and have been furnished 

 with weapons of defense and of olfense of the most singu- 

 lar shapes. 



" But, if the naturalist may not ramble free from danger 

 among palms, neither may he swim unmolested among coral 

 banks. The Oceanidcs, who jealously guard these cool fairy 

 regions of the sea, threaten the intruder with a thousand 

 dangers. The fire-corals {MiUepor-a), as well as the medusae 

 swimming among their branches, sting, when touched, like 

 the most resentful nettles. The floating cilia of many of 

 the mailed fishes {Synanceia) inflict wounds that are as 

 painful and dangerous as those of a scorpion. Many crabs 

 nip in the severest manner with their powerful claws. Black 

 sea-urchins {Diadema) bore their barbed spines, a foot long, 

 into the flesh, where they break pff and cause annoying 

 sores. But the worst damage to the venturesome diver is 

 inflicted by the corals themselves. The thousands of sharp 

 points on their calcareous structures cut and abrade the 

 skin in various ways. In all my life I never had such an 

 excoriated and lacerated body as when coral-fishing at Pun- 

 ta Gallia, and I suffered from the wounds for several weeks. 

 But what are these transitory sufferings to the naturalist 

 whose whole life has been enriched by the marvelous experi- 

 ence and natural enjoyments of his visit to the wonderful 

 banks of coral ! " 



Nature may well bo willing to reveal her secrets to those 

 who woo her in this courageous way. Nor is it less the 

 delight of such lovers of nature to make the treasures they 

 ac({uire the common possession of their kind, and such a 

 treasure he is now preparing. The work of the professor 

 now i)assing through the press is upon the organic world 

 bencatli the sea.* 



In this blessed work of acquiring and imparting knowl- 

 edge our autlior-hero spends liis days, and we nuiy almost 

 say his nights too, surrounded by a happy family and a cir- 

 cle of friends to whom he is the most loveable and therefore 



*It app<'ar«'(l In .Tnmmrv, ISOl, fiifitlfd Plankton-Stud icn— that is, Sea-Drift 

 Stmlics -mill is a n-rnarknlile contribution to the wonder-world of protoplasm, 

 which has Its real home in the sea-world hidden from our eyes. We hope soou to 

 see a traiuliitiou iu English. 



