/j^ The V\/est American Scientist. 



the sympathetic hstener the sweetest of nature's harmonies The 

 deep bass of he breakers mingled with the Hghter notes of the 

 throbbing wavelets, the dripping of the mossy rocks, and the 

 rustle of little crustaceans — all these sounds, united with the sweet 

 breath of the sea, and joined with the lovely forms and beautiful 

 colors which are all around us, all these make us believe that we 

 are in fairyland, and we almost envy the mermaids in their 

 homes among the coral groves, where the draperies are mosses 

 and the pavements are of pearl. 



But we see no mermaids here, though there is plenty of life. 

 Here is a huge arching rock, and under it is a pool of the clearest 

 sea-water. 



We stretch ourselves upon the sott moss, and partly enter the 

 charmed grotto. In the pool are a few bright fishes, which dart 

 around their little ocean, evidently alarmed by our presence. As 

 they swim through the shallow water, they brush against the 

 slender mosses, which wave to and fro and display their graceful 

 forms; or perhaps they touch the frond of an irridescent sea-weed, 

 which, as it moves, reveals its beautiful colors. 



On the bottom, or attached to the sides of the stones, are star- 

 fishes of brilliant and varied hues — red, yellow, purple and brown 

 — contrasting strongly with the green sea-grass, and making it 

 seem as if the sky had last night sent a shower of stars into the 

 ocean, and some of them had been left when the tide ebbed away. 



Brilliant patches of living sponge — scarlet orange, or drab — paint 

 the dark rocks; colonies of lace-like polyzoans are scattered over 

 the stones and old shells; pretty sea-snails are creeping slowly 

 along the roof of our grotto, or quietly waiting, with all imaginable 

 patience, for the return of the tide; strange tunicates and other low 

 forms of animal life add to the beauty of form and color, and excite 

 our curiosity to know what they are and how they live; sea-ane- 

 mones — those living flowers — open their tube-like petals and glow 

 in the morning light; and a'host of other things, " creeping innum- 

 erable' ' — all welcome us to this beautiful home in the sea. 



Our liveliest hosts are the little crabs, which scamper offside- 

 wise, forwards, or in any other direction, as we approach, crowd- 

 ing into the narrowest of cracks, whence they peer out with their 

 curious stalked eyes, while they stand ready to defend themselves 

 with their jaw-like claws. If we manliest no hostile intent, they 

 will quickly come creeping down again, and begin anew the busi- 

 ness of the day. How their glossy shells shine! — white, green, 

 red, or brown, or perhaps combining all these colors in harmoni- 

 ous patterns. 



There is such a thing as getting into sympathy with all these 

 humble animals; and, as you lie on the rocks and admire the 

 wondrous combinations of form and color, equaling in beauty the 

 finest gardens of the dry land, there is such a thing as feeling an 

 intense sympathy with all these humble creatures, and losing all 



