52 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



importance to the fauna in the depths 

 of the sea. On land, plants occur al- 

 most everywhere and support the ani- 

 mal population either directly or in- 



A Sea-Lily. These llower-animals of the ocean 

 grow in dense fields on the floor of the deep 

 sea; their roots are fixed in the ooze, above 

 which the slender, jointed stalks rear for 

 about two feet, and spread into graceful petals. 

 These wave about seeking for victims to en- 

 fold and devour. In marble slabs are often 

 seen the fossil stems oi encrinites, similar 

 creatures that lived in past geological ages. 

 From Perripr's "Les Kxiilorations sons marins." 



directlj, for the vegetarians eat the 

 plants and the carnivores eat the vege- 

 tarians. Now plants cannot exist with- 

 out light, so that, where the sea is dark 

 from depth, there vegetation fails com- 

 pletely. But for the surface fauna and 

 flora the creatures on the sea floor would 

 starve when they passed the limit of 

 plant growth. 



The abyssal fauna is, however, 

 abundantly fed, as the wandering hosts 

 of Israel were fed by a daily rain of 

 manna. When the whales, the fish, the 

 crabs, and tiny things innumerable have 

 lived their lives in the sunshine above, 

 their carcasses sink fast or slowly to the 

 floor of the sea, and provide bounteous 

 meals for the exiles in the dismal, freez- 

 ing depths below. Food here literally 

 drops into the mouths of the eaters, 

 here are neither hunters nor hunted, 

 here is abundance of space and susten- 

 ance for all. Life at the bottom of the 

 sea if dreary is at any rate peaceful. 

 The clash of war, the fierce struggle for 

 existence is unheard, unfelt in these 

 calm depths. In the abyss there is nt> 

 need to hide nor are there any hiding 

 places. Defenceless creatures could not 

 here find any sheltering tufts of weed, 

 any nooks or crannies in the rock. Nor 

 in the darkness is there any need for 

 those quaint disguises or mimicry by 

 wliicii surface animals escape their 

 foes. 



A "BROODY" RABBIT.— The best 

 way to neutralise a pest is to utilise it, 

 and a new way to turn oui- harmful, 

 unnecessary rabbit to good n('Ct)iuit 

 will be of interest to tlie man on the 

 land. The strange behaviour of a rab- 

 bit described in Nature, of 1st March, 

 1900, may point the way to a new 

 avenue of usefulness for the rabbit. 



"Last year, in an aviary in one of 

 the wards of the Caterhain Asylum, a 

 wild ralibit turned a dove off its nest 

 and sat on two dove's eggs until they 

 were hatclied. This vear the nurses are 



trying another hatching operation. 

 They have placed two bantam's eggs 

 in the same nest. The same rabbit 

 has taken to these eggs, and only 

 leaves the eggs to take its food, return- 

 ing at once to the nest." Now all that 

 is necessary is to carefully select a 

 number of rabbits with the hatching 

 liabit well developed and segregate 

 them; after a few rabbit generations 

 have come and gone, a company could 

 be formed to supply ])oultry farmers 

 with rabbit incubatoi's. The incident 

 is curious, if true, and, as Mark Twain 

 would sav, it is curious anyway. 



I 



