34 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



profusion, some digging channels for 

 their seclusion in the coral-limestone, jr 

 even in the hard basalt, others lying hid- 

 den in sand with only the tips of their 

 hair-like spines protruding, ready to 

 penetrate the flesh of an incautious 



Sea-eggs. 



Photo — E. R. Waits. 



enemy or an unwary wader. Still otliers 

 gather unto themselves scraps of sea- 

 weed and other debris with which more 

 or less inadequate covering they wan- 

 der freely about the coral floor, secure 

 rather by reason of their spiny armour 

 than by the cover they affect. These 

 and thousands more, all occurring with- 

 in New South Wales, and six hundred 

 miles southward of the Tropic of Capri- 

 corn. 



THROUGH A WATER GLASS. 



A water glass, or, as it is sometimes 

 gi'andiloquently termed, a water tele- 

 scope, is merely a bucket or a billy-can, 

 the bottom of which is replaced by a 

 sheet of glass. Its purpose is to break 

 through the surface ripple and thus pro- 

 vide a window, so that through the clear 

 water one has an uninterrupted view of 

 the sea floor. With its aid, one is en- 

 abled to study the wealth of life in a 

 coral pool, each member of which car- 

 ries out its particular activities regard- 

 less of observation. The water itself 

 acts as a sort of magnifying agent, and 

 makes the bottom of a pool appear much 

 closer than it really is. 



Covering the uneven sides of the pool 

 is a eolonv of huge green anemones, 



each eight inches across and with a hun- 

 dred waving tentacles. Every tentacle 

 is armed with innumerable stinging cells 

 to paralyse the small animals upon 

 which the anemones feed. Associated 

 with these lowly but beautiful polyps 

 are certain small tishes, some of the 

 Demoiselles of tlie genus Am phi prion, 

 which have become so specialised in their 

 mode of living that they are never found 

 apart from their hosts. The anemones 

 are sensitive creatures and will retract 

 their tentacles at a touch, yet the move- 

 ments of their small fish associates cause 

 them no alarm. As one watches through 

 the glass, one of the fishes may be ob- 

 served to dart out from among them to 

 snatch at some morsel of food and 

 hastily retreat again to its shelter. The 

 stings of its hosts do not aft'ect it, even 

 its naked eyes coming to no harm, yet 

 they evidently afford it security from 

 the attacks of its enemies. It is gaily 

 ornamented with pearly bands across a 



Collecting on the reef with a water glass. 



Photo — A. R. McCulloch. 



scai-let body, as though to advertise its 

 presence to all the fish world. But it 

 is singularly shy and dare not leave its 

 tentacled friends, becoming so extraor- 

 dinarily helpless when they are removed 

 that it may be captured in one's hand. 



