. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. Sea-eggs. Photo—E. R. Waits. enemy or an unwary wader. Still otliers gather unto themselves scraps of sea- weed and other debris with which more or less inadequate covering they wan- der freely about the coral floor, secure rather by reason of their spiny armour than by the cover they affect. These and thousands more, all occurring with- in New South Wales, and six hundred miles southward of the Tropic of Capri- corn. THROUGH A WATER GLASS. A water glass, or, as it is sometimes gi'andiloquently termed, a water tele- scope, is merely a bucket o
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. Sea-eggs. Photo—E. R. Waits. enemy or an unwary wader. Still otliers gather unto themselves scraps of sea- weed and other debris with which more or less inadequate covering they wan- der freely about the coral floor, secure rather by reason of their spiny armour than by the cover they affect. These and thousands more, all occurring with- in New South Wales, and six hundred miles southward of the Tropic of Capri- corn. THROUGH A WATER GLASS. A water glass, or, as it is sometimes gi'andiloquently termed, a water tele- scope, is merely a bucket or a billy-can, the bottom of which is replaced by a sheet of glass. Its purpose is to break through the surface ripple and thus pro- vide a window, so that through the clear water one has an uninterrupted view of the sea floor. With its aid, one is en- abled to study the wealth of life in a coral pool, each member of which car- ries out its particular activities regard- less of observation. The water itself acts as a sort of magnifying agent, and makes the bottom of a pool appear much closer than it really is. Covering the uneven sides of the pool is a eolonv of huge green anemones, each eight inches across and with a hun- dred waving tentacles. Every tentacle is armed with innumerable stinging cells to paralyse the small animals upon which the anemones feed. Associated with these lowly but beautiful polyps are certain small tishes, some of the Demoiselles of tlie genus Am phi prion, which have become so specialised in their mode of living that they are never found apart from their hosts. The anemones are sensitive creatures and will retract their tentacles at a touch, yet the move- ments of their small fish associates cause them no alarm. As one watches through the glass, one of the fishes may be ob- served to dart out from among them to snatch at some morsel of food and hastily retreat again to its shelter. The stings of its hosts do not aft'ect it, even its naked eyes comi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
