Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/755

 SEA FAN SEA FAN, a name popularly given to the al- cyonarian polyps of the family gorgonidce, from their minutely branched and fan-like appear- ance. They are composed of a horn-like inter- nal central axis, having sometimes in its sub- SEA KALE 729 Sea Fan. stance a little carbonate of lime, but never enough to give them a coral-like rigidity. The external covering is gelatinous, tenacious, and sometimes almost fleshy, secreted by numerous cylindrical, short, laterally connected polyps. The branches rise irregularly, and are joined together by a network. They live in all seas and in deep water ; several species, 4 or 5 in. high, are found on the New England coast, but in the tropics they attain a height of 2 or 3 ft. s The sea fan of the West Indies (gorgo- nia ftabellum, Linn.) attains a height and width of 2 ft. ; it is reddish or yellowish, of delicate texture and branching form. SEA FOX. See SHABK. SEA HOG. See PORPOISE. SEA HORSE. I. See WALRUS. II. An osse- ous fish of the order lophobranchs (with tuft- ed gills), of the family of pipe fishes, and of the genus hippocampus (Cuv.). The ordinal and family characters have been described in the articles LOPHOBBANCHS and PIPE FISH. In the present genus, which includes several species, the snout is prolonged and the head elevated posteriorly, somewhat resembling a miniature horse's head, the ears being represented by a spiny coronet on the occiput ; the orbits, pec- toral ring, and the other rings of the mailed body are more or less spiny ; the tail is without a fin and prehensile, and by means of it they suspend themselves to sea weeds and other sub- marine objects ; the eyes are prominent, and can be moved independently of each other, and in opposite directions ; the pouch in which the males carry the eggs till they are hatched opens at the commencement of the tail ; the ventrals are absent, and the pectorals very small and just behind the head ; there is a single short dorsal on the middle of the back, whose edge has a spiral motion ; the females have a small anal ; the mouth is terminal and without teeth. They inhabit all parts of the temperate and especially of the tropical oceans ; the food consists of minute marine animals, especially ova ; a kind of hibernation has been observed in the Mediterranean species by Rusconi; they swim vertically, with the tail ready to wind around any object they meet. There is one species in the British seas, the H. Irevirostris (Cuv.), 6 in. or more in length, with much compressed, short, and deep body, divided by longitudinal and transverse ridges, with tubercles at the line of intersection; the snout is comparatively short ; the color is pale ashy brown, with iridescent tints about the head. De Kay describes the H. Hudsonim, 3 to 6 in. long, from the coast of S. New Eng- Sea Horse (Hippocampus brevlrostris). land and New York ; it is yellowish brown, with 12 rings in the body and 36 in the tail. Other species are found in the Mediterranean, and more abundantly in the East Indies. SEA KALE, a cruciferous plant, crambe mari- tima (Gr. KpA/Lt[3ij, a kind of cabbage), which grows upon the western coasts of Europe and on the Baltic and Black seas, and has long been cultivated in European gardens. Sea kale is a perennial with a long fleshy root ; the root leaves are roundish, 6 to 12 in. across, thick, wavy, and often lobed on the margin, and of a peculiar grayish green ; the flower stalk is 2 to 4 ft. high, branching, and bears loose pani- cles of white flowers which have a strong odor of honey; the pod, about the size and shape of a cherry stone, contains but one seed. The wild plant has long been used as a pot herb, and was eaten by the ancient Romans ; its cul- tivation in England dates back a little more than 100 years; it is now held in high esteem there, and is cultivated for market. In this country it is almost unknown, even in private gardens. Those who live upon the shores