944 l^he American Naturalist. [November, 
residents. Here as elsewhere the tide touches the threshold of 
vegetation, and with the ebb the exposed shallows make a wide 
beach-way, and the eroded rocks of the point are laid bare. The 
latter represent hard-pan, the stone foundation of the islands, 
which are capped with at most a very thin and discontinuous 
layer of soil. The extension of this Point under the sea is the 
reef which we are going to explore. 
Nassau Bay is here less than a mile wide, and presents in 
strong lights a clear green surface, streaked and flecked with 
dark beds of sea-weed, which contrast strongly with the lights 
reflected from its clean white bottom. 
Having no diving-bell or boat of the Jules Vernian type at our 
command, we will enter the sea garden in true native fashion 
with water-glass and sponge-hook, with a light suit, and above all 
with a shoe which is proof against the venomous darts of the 
black sea urchin. 
With the water-glass in hand you are equipped for the voyage. 
With this clear eye you can read the secrets of the sea bottom at 
any depth you please — 2, lo, 20 fathoms. The crystal water is 
like a lens, and the sandy bottom like a white screen, which 
reflects and diffuses a soft light through the ocean depths. We 
behold a tropical forest in miniature as in a Claude Lorraine glass, 
in richness of color, in variety of form and in wealth of animal 
and plant life far surpassing anything that the shores produce. 
The quivering fans and gay plumes of gorgonia, the delicate 
sprays and wide branching arms of living corals, are the trees of 
this submarine garden, while sea anemones and algs of many 
hues are the flowers and sward. Here and there are large mush- 
room-like masses of the brain coral. Sheltered beneath the coral 
boughs lie innumerable sea urchins, bristling all over with black, 
shiny needles. Splendid fishes dart in and out among the tremul- 
ous fans, while a myriad of smaller animals dwell unseen at the 
bottom of the reef 
Studying more closely the revelations of the water-glass, wa see 
that the prevailing colors are shades of brown with bold touches 
of purple, red, yellow and green, not to speak of the resplendent 
hues of the many forms of animal life which make their home on 
