406 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



occupying the space between fifteen and fifty fathoms. 

 Sea- weeds, properly so called, are scarce within it, 

 and absent from its greater portion ; but much of it is 

 clothed with an animal- vegetation, so to speak, in the 

 shape of Corallines or Hydroid Zoophytes. It abounds 

 with shell-fish, and many of our rarest and most 

 valued kinds are procured from it. 



The fourth region is the INFRA-MEDIAN, also called 

 the region of Deep- Sea Corals, since in our seas 

 (though not in those of the tropics) the principal 

 stony corals, whether of zoophytic or bryozoic pro- 

 duction, are procured from it. 



We need scarcely trouble the reader to accompany 

 us to the fifth region, 



" The dark, unfathom'd, bottomless abyss," 

 unsounded by mortal plummet ; its proper occupants, 

 " The rapid Swordfish and the ravening Shark," 



are scarcely admissible into any aquarium of ordinary 

 dimensions, and may well be dispensed with. We 

 will therefore now retrace our steps, and wending 

 towards the beach, endeavour to obtain a few speci- 

 mens better adapted to our present purpose. 



