XV. 

 A SEA FAN AND A SEA PARABLE. 



UwDiwE discovered a fan gorgon in the doc- 

 tor's cabinet and begged to know what it was, 

 while Tom was no less delighted with the va- 

 rieties of coral the cabinet contained. 



"Oh, that," said the doctor to Undine, 

 "was a mermaid's fan, and no belle of terra 

 jwma could boast of a fan so gorgeous. Its 

 tints were rose and yellow, green and lavender, 

 and bedight with jeweled filigree it flashed 

 until its glitter made a sort of daylight under 

 the sea. It is called a fan gorgon. Undine, and 

 when alive was even more dainty and charming 

 in color, and far more glittering than I have 

 described or can lead you to imagine. Dainty 

 and beautiful enough it was to be called a mer- 

 maid's fan. 



" It was long considered a singular and gor- 

 geous sea plant, but the microscope has re- 

 vealed it to be the home and the work of little 

 polypi which naturalists had thought were 



10 133 



