OE, GLIMPSES BENEATH THE WATERS. 



graceful Forphjra vulgaris^ the deep carmine of the 

 Iridcea edulis, the nacreous tinges of the Chondrus 

 crispus, and the blood-red of the splendid Rhody- 

 menia lacinata^ with its embroidered and lace-like 

 edges; these, with the gorgeous tufts of the rich 

 purple Bangia^ and other objects which form the 

 elements of still life in a submarine landscape, surely 

 cannot be surpassed, either for magnificence of 

 colour or variety of structure. 



But to these features must be added others more 

 extraordinary — forms that the elder naturalists 

 imagined to be links between the animal and vege- 

 table creation, but which are now known to have 

 no affinity whatever with plants, though they exhibit 

 the appearance of expanded flowers of various hues, 

 displaying the forms of the Carnation, the Ane- 

 mone, the Mesembryanthemum, and other beautiful 

 flowers whose names they bear. These curiously 

 beautiful Zoophytes, the wonderful ActinicB^ exhibit 

 every tone of colour, from purple and scarlet, to 

 green and white, and might be taken in their pic- 

 turesquely-placed groups for rare exotic flowers, 

 planted among the rosy -tinted shrubs expressly to 

 add the last touch of richness and effect to the 

 scenery of an ocean flower-show. 



Yet they are not flowers, but animals — sea 



13 



