408 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



breeze " dashes into our faces as the advancing wave 

 lashes itself to foam : 



"Then back to sea, with strong majestic sweep, 

 Rolls in an ebb yet terrible and deep." 



And now we reach the farthest verge of the wide- 

 stretching reef, and find around us piles of sea-weeds, 

 strewn in prodigal abundance; a wild and desolate 

 scene, where little seems to tempt our search, and 

 from which a superficial observer might easily be in- 

 duced to turn away in disappointment ; and yet, in 

 reality, a richer field for the naturalist can scarcely 

 be pointed out than is now submitted for examina- 

 tion : 



" Involved in sea- wrack, here you find a race, 

 Which, science doubting, knows not where to place j" 



there is not a frond of that vast heap but is able 

 to afford a treat to the aquariist, perhaps unparalleled 

 throughout the overwhelming catalogue of the Cre- 

 ator's works : 



" Infinite multitudes on every leaf, 



But yet too fine for unenlighten'd eye 

 Like stars whose beams have never reach'd our world." 



It is easy, even without a magnifying glass, to per- 

 ceive that the weeds before us are covered over in 

 many places with parasitical growths, sometimes re- 

 sembling creeping stems of the Sertularise described 

 in a preceding chapter, or, as is more commonly 

 the case, representing patches of delicate moss-like 

 growths, spreading to a greater or less extent over 

 their surface, or appearing not unfrequently like the 

 " pile " of plush or of velvet. On being placed gently 



