308 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



corals which are wholly calcareous. The color 

 may be purple, brown, or yellow, and they some- 

 times attain a height of several feet with pro- 

 portionate breadth. They are among the most 

 abundant and beautiful objects of the reefs. 

 From the fact that they simulate the form and 

 appearance of plants and possibly because they 

 sway to and fro with the motion of the water Uke 

 seaweeds, they are responsible for the name 

 "gardens of the sea" usually applied to living 

 coral reefs or patches. 



Completely fascinated we drifted idly about, 

 gazing down and calling attention to the warty, 

 duU purple, sea cucumbers, the star fish, and the 

 many sea urchins including the Diademas with 

 their long, villainous violate-black spines. Cer-; 

 tain species of sea urchins carve out holes in the 

 soUd rocks for their abodes. It has been thought 

 these excavations were made by action of an add 

 which the animal exuded, but Alexander Agassiz 

 maintains that the work is done mechanically, the 

 animal chiseUng out the rock with its teeth. It 

 keeps turning around slowly cutting the hole or 

 depression to fit the shape of its extended arms or 

 spines. Some of the sea urchins bury themselves 



