EX BIBLIOTHECA
FRANCES A. YATES

THE

AQUARIUM:

AN UNVEILING OF THK

WONDEES OE THE DEEF SEA.

TiY

PHI U P HENRY C;0S8E, F.K..S.

" I'lii^ sea IS and lie made it." — Pfs. xev. 5.

.!5cconli (tBOitton, lirbtseli anD (E^nlargrH.

LONDON :
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER

M UCCCl.VI.

ROW

PREFACE.

The habits of animals will never be thoroughly
known till they are observed in detail. Nor is it
sufficient to mark them with attention now and then ;
they must be closely watched, their various actions
carefully noted, their behaviour under different cir-
cumstances, and especially those movements which
seem to us mere vagaries, undirected by any sugges-
tible motive or cause, well examined. A rich fruit
of result, often most curious and unexpected, and
often singularly illustrative of peculiarities of struc-
ture, will^ I am sure, reward any one who studies living
animals in this way. Tlie most interesting parts, by
far, of published natural history, are those minute,
but most graphic particulars, which have been ga-
thered by an attentive watching of individual animals.
Many examples crowd up to my mind ; — "Wilson's
picture of the Mocking-bird ; Vigors's of the Toucan ;
Broderip's of his Beaver ^^Binny;" Dovaston's of
the Water-shrew ; Bennett's of the Bird of Paradise,
and multitudes more.

iv

PEEFACE.

It is true that observations of this kind make us
acquainted rather with an individual than with a
species ; and long experience has convinced me that
this is not a distinction without a difference. There
is an idiosyncrasy in the inferior animals, I am per-
suaded,— not so great or varied, probably, as in Man,
since the more highly any faculty is developed, the
more susceptible it is of modification ; but — sufficient
to communicate individuality of character, and to
make the actions of one animal to differ, in some
degree, from those of another of the same species,
under similar circumstances. We commonly think
of the features of one Deer, or Sparrow, or Crab, as
exact counterparts of those of every other Deer, or
Sparrow, or Crab ; yet a shepherd is able to distin-
guish every Sheep of his flock by its face ; those who
are conversant with Horses can readily detect diver-
sities in the expression of their eye or mouth, scarcely
less marked than in their human acquaintances ; and
I have myself noticed the same distinctness in birds.
When I was in Jamaica, I could tell one from an-
other of the wild Doves in my cages, by their ex-
pression of countenance alone, though perfectly alike
in colouring. Doubtless this individuality would be
much more generally perceived, if our observations
on animals were not so loose and cursory as they
usually are. And if it exists in the features^ we
might reasonably infer in them a parallel diversity
in mind (by which I mean a faculty distinct from,

PREFACE.

V

but coexistent with, instinct), even if direct obser-
vation did not detect it.

But, bearing in mind that records thus obtained of
the manners of animals are properly biographical, —
belonging to the individual more strictly than to the
species, — it is manifest that these must be the founda-
tion of all our correct generalization. Nor are they
in themselves unworthy of careful regard, as those
will allow who know the value of human BiogTaphy.
Shakspeare and Scott, who treat of man as an indi-
vidual, are not inferior in their walk of science to
Reid and Stewart, who describe him as a species.

The inhabitants of the deep sea have hitherto been
almost inaccessible to such observation as this ; and
hence exceedingly little has been accumulated of their
Biography. A paragraph went the round of the papers
some months ago, to the effect that an eminent French
zoologist, in order to prosecute his studies on the
marine animals of the MediteiTanean, had provided
himself with a water-tight dress, suitable spectacles,
and a breathing-tube ; so that he might walk on tlie
bottom in a considerable depth of water, and mark
the habits of the various creatures pursuing their
avocations.

Whether a scheme so elaborate was really attempted
I know not ; but I should anticipate feeble results
from it. The Marine Aquarium, however, bids
fair to supply the required opportunities, and to make
us acquainted with the strange creatures of the sea.

vi

PREFACE.

without diving to gaze on them. In this volume
I offer to the world a small earnest, just the first-
fruits, of what may be looked for in increased know-
ledge of natural history from this invention.

In some respects the present volume may be con-
sidered a sequel and continuation of my " Rambles
on the Devonshire Coast:" inasmuch as it is conver-
sant with similar objects, and as I have made it
assume somewhat of the form of a personal narrative ;
sufficient, at least, to constitute a link of connexion
between myself and my reader, not only in the things
described, but also in the feelings they excite in my
own mind.

But the subjects of the present work are principally
deep-sea animals, as those of the former were chiefly
littoral ; and even where the sphere of observation is
the same, the observations themselves are quite
distinct, and have to do with different creatures.
A certain degree of family likeness must prevail in
all out-of-door natural history; but so vast, and
almost illimitable, is the field of labour, that industry
and faithfulness will always be rewarded by fresh
and interesting results.

The following pages embrace a brief History of the
Marine Aquarium, as an application of scientific
principles to a definite object; — my own experience
in collecting animals and plants, with instructions
founded thereon; — copious details of the peculiar
habits and instincts of such species as I have observed

PREFACE.

vii

in confinement; — sketches of scenery, of local cus-
toms and manners, and of personal adventure, made
during the prosecution of the employment ; and,
finally, an arranged chapter of directions for the
construction, preparation, stocking, and maintenance
of a Marine Aquarium.

The Plates which illustrate this volume are its
principal peculiarity. I have endeavoured — in a
manner hitherto, I believe, unattempted — to repre-
sent marine animals, with their beauty of form and
brilliance of colour, in their proper haunts, surrounded
by submarine rocks and elegant sea-weeds, as these
appear when transferred to an Aquarium. They
have been printed from stone by Messrs. Hanhart,
who have not spared all the resomxes of that beau-
tiful art of which they are the acknowledged masters,
in reproducing my original drawings.

The wood-engravings are by ]\Iessrs. Whymper,
and represent the Coast-scenery in the vicinity of
Weymouth.

P. H. G.

London : Aprils 1854.

PEEFACE

rO THE SECOND EDITION.

Many notes have been added to the text in this
Edition : the whole lias been carefully revised ; and
the Chapter of Directions, in particular, has been
greatly augmented, and almost re-written. The
work is thus brought down to the present state of
our knowledge on the subject.

P. H. G.

London : August ^ 1856.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Return of Spring — Flight to the Coast — Weymouth Bay — Its
Grandeur — Portland Breakwater — Its Utility — Harbour of Refuge
— Aquarium at the Zoological Gardens — History of the Scheme —
Gradual Enunciation of the Principle — Priestley— Ellis— Dau-
beny's Researches — Ward — Johnston — Mrs.Thynne — Warington'8
Experiments — Their complete Success Page 1 — 13

CHAPTER II.

Reconnoitring — Walk along the Beach — Belmont Bay — Shingle
unproductive — Sea-grass — Lucky-stone — Power of Memory —
Byng Cliff' — Rocky Ledges — Promises — Scene from the Cliff" —
Steamer " Contractor" — Birds and Insects — Oil Beetle — Loon —
Peculiarity of Tide — Collecting Sea-weeds — Mode of Operation —
Yellow Winkle — Periwinkle — Its Usefulness — Confervoid Growth
in Aquarium — Removed by the Mollusks — Their manner of
Eating — Periwinkle's Tongue — Its Action and Efficiency — Wey-
mouth Anemone — Its Varieties — Black Sand-worm — Yellow
Doris — Cowry — Hairy Crab — Lobster Prawn .... 14 — 32

CHAPTER III.

Craving for the Remote — Visit to Portland — Wilderness of Stone —
Barren Shore — Tansy — Cowslips and Hyacinths — Burnet Rose —
Spurge — Land Shells— Garden Snail — Banded Snail— Heath
Snail— Silky Snail— Stone Snail — Elegant Cyclostome— Reasons

xii

CONTENTS.

of hidden Things discoverable — Glory to God in Praise— The
Broad-claw — Its Manners — Use of the Foot-jaws — Their exquisite
Structure — A living Casting-net — Use of the hind Feet — A
Dredging Day — Quay Scene — Nature and Use of the Dredge —
Oyster Dredge — Naturalist's Dredge — Keer-drag — Roman Advice
— Jonah Fowler — His Qualifications — Preston Yalley — A Cast of
the Drag — Its Produce — Osmington — Burning Cliff — Whitenose
— A tragical Adventure — Examination of a Dredge-haul — Brittle-
stars — Sunstar — Bird's foot — Cribella — Beauty of Starfishes —
Soldier-Crab — Cloak Anemone — Spider-crabs — Sepiole — Its
Beauty — Changes of Colour — Curious Mode of Burrowing —
Accessory Uses of Organs — Discharge of Ink — Murderous Pro-
pensities 33—66

CHAPTER IV.

Excursion to Wyke — Advent of Summer — Rural Sights and Sounds
— Cockchafers — Larks — Starling — Wake-robin — Germander
Speedwell — Recollections — View of Weymouth Bay — Fern
" Shells " — Belfield — Wood Plants — Clausilia — Magpies — Black-
birds— Cuckoo's Note — Apologies — Wyke Church — The Fleet —
Chesil Beach — Spotted Goby — Flatfish — Sand Launce — Strange
Variety of Daisy Anemone — Its Parturition — Chesil — The Beach
— Lobster fishing — Rocky Shore— Sea-weeds — The Long-tongued
Medusa — Pearl-shells — Thorns turned to Gems — Belmont Ledges
■ — The Goblet Lucemaria — Its Habits and AflSnities . . 67 — 88

CHAPTER V.

Promenade on the Nothe — The Jetty — The Mixon — A fertile
Garden of Algae — Tangles— Rhodosperms — Chlorosperms — Laver
— The splendid Cystoseira — The Floods of Adversity — My own
Tank— Disappointments — The Contents — Crowds of unexpected
Guests — Results — The Black Goby — Its cannibal Propensities —
Changes of Colour— Sucking Fin-disk— Mullet Fry — Their Manner
of Feeding — Efforts to breathe Air— Wrasses— Their Beauty —
Explanation of Frontispiece — The Corkwing — The Green Wrasse
— Habits of a Corkwing — Its tragical Fate — Pipefishes — The
Two-spotted Sucker — Suggested Use of its Mechanism — Analogy
of the Echeneis— Spawn of the Sucker — Double Vision — Examples

CONTENTS.

of the Phenomenon— The Honeycomb Coral— Its Parasites— Its
Structure — Its Populousness — Montgomery's Coral-worms — Spiri-
tual Analogies — The Heavenly Jerusalem 89 — 119

CHAPTER YI.

A Walk through Portland— Fortune's Well — Old Smuggler— Bow
and Arrow Castle — Church Hope — Vast Chasm — Resemblance to
Lundy — Southwell — Keeve's Hole — Awkward Accident — Natural
Arches and Pillars — Sea-weeds — The Tansy — Its Nest — The Pea-
cock's Tail — Seaweed Gardens — The Strawberry Crab — Its
climbing Propensities — Connexion between long Arms and
climbing Habits — The Cloak Anemone — Its Singular Form
explained — Unaccountable Companionships— Illustrative Exam-
ples of the Species— Efficiency of the Thread-capsules — The Rosy
Filaments — The Parasitic Anemone — Its Size, Form, and Colours
— Its Associations — Its missile Weapons — Rank Odour 120 — 143

CHAPTER VII.

Another dredging Day — Fading Memories— A Calm — Durdle-Door
— An Archway of Rock — A Walk under the Cliffd — Young Gulls
— The Cow and Calf — Search for Sea-weeds — A Breeze — Zoea of
Crab — Its Habits— Singular Capture of a Fish — Contents of the
Dredges — The Sea-mouse — Its remarkable Splendours — Inter-
esting Structure — Pennant's Ebalia — Its Habits — Its Fate —
Soldier-crabs — Resemblance to Spiders — Pugnacity — Curious
Associations — Parasitic Anemone — Parasitic Worm — "Snatch
and Swallow" — A Crab "moving House" — Details of his Pro-
ceedings—Prawns— Their Elegance — Eye-gleams — Manner of
eating — Cleanliness — A judicial Appointment — Its Mercy — Its
Extension to the Creatures — Examples of Animal Cleanliness —
The Prawn's Scrubbing Brushes — Serpuloe — The Beauty of the
Animals— Their Watchfulness — A curious Stopper — Locomotive
Bristles — Comb-plates— Their Operation 144 — 176

CHAPTER YIII.

A Drag on Smallmouth Sands— The Abergavenny — Chalk Figure of
King George— Varieties of Ground— The Little Weever — Flat-

xiv

CONTENTS.

fishes— The Thomback— The Painted Ray— The Bordered Ray--
The Angel — The Gemmed Sea-slug — Forest-bearing Crabs—
Shrimps — Garret Windows — ^Esop-prawns — Cranch*s iEsop —
White's jEsop— The Scarlet-lined ^Esop— The Plumose Anemon(
— Its Beauty and Size— Variation in Colour — The Disk — Its
Sociality — Its Locomotion— The Runcina — The Fiddler Crab —
His natatory Powers — A "striking" Species — His grim Habits —
Ferocity — Indiscriminate Greediness — Tit for Tat — An odd Fish
— Use of the Lamm— A Fisherman's "Rubbish" — Plate Armour
— A fine Beard — Its probable Use — The Nothe Ledges — Various
Sea- weeds— Phyllophora—Codium—Griffithsia—Rivularia 177-1 97

CHAPTER IX.

A Meditation — The Spiritual Use of Natural History — Extremes of
Opinion — Scriptural Warrant for the Study — Its Limits — Three
inspired Modes of Treatment — I. Direct Testimony to God —
Founded on our Ignorance— On our Knowledge — Various Attri-
butes of God discoverable — Responsibilities — Cain's Ofi^ering —
II. Moral Lessons by Examples — III. Spiritual Parallelisms —
Similes — Types — Symbols — Allegories — God's Message of Grace.

198—209

CHAPTER X.

Antnmnal Gales— Lucernaria — Mode of finding it — Analogy with
Medusa— Description — Habit of Bell Lucernaria — Last Look at
We}Tnouth — London Studies — The Spinous Cockles — Their gym-
nastic Feats — Fine Appearance of the Foot — Open-heartedness —
The Siphons and their Use — Strange Creatures in the Sea — The
Rough Syrinx — Value of a Bit of Stone — The Terebella — Ancient
Masonry — Crawling and Swimming Feats — The Gold-comb — Its
Tube — Its Combs — Their Use — Its Mode of Burrowing — Respira-
tion—Structure of the Tail— The Gills — The Spears— Use of
these Organs — Self-abolition — A Faculty of Echinoderms — Brittle-
stars — Cross-fish — Suicide of one — Holothuriae— Chirodota — Its
Structure — Its Manners— Ovarian Threads— Effusion of Colour —
—The Leaf- Worms— Their Elegance— Evolution of the Stomach
— A new Species — Structure of the Spears — Use of these Organs
not entirely known — Respiration — Reflections . . . 210—248

CONTENTS.

XV

CHAPTER XL

Practical Instructions — The N"ame— Vivarium — A qua- vivarium —
Aquarium — The Tank — Form, Size, and Materials— Covering —
Aspect — The Preparation — Artificial Rocks, &c. — The Bottom —
— Water — Artificial Sea-water — The Stock— Plants — Animals —
Procuring Specimens — Transmission — Cultivation of Red Algae —
Propagation of Animals — General Directions — Purification —
Occasional Death — ^Instruments — Artificial Aeration — Evaporation
— Cleansing the Sides — Turbidity — Instructions for Collecting
— Time — Implements — Collecting Sea -weeds — Animals —
Dredging — Trawling — Towing — Conclusion . . . 249 — 302

Index

303

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Plate I. — The Ancient Wrasse Frontispiece.

,, II. — The Smooth Anemone, &c To face page '62

III. — Star-fishes 58

IV. — The Parasitic Anemone, &c 142

V. — The Plumose Anemone, &c 186

VI.— The ^sop-prawn, &c 214

LlGNIGRATH I.— COLLECTING UNDER ByNG ClIFF IS

II. — Foot-jaw of Broad-claw 42

III.— Dredging off Whitenose 54

,, IV. — Portland, from Belmont 70

,, V. — DURDLE-DOOR 14G

,VI. — The Fountain Aquarium 248

„ VII.— Octagonal Tank 252

„ VIII.— Rectangular Tank ib.

THE AQrAEIIJM.

CHAPTER I.

April is come at last. The arctic frosts, dreadful and
protracted as they were, of February and March, that
chilled the very life out of my poor cherished Acti
nias, and left me mourning over empty vases, have at
last passed away, and here arc the sweet, soft, south-
west breezes of April. And now farewell to grimy,
smoky London, and down, down to Dorsetshire, as
swiftly as the panting engine can drag us.

What a change have twenty-four hours made ! We
raise the blind from our bed-room window, and in-
stead of a forest of chimneys in the distance, and a
mews in the forcgi'ound, with grooms cunying liorses
that won't stand still, we gaze out upon the magni-
ficent Bay of Weymouth ; for our lodgings are on the
ridge that they call the Lookout, with the sea below
us breaking at the foot of the cliff.

The expanse before us has been described as second
only to the beautiful Bay of Naples, by those who
have seen both. I have not, and therefore cannot vouch

B

2

PORTLAND BREAKWATER.

for the justice of the comparison ; but certainly this
is a glorious prospect. It is a lovely morning ; the
sun has not been long up, but his effulgence fills the
sky with splendour immediately in front, a splendour
which trails along the intervening sea, as if it were
the fiery monarch's train.* Away on the left stretch
the bold promontories and abrupt cliffs of Purbeck,
twenty miles of purple coast, gradually lessening in
apparent height, and in distinctness of outline, until
the bluff precipice that terminates the line, St. Aid-
helm's Head, is lost in the brightness of the eastern
horizon. Then the broad expanse of boundless sea
brings the eye to Portland on the right, a lofty rounded
mass, thrown out into strong light by the opposite
sunbeams, and to that noble work the Breakwater, as
noble in design and object as marvellous in execution,
which pei-petually creeps out into the domain of the
sea, presenting an effectual though scarcely visible
wall to the waves, until by and by it shall stretch
halfway across our present field of view, and enclose
a safe harbour of refuge, on which many a mariner
will bestow his grateful blessing. At such a time
as tliis sweet April morning, indeed, a work like this
may seem of little value, when the waves of the ocean
only just suffice to break its face into gems of chang-
ing brilliance, and to make whispering music ; while
vessels of all sizes, like those whose clustering masts
we see yonder under the promontory, ride with perfect
security in the open road. But in the fierce gales of

* " Where like an Angel's train

The burnish'd water blazed." (Keble.)

THE MARINE AQUARIUM.

3

November or March, when the shrieking "blasts drive
furiously up the Channel, and the huge mountain-
billows, green and white, open threatening graves on
every side, how welcome would be a safe harbour, easy
of access, and placed at a part of the coast which
else would be unsheltered for many leagues on either
side ! Blessed be God for the gift of his beloved
Son, the only Harbour of Refuge for poor tempest-
tossed sinners ! We may think lightly of it now, but
in the coming day of gloom and wrath, when " the
rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds
blow," they only will escape who are sheltered there !

This visit to Weymouth was immediately connected
with the Marine Aquarium. Those of my readers who
have honoured my "Eambles on the Devonshire Coast"
with their perusal, may remember the experiments I
have there recorded, on the making of such an invention
practicable in London, and other inland towns, and my
anticipations of success. Early in December, 1852,
I put myself into communication with the Secretary of
the Zoological Society, and the result was the transfer
of a small collection of Zoophytes and Annelides, which
I had brought up from Ilfracombe, and which I had
kept for two months in vases in London, — to one of
the tanks in the new Fish House just erected in the
Society's Gardens in the Eegent's Park. This little
collection thus became the nucleus and the commence-
ment of the Marine Aquarium afterwards exhibited
there.

It was in consequence of an engagement to supply
b2

4 THE ACTION OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS.

with marine inhabitants the other fanks which the
Zoological Society proposed to devote to this object
that I proceeded again to the coast. The prosecution
of that employment during the months of May, June,
and July, in the course of which upwards of five thou-
sand specimens of animals and plants passed through
my hands, made me acquainted with many curious
facts in their economy and habits, and with many in-
teresting traits in their history, which are not recorded
(so far as I am aware) in works of science.

The facilities for observation thus afforded me have
been augmented by means of Aquaria of various forais
and sizes, which I have had made for my own private
use, and of which I shall have occasion to speak in the
following pages. In them I could mark with leisure
and precision the manners of the creatures that were
living at home^ yet constantly under my eye.

Considering the novelty and curiosity of the exhi-
bition thus offered to the public, and the popularity
which it achieved, it may not be uninteresting to
treat of a few of the more prominent objects in detail,
and of tlie modes in which they were collected. We
generally feel an interest in knowing somewhat of the
antecedents of any person or thing that strongly at-
tracts our attention; and in the present case more than
idle curiosity may be gratified, since the record of my
experiences may be useful to others in forming similar
collections, either for public exhibition or for private
study.

The idea of maintaining the balance between animal
and vegetable life on chemical principles is not quite

THE ACTION OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS.

5

so novel as I had at first supposed. Priestley first
advanced the opinion that plants in certain circum-
stances emitted oxygen gas ; and Ingenhousz soon after
discovered that the leaves of plants, when immersed
in water, and exposed to the light of day, produced
an air, which he announced as oxygen gas. This
result, however, was doubted by Ellis, in his elaborate
treatise on Atmospheric Air, and, as he considered,
disproved.* The consumption of oxygen by animals
in respiration, and the emission of carbonic acid from
the lungs and skin, were well shown by this writer,
who maintained, liowever, that this latter gas was also
emitted by the leaves of plants.^

At the third meeting of the British Association,
held at Cambridge in 1833, Professor Daubeny com-
municated a notice of certain researches wliich he was
then pursuing, concerning the action of light upon
plants, and that of plants u]^on tlie atmospliere. *' He
considered that he had established, by experiments on
plants immersed, sometimes in water impregnated with
carbonic acid gas, and at others in atmospheric air
containing a notable proportion of the same, that the
action of liglit in promoting the discharge of certain
of their functions, and especially that of the decom«
position of carbonic acid, is dependent neither upon
the heating, nor yet upon the chemical energy of the
several rays, but upon their illuminating power.

He regarded light as operating upon the green
parts of plants as a specific stimulus, calling into
action, and keeping alive those functions, from which

* Inquiry, &c. p. 57 — GO.

t lb. p. 203, ct passim.

6 THE ACTION OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS.

the assimilation of carbon and the evolution of oxygen
result

" He liad satisfied himself that in fine weather a
plant consisting chiefly of leaves and stem will, if
confined in the same portion of air night and day, and
duly supplied with carbonic acid during the sunshine,
go on adding to the proportion of oxygen present, so
long as it continues healthy, at least up to a certain
point

" Considering the quantity of oxygen generated by
a very small portion of a tree or shrub introduced, he
saw no reasons to doubt that the influence of the
vegetable might serve as a complete comp)ensation fen*
that of the animal hingdom^

In 1837, Mr. Ward made a Report to the British
Association, " On the Growth of Plants in closed
Cases," at the end of which he " directed the atten-
tion of the members to the development of animal
life upon the same principles." He was " quite certain
that a gi'eat number of animals would live and thrive
under this treatment."

In his treatise on the same subject, published in
1842, he dilates a little on this matter, chiefly with
regard to increasing the purity of air for breathing in
large towns, as a remedy for disease. The difficulty
to be overcome," he observes, would be the removal
or neutralization of the carbonic acid given out by
animals ; but this in the present state of science
could easily be effected, either by ventilators or by
the growth of plants in connexion with the air of the
room, so that the animal and vegetable respirations
might counterbalance each other. The volume of the

DR. Johnston's experiment.

7

air, with the quantity of vegetable matter required, as
compared with the size and rank in creation of the
animal, would be a problem well worthy of solution."*
In the same year (1842) Dr. Johnston published
his History of British Sponges and Lithophytes ; "
in which, arguing out the vegetability of the latter,
he mentioned in a note what is the most germane of all
to our purpose, — the actual formation of a little Marine
Aquarium. To Dr. Johnston therefore, as 1 think,
must be assigned the honour of the first accomplish-
ment of this object.f His words are as follows : —

* On the Growth of Plants, p. 73.

f Since the publication of the first edition of this Work, other
competitors for the honour of having first invented the Aquarium
have appeared. In a lecture delivered before the Royal Institution,
by Dr. S. H. Ward, the following statements occur : — "Mr. Ward,
in 1841, established, in a capacious earthenware vessel, an Aquarium
for fish and plants. In this vessel, which contained twenty gallons
of water, and which he surrounded with rock-work raised several
feet above its margin, he placed gold and silver fish, in company
with several aquatic plants, viz., Valisncria spiralis, Pontedeiria
crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, and Papyrus elef/ans. In this miniature
lake, the water of which was never changed, but kept in a con-
stantly pure state by the action of the associated plants, the animals
lived in a healthy condition for many years." The individual to
whom is due the merit of having introduced marine vivaria into
London is Mrs. Thynne. Having procured some living madrepores
when at Torquay, in the autumn of 1846, she placed them in some
sea-water in a bottle covered with a bladder, and brought them
safely to town. They were then transferred to two glass bowls,
the sea-water being kept aerated by being daily poured backwards
and forwards, and being, moreover, periodically renewed by a fresh
supply from the coast. In the spring of 1847, Mrs. Thynne sent for
some pieces of rock, shell, &c. to which living sea-weeds were
attached, and subsequently depended upon the action of these for
the purification of the water." Mrs. Thynne has kindly favoured
me with a perusal of her observations, which not only prove her to
have succeeded in maintaining a self-supporting Aquarium, but are
of the highest interest in a physiological view. — {Second Edition.)

8 THE FRESH-WATER

Was there a need of adding any additional proof
of the vegetability of the Corallines, an experiment
now before me would seem to supply it. It is now
eight weeks ago since I placed in a small glass jar,
containing about six ounces of pure sea-water, a tuft
of the living Corallina officinalis^ to which were at-
tached two or three minute ConfervcBj and the very
young frond of a green Ulva; while numerous Rissoce,
several little Mussels and Annelides, and a Star-fish
were crawling amid the branches. The jar was placed
on a table, and was seldom disturbed, though occa-
sionally looked at; and at the end of four weeks,
the water was found to be still pm^e, the Mollusca and
other animals all alive and active, the confervas had
grown perceptibly, and the coralline itself had thrown
out some new shoots, and several additional articula-
tions. Eight weeks have now elapsed since the experi-
ment was begun, — the water has remained unchanged,
— yet the coralline is growing, and apparently has
lost none of its vitality ; but the animals have sen-
sibly decreased in numbers, though many of them
continue to be active, and show no dislike to their
situation. What can be more conclusive? I need
not say that if any animal, or even a sponge, had
been so confined, the water would long before this
time have been deprived of its oxygen, would have
become corrupt and ammoniacal, and poisonous to
the life of every living thing." *

On the 4th of March, 1850, at a meeting of the
Chemical Society, Mr. Robert Warington communi-

* Op. cit.; p. 215.

AQUARIUM.

9

cated the results of an experiment which he had been
prosecuting for nearly a year, On the adjustment
of the relations between the animal and vegetable
kingdoms, by which the vital functions of both are
permanently maintained." Two small gold fish were
placed in a glass receiver of about twelve gallons'
capacity, covered with thin muslin to exclude dust and
soot. The vessel was half filled with spring water,
with a bottom of sand and mud, and some loose frag-
ments of limestone and sandstone, so arranged as to
afford shelter and shade. A small specimen of Valis-
neria spiralis was at the same time planted in the
mud, and kept in place by a stone. The whole was
then left undisturbed.

Everything went on well for a time, till it was
found that the natural decay of the older leaves of
the plant began to produce turbidity in the water, and
a confervoid gi'owth accumulated on the sides of the
vessel, and on the surface of the water. To meet this
emergency, Mr. Warington introduced a few common
Pond-snails {Limned)^ which greedily fed on the de-
caying vegetable matter and slimy mucous growth,
so as quickly to restore the whole to a healthy state.

The result was now quite satisfactory. The plant
throve and increased greatly by offshoots and suckers;
the fishes continued to preserve their health and
beauty, while the snails deposited enormous masses
of eggs ; thus supplying food for the fishes, as well as
performing the office of scavengers.

Thus the success of the experiment was esta-
blished, and an Aquarium was formed in fi-esli water ;
which has continued to prosper to the present time :

10 MR. WARINGTON'S MARINE AQUARIUM.

the animals and plants maintaining each other in
healthy life, and the water preserving its purity un-
changed.

In January, 1852, Mr. Warington began to prose-
cute experiments of the same kind with sea-water,
which presented some difficulties arising from the
compound nature of that fluid, and from the peculiar-
ities of marine vegetation. These difficulties, how-
ever, yielded to the perseverance and skill of the
operator ; and while I write these lines I am a per-
sonal witness to his complete success, having just
seen (January, 1854) specimens of Sea-anemones and
other marine animals in good health in that gentle-
man's Aquarium, which I know were sent from the
sea-side more than a year and a quarter ago.

A Memoir by Mr. Warington, which appeared in
the Annals of Natural History " for November, 1853,
gives some very interesting details of the progress of
the marine experiments ; and from it I shall make a
few extracts.

The sea- water with which the experiments were
conducted, was obtained through the medium of one
of the oyster-boats at the Billingsgate fish-market,
and was taken from the middle of the English
Channel.

My first object was to ascertain the kind of sea-
weed best fitted, under ordinary circumstances, for
keeping the water clear and sweet, and in a sufficiently
oxygenated state to sustain animal life. And here
opinions were at variance, for one naturalist friend,
whom I consulted, advised me to employ the Rhodo-
sperms ; another stated that it was impossible to make

MR. WARINGTON'S SUCCESS.

11

the red weeds answer the purpose, as he had tried
them, and strongly recommended the olive or brown-
coloured Algae ; while, again, others thought that I
should be more successful with those which had in
theory first suggested themselves to my own mind,
namely, the Chlorosperms. After making numerous
unsuccessful experiments with both the brown and
the red varieties of Algae, I was fully convinced
that the green weeds were the best adapted for the
purpose.

This point having been practically ascertained,
and some good pieces of the Enteromorplia and Ulva
latissima in a healthy state, attached to nodules of
flint or chalk, having been procured from the shore
near Broadstairs, several living animal subjects were
introduced, together with the periwinkle. Everything
progressed satisfactorily, and these all continued in
a healthy and lively condition.

*^My first trials were conducted in one of tlic
small tanks which had been used for fresh water ; but
as it was necessary, during the unsuccessful experi-
ments with the brown and red sea-weeds to agitate
and aerate the water, whicli had been rendered foul
from the quantity of mucus or gelatinous matter
generated during the decay of their fronds, until the
whole had become oxidized, and the water rendered
clear and fitted for another experiment, it was, there-
fore, for greater convenience, removed into a shallow
earthen pan, and covered with a large glass shade to
protect the surface of the water, as much as possible,
from the dust and soot of the London atmosphere,
and at the same time impede the evaporation. In this

12

MR. WARINGTON's SUCCESS.

vessel then I had succeeded perfectly in keeping a
large number of beautiful living specimens in a
healthy condition up to the close of 1852. I therefore
gave instructions for the making of a small tank as a
more permanent reservoir, and one more adapted for
carrying on my observations and investigations on the
economy and habits of the inhabitants.

^'From the experience I had obtained in my experi-
ments with the fresh-water tank, I was induced to
modify slightly the construction of this vessel ; thus,
at the back, or part towards the light, the framing
was filled with slate in the same way as the ends and
bottom ; for I had found that the glass, originally
employed, very soon became covered with a confer-
void growth which had an unpleasing appearance to
the eye, and in consequence of which I had been
obliged to paint the glass on the exterior to prevent
this growtli from increasing to too gTcat an extent.
It was also an unnatural mode of illumination, as all
the light should pass through the surface of the water.
The front towards the room and the observer was
constructed of plate glass, the whole being set in a
stout framework of zinc, and cemented with what
is knowTi under the name of Scott's cement, and which
I have found to answer for the purpose most admirably.
Within this tank were aiTanged several large pieces
of rock-work, thrown into an arched form, and other
fragments were cemented in places against the slate
at the back and ends, and at parts along the water-
line, so that the creatures could hide themselves at
pleasure ; a short beach of pebbles was also con-
structed in order that shallow water could be resorted

MY OWN EXPERIMENTS.

13

to if desired. The whole tank was covered with a light
glass shade to keep out the dust, and retard eva-
poration.

*'With the sea-water obtained in January, 1852,
I have been working without cessation up to the
present time, agitating and aerating when it -became
foul during the unsuccessful experiments on the sea-
weeds, but since then it has been rarely ever disturbed ;
the loss which takes place from evaporation being made
up, as before stated, with rain or distilled water."

My own experiments with marine animals and
plants were commenced about the same time as Mr.
Warington's ; namely, at the end of January, 1852. I
was not aware till long afterwards that either that
gentleman or any one else liad proposed to effect such
an object, which had been occupying my mind for
some time. My success, which was less perfect than
Mr. Warington's, I published in the Annals of
Natural History " for October, 1852, and subsequently
in my Rambles on the Devonshire Coast." Travel-
ling for health, the want of a fixed residence prevented
my prosecuting my experiments with sufficient care
and perseverance to ensure full success ; besides which,
my ultimate object was rather the study of the habits
of marine animals, to which end the Marine Aquarium
was merely (or at least principally) accessory.

CHAPTER 11.

The love of Nature's works
Is an ingredient in the compound, man,
Infused at the creation of the kind.
And, though th' Ahnighty Maker has throughout
Discriminated each from each, by strokes
And touches of his hand, with so much art
Diversified, that two were never found
Twins at all points — yet this obtains in all,
That all discern a beauty in his works,
And all can taste them. — Cowper.

The first thing I always do when I get into a new
locality, is to walk round to reconnoitre ; to take a
general view of the hunting ground. This examina-
tion I almost always find necessary to make for myself;
it is astonishing how little information one can get
from persons of the greatest intelligence and general
knowledge, and of a life's familiarity with the place,
when we ask them for details that they have not had
occasion to study. The nature of the shore here or
there, what sort of surface is exposed at low water,
how far the sea recedes from the cliffs, where tide-
pools are to be found, where sea- weeds gi'ow most
abundantly, — these are inquii'ies which do not seem
to demand an intimate acquaintance with technical
natural history to be answered ; and yet of the inha-

SEA-GRASS.

15

bitants of any seaport town, not one in a thousand
would be able to give you satisfaction about them,
unless you happen to meet with a practical working
naturalist who has searched up the neighbourhood.
You must use your own eyes.

I accordingly took a walk around the shore, from
the Lookout southward ; making my way down the
sloping cliff, which successive landslips have crumbled
down and rent into chasms in the grassy turf, threat-
ening at no very distant period the fall of the pretty
cottages above, that already stand in perilous proximity
to the falling edge. The beach below, sweeping round
to Belmont Bay, is loose shingle, most unpleasant and
fatiguing to walk over, and one of the most unproduc-
tive to tlie naturalist. Between tide-marks the pebbles
are washed clean by the surf ; but along the line of
high-water, there is here a broad bank of black sea-
grass {Zostera), the accumulation of years, perhaps
ages, rotting into mould, and forming an admirable
manure. It is indeed used for this purpose, being
carted away by the farmers when it is sufficiently abun-
dant and sufficiently accessible. In the vicinity of
Torquay and of Ilfracombe, I had not met with this
substance in any appreciable quantity ; but in Poole
Harbour, the scene of my early life, I had been
familiar enough with it, as its dirty, littering banks,
like a continuous dunghill, fringe the shores ; the
refuse of hundreds of acres of the grass, that gTOWS
on the muddy flats of that land-locked harbour.

Nor was this the only thing that reminded me of
early days. As I sauntered with downcast eyes over
the shingle, my eye caught a perforated pebble, and

16

MEMORY.

in an instant the rude distich of boyish days came up
to my recollection, and I involuntarily repeated —

" Lucky stone ! lucky stone ! go over my head,
And bring me some good luck before I go to bed !'*

For it was one of the superstitions of my childhood,
taught and believed by credulous schoolfellows, that
the boy who found such a perforated stone, and threw
it over his head with the above doggerel rhyme, would
not fail to reap a swift harvest of luck." What a
strange faculty is memory! I had not thought of
this rhyme nor of its associations for perhaps thirty
years ; and yet the sight of the pebble brings up the
perfect recollection, as if it had been only yesterday
that I had played at canal-digging and boat-sailing
on Westbutts shore ! Perhaps nothing, be it good,
bad, or indifferent (especially the latter two), is really
lost when once the mind has apprehended it ; so lost
as that it may not be recalled, voluntarily or involun-
tarily, by some association or other, at some time or
other. And possibly in eternity, when God will bring
every secret thing to judgment,we may find everything
perfectly presented to our remembrance that has ever
occurred to us, with all its causes, results, and connex-
ions. " For there is nothing covered, that shall not
be revealed ; and hid that shall not be known." Ter-
rible, indeed, would be the anticipation of such an
unveiling of the past, were it not for the blood of the
Great Atoning Lamb of God, in which the guiltiest
conscience may find refuge.

Standing here once more at the verge of the sea,
with its gentle waves kissing my feet, about to resume,

THE RENEWAL OF NATURE.

17

after the dreariness of winter, those studies of the
works of God which are so delightful, my mind was
powerfully struck with that Almighty decree which,
amidst continual change, maintains an everlasting
order. Man grows old, but Nature is ever young ;
the seasons change, but are perpetually renewed: —
" While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day
and night shall not cease." Beautifully has the Ame-
rican poet sung of this : —

"Has Nature in her calm majestic march •
Falter'd with age at last ? does the bright sun
Grow dim in heaven ? or in their far blue arch.
Sparkle the crowd of stars when day is done
Less brightly ? WTien the dew-lipp'd Spring comes on,
Breathes she with airs less soft, or scents the sky
With flowers less fair than when her reign began ?
Does prodigal Autumn to our age deny
The plenty that once swell'd beneath his sober eye ?

" Look on this beaut if id world, and read the truth
In her fair page : see, every season brings
New change to her of everlasting youth ;
Still the green soil with joyous living things
Swarms ; the wide air is full of joyous wings;
And myriads still are happy in the sleep
Of Ocean's azure gulfs, and where he flings
The restless surge. Eternal Love doth keep

Li his complacent arms the earth, the air, the deep."

Bryant.

The shingle beach presently becomes sand as we
approach the angle of the bight, and after a few yards
the shore is covered with a wilderness of mgged shapes
less masses of conglomerate that have fallen from the
cliff. Ledges of flat or very slightly inclined rock run
out into the sea in several successive spits at this

G

18

ROCKY LEDGES.

point, just beneath the bluff headland kno^vn as BInk-
leaf, (probably a local corruption of Byng Cliff or
some such appellation.) The ledges are covered
by the tide, but the recess of low water leaves a large
sui'face exposed, which subsequently afforded me many
a harvest of marine plants and animals. For the
j^resent, however, I satisfied myself with a cursory
view ; climbing over the green and slippery boulders,
at some risk of chafed shins, I walked out upon the
low edge, marked the long narrow ribbon-like leaves
of the Zostera^ gi'een and glossy, growing in beds in
the pools and nooks that indent the ledges, and tlie
purple tufts of mossy sea-weed that fringe the dark
hollows of the rock ; turned over a few stones, and saw
colonies of the plump and fruit- like Smooth Anemone
[Actinia mesemhrijantliemiim) of various hues, ad-
hering to their sides ; essayed to catch one or two
of the nimble little Blennies that shot from covert
to covert in the rocky basins ; and having satisfied
myself that the ground was promising, I sought for
a place where I might climb the cliffs, and enjoy the
widened prospect from their summit.

The inclination of the slope allows access to the top
a little farther on, and I wended my way up over the
rugged but turf- covered steep, through thickets of
furze and bramble, thence walking back along the
margin of the cliff. It was a lovely day in the begin-
ning of April, but the northern breeze made it cold ;
the clear transparent blue of the sky was speckled
over with fleecy clouds, which, as they flitted along,
made a constant alternation of sunshine and shadow.
A noble view of the broad Bay is before one at this

THE OIL-BEETLE.

19

spot ; the sea below, of a pale greenish-blue hue, be-
coming more silvery as it merges into distance, and
the reflection grows more perfect; the undulating
outline of the land to the north, with those smoothly
rounded swellings and sinkings that are so character-
istic of the chalk formation ; and now and then the
broad white cliffs ; Portland to the south, with its long
breakwater, and its busy works on shore, from which
some tin-covered roof happened at the moment to
reflect the rays of the sun above direct to my eye,
as if it had been a mirror ; and beyond its precipices
there was the sea again over the Chesil beach. The
steamer Contractor," — gaudily painted in green and
white, that plies between Weymoutli and Portland,
whose unpoetical name the good people here pronounce
with a strongly-marked accent on the first syllable, —
was running across the Bay, almost as if under my
feet ; and far away in the Channel some ocean steamer,
of gigantic dimensions, was making her way upward,
with a long line of black smoke streaming away
behind her, half way across the horizon.

The birds and insects were enjoying the spring sun-
shine. A dozen larks were scattered about the sky,
and humbler songsters were chirping among the bram-
bles. A few wild bees were humming over the turf,
which glittered with the yellow pilewort and bright-
eyed daisy, but afforded as yet few of those flowers
that bees delight in. Among the grass at the very
verge of the precipice, as I sat there a moment to
survey the shore below, I found that curious beetle
Meloe proscarahceus^ a rather large insect of a deep
dull indigo tint, easily recognisable, should you ever

c 2

20

THE DIVER.

fall in with it, hy its very sliort wing-cases, wliicli
do not half cover its enormous distended body. I
took it up gently in my fingers, when it helplessly
crumpled up its legs, as if it had learned the lesson
divinely taught, but which Christians find it so hard
to practise — Resist not evil," — and lay passively in
my hand, weeping at every joint of every limb a
tear of orange-coloured fluid, tliat has conferred the
name of Oil-beetle upon it. This liquor, which had a
rank odour, stained the skin of my hand ; and I soon
put down my captive, who was glad to disappear
among the stalks of the grass.

Swimming in the sea not far from the shore, I saw
a bird that was evidently larger than a goose ; with the
aid of a pocket telescope I made out that it was a
Loon, or Great Northern Diver [Colymbus glacialis)^
a very fine sea-fowl, and not uncommon on the Dorset
coast in winter. The rocky beach below was destitute
of anything that could alarm the wary bird, and he
gi'adually swam in nearer and nearer, till at length he
w^as not a stone's throw from the shore ; and I, from
my lofty lookout, had a fair view of him, now swim-
ming leisurely, turning hither and thither, now diving
with grace, disappearing with rapidity, and coming
up after many seconds, a long distance from the spot.

A fisherman passing by told me a curious circum-
stance connected with the tides in this Bay, which by
experience I afterwards found to be correct. Instead
of alternately ebbing for six hours and flowing for the
same period, as usual, the tide here remains at its
lowest for four hours before it begins to flow ; or, as
the customary expression is, there are four hours'

PECULIARITY IN THE TIDES. .21

flood, four hours' ebb, and four hours' standmg water.
This peculiarity is seen with most distinctness at the
time of spring-tide, but is liable to some variation
from the influence of winds, &c. The water, more-
over, does not lie, for four hours, exactly at the same
level ; since there is more or less of a secondary tide,
called the Gulder, which soon after the lowest ebb
rises a little, and commonly falls again (but not in-
variably) towards the end of the four hours of standing
water. This continuance of the recess of tide is very
useful to the naturalist, since it allows him to prose-
cute his examinations for a much longer period at
once ; though, as a jper contra^ the long exposure to
the air being more than some animals and plants
could bear, they are compelled to reside at a lower
level, and hence the low-water line around Weymouth
is less rich in species than on other coasts, where it is
uncovered only a few minutes at each tide.

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

The first point to be attended to, is the procuring
of living sea- weeds, the vegetable element in the com-
bination which is displayed in an Aquarium. And
this must naturally be the first thing, whether we
arc stocking a permanent tank, or merely collecting
specimens for temporary examination, as we cannot
preserve the animals in health for a single day, except
by the help of plants to re-oxygenate the exhausted
water. By their means, however, nothing is easier
than to have an Aquarium on almost as small a
scale as we please ; and any visitor to the sea-side.

22

COLLECTINa SEA-WEEDS.

tliougli there for ever so brief a stay, may enjoy, with
the least possible trouble, the amenities of zoolo-
gical study in a soup-plate, or even in a tumbler. It is
easy to knock off with a hammer, or even to dislodge
with a strong clasp-knife, a fragment of rock on which
a minute sea-weed is growing, proportioning the sur-
face of leaf to the volume of water, — and you have
an Aquarium. A wide-mouthed phial, — such, for
instance, as those in which Sulphate of Quinine is
commonly sold by the chymists, — affords a capital
opportunity for studying the minute Zoophytes,
Bryozoa, Nudibranch Mollusca, &c., as they may be
examined through the clear glass sides with perfect
ease, by the aid of a pocket-lens. The influence of
light should be allowed to operate on the sea-weed,
to promote the elaboration of oxygen; but at the same
time, if the weather be warm, care must be taken that
the subjects be not killed by the sun's heat.

The long tongues or ledges that run out into the
sea towards the east, nearly flat, and so low as to be
overflowed even at low water of neap-tides, aflbrd me
a rich harvest of Algce. They are full of narrow
fissures, overhung by the tangled Bladder-weed, under
the shadow of which flourish whole hosts of delicate
plants, olive and green, pink, crimson, and purple,
which to behold is to admire. I shall have occasion
hereafter to speak of these in detail, and of the modes
of collecting them for the Aquarium, and shall there-
fore for the present dismiss them.

These tangled masses of olive Bladder- weed, that
sprawl, like dishevelled locks, slovenly and slippery,
over acres of the low-lying ledges, are studded all

THE PERIWINKLE.

23

over with those little smoth globose shells that children
delight to gather, attracted by the variety and gaiety
of their hues — brown, black, orange, yellow, often
banded with black, or marked with minute chequers.
This most abundant little Winkle, for it is one of that
genus [LittOTina Uttoralis)^ feeds on the Fucus, like
the unowned cattle on the American Pampas, and it
must be owned that a spacious and fertile pasture-
ground is allotted to it.

Among these we see, less numerous, but suflSciently
common, the more bulky and still more familiar form
of the Periwinkle {L, littorea)^ marching soberly along
beneath his massive mansion, stopping to munch the
tender shoot of some Alga, or leisurely circumambu-
lating the pretty tide-pool which he has chosen for
his present residence. You may tell that all his
movements are marked by gravity and deliberation ;
for if he does not let the gi'ass grow under his feet, (I
beg his pardon, he has but one foot ; though, as that
is somewhat of the amplest, he is not deficient in
understanding^ he lets it grow over his head. It is
quite common to see one of these MoUusks adorned
with a goodly Ulva or other sea-weed that has taken
root on the summit of his shell, so that he habitually
sits under the shadow of his own roof-tree.

But why does he talk to us about such common
trash as periwinkles?" Be not captious, gentle reader !
The Periwinkle is an humble member of society cer-
tainly, but there are one or two points about him that
render him not wholly unworthy of your notice. If
you have seen him only fast shut up within his stony
shell, with his tight-fitting opercle or cap'' shut close

WEED-EATING

down, defying all intrusion into lils privacy, there Is
nothing very attractive in his person ; but when you
look at him crawling, especially through the side of a
glass vessel up which he is quietly mounting, you may
possibly find something to admire in his zebra-like
stripes and netted markings. I have more than once
heard the surprised exclamation, "Why, he is quite a
handsome creature But " handsome is that hand-
some does the Periwinkle is useful, especially to
those who mean to keep an Aquarium. The sea-water
constantly holds in suspension millions of the spores
(or seeds) of Alga3, ready to adhere and gi'ow as soon
as they find a resting-place, and these are particularly
abundant in the warm season. Whether those of the
green kinds, the Chlorosperms — as the Ulvaj Entero-
morpJia, and various kinds of Confn^vce — be more
plentiful than others, or whether they are more easily
satisfied with a place congenial to their growth, I
know not ; but these grow most obviously, in the pro-
portion of a thousand to one. Before we have kept
our tank stocked a fortnight, its transparent sides
begin to be sensibly dimmed, and a green scurf is
seen coverinG* them from the bottom to the water's
surface, which constantly accumulates, soon concealing
the contents of the vessel from distinct observation.
On examining this substance with a lens, we find it
composed of myriads of tiny plants, mostly consisting
of a single row of cells of a light green liuc, forming
minute threads which increase in length at the ex-
tremity; others display small irregularly puckered
leaves of deeper green, which develop tlicmselves into
Ulv(e, or Enter omoiylice.

MOLLUSCA.

25

If we design the Aquarium to be of any service to
us in the observation of its contents, this growth must
be got rid of, or we might as well have a vessel with
opaque sides. Here then comes in the aid of the
Periwink. Exclusively a vegetable-eater, he delights
in the green sea- weed, and nothing can be more con-
genial to his palate than these tender succulent
growths. The little Yellow Winkle that I first spoke
of possesses a similar appetite ; but he is less suitable
for the service required, inasmuch as his constitution
appears unable to bear constant submersion ; his habit
is to live a good deal exposed to the air, and even to
the hot sun, and this seems essential to his health. I
have found that if this little species be collected, pretty
as the individuals are, tliey crawl around the sides for
a day or two, as if seeking a more genial dwelling, and
then one by one fall to the bottom and die. There
is, however, another genus of Univalve ^lollusca which
maybe made equally available with the Periwink, if
indeed it be not superior for the purpose ; I allude
to those evenly conical shells, whicli belong to the
genus Troclius, sometimes called, from their form,
Tops. Two species, T. cinerarius and T, nmhilicatus,
are scarcely less abundant on our weedy shores than
the Periwinkles ; the former of a dull purplish grey,
marked with close-set zigzag lines ; tlie latter rather
flatter, usually worn at the summit, of a dull olive or
green, with narrow reddish bands radiating from the
centre. Botli are pearly in the interior, but the latter
species is brilliantly iridescent.

These Tops and the common Periwink are very
useful inhabitants of a marine tank ; tliey make them-

26

THE MODE OF EATING.

selves at home, and feed readily. It is interesting to
watch the business-like way in which they proceed.
I have just been looking carefully at a Top doing his
work, watching the modus operandi a pocket-lens.
At very regular intervals, the proboscis, a tube with
thick fleshy walls, is rapidly turned inside out to a
certain extent, until a surface is brought into con-
tact with the glass having a silky lustre ; this is the
tongue ; it is moved with a short sweep, and then the
tubular proboscis enfolds its walls again, the tongue
disappearing, and every filament of conferva being
carried up into the interior from the little area which
had been swept. The next instant, the foot mean-
while having made a small advance, the proboscis
unfolds again, the tongue makes another sweep, and
again the whole is withdrawn ; and this proceeds with
great regularity. I can compare the action to nothing
so well as to the manner in which the tongue of an
ox licks up the grass of the field, or to the action of
a mower cutting down SAvatlie after swathe as he
marches along. The latter comparison is more strik-
ing for the marks of progi'ess which each operator
leaves behind him. Though the confervoid plants
are swept off by the tongue of the Mollusk, it is not -
done so cleanly but that a mark is left where they
grew; and the peculiar form and structure of the
tongue, which I am about to notice, leaves a series of
successive curves all along the course which the Mol-
lusk has followed, very closely like those which mark
the individual swathes cut by the mower in his course
through the field.

The tongue, by which this operation is performed,

THE TONGUE.

27

Is exquisitely constructed for its work. It is indeed
a wonderful instrument in the complexity of its
armature. The appearance and position of the organ
would surprise any one who searched for it for the
first time ; and as it is readily found, and as Peri-
winkles are no rarities, let me commend it to your
examination. The easiest mode of extracting it,
supposing that you are looking for it alone, is to slit
the thick muzzle between the two tentacles, when
the point of a needle will catch and draw out what
looks like a slender white thread, two inches or
more in length, one end of which is attached to
the throat, and the other, which is free, you will see
coiled in a beautiful spiral within the cavity of the
stomach.

By allowing this tiny thread to stretch itself on a
plate of glass, which is easily done by putting a drop
of water on it first, which then may be drained off
and dried, you will find that it is in reality an exces-
sively delicate ribbon of transparent cartilaginous
substance or membrane, on which are set spinous teeth
of glassy texture and brilliancy. They are perfectly
regular, and aiTanged in three rows, of which the
middle ones are three-pointed, while in each of the
outer rows a three-pointed tooth alternates with a
larger curved one somewhat boat-like in form. All the
teeth project from the surface of the tongue in
hooked curves, and all point in the same direction.

The action of this sort of tongue is that of a rasp,
the projecting teeth abrading the surface of the plants
on which the animal feeds, just as the lion is said to
act with the horny papilla3 of his tongue on the flesh

28

STRUCTURE OF THE MOUTH.

of his victim. The general structure is common to
all the Gasteropod Mollusca, but the varieties in
the mode and pattern of the dentation are almost
infinite.

The little Top, for example, has the teeth set in
eleven longitudinal rows, along the central part of the
ribbon ; while tlie edges, which are turned over on each
side, are formed into oblique combs ; — altogether a
very elaborate affair. But even this is exceeded by
the tongue of the Livid Top [T, zizipMnus)^ a larger
and handsomer species, not rare among the lower
rocks. {See Plate II.) Here the teeth are long
overarching glassy plates, finely pointed, and minutely
saw-toothed along their edges, while the lateral combs
are composed of curved teeth, gradually diminishing
in tliickness.

Perhaps every variety is accompanied by some vari-
ation in food or mode of feeding. The Periwinkle, I
see, has a manner of his own, which differs slightly
from that of the Troclius. When he eats, he separates
two little fleshy lips, and the glistering glass-like
tongue is seen, or rather the rounded extremity of a
bend of it, rapidly running round like an endless band
in some piece of machinery ; only that the tooth-
points, as they run by, remind one rather of a watch-
wheel. For an instant this appears, then the lips
close again, and presently re-open^ and the tongue
again perforais its rasping. It is wonderful to see ; —
perhaps not more wonderful than any other of God's
great works, never more great than when minutely
great ; — but the action and the instrument, the perfect
way in which it works, and the effectiveness with

THE WEYMOUTH ANEMONE.

29

which the vegetation is cleared away before it, all
strike the mind as both wonderful and beautiful.

There are other things, however, besides Periwinkles
and Tops, to be found on these cleft and weed-draped
ledges. The very first hour I spent in searching
them, I found several animals that were new to me,
and some that are marked as rare in zoological works.
Among them was an Actinia of much beauty, which
was known hitherto only by a single specimen found
here by Mr. W. Thompson, and described by him
under the name of A. clavata. I afterwards found
it quite common in these ledges, of which it appears
characteristic*

Its liabit is to lurk in narrow fissures, in tlie cavi-
ties of the under sides of stones, or not infrequently in
the deserted holes of Pholas or Saxicava. The disk
is wide and flat ; and as it is very expansile, it spreads
itself to a considerable distance around tlie margin
of its hole. 80 essential is it to its comfort, however,
that it should have a retirement, that if it be put
into an Aquarium, though it may at first affix itself
to a flat stone or to the surface of a shell, it will crawl
along upon its base till it finds some loose stone,
beneatli which it will insinuate itself till it is quite
concealed ; or a narrow crevice or fissure, as between
two contiguous stones, into which it may thrust its
body.

* I have since received several specimens from Torquay, where it
appears rare. Mr. W. P. Cocks, in the lle})ort of the CornwiiU Poly-
technic Society, for 1851, describes the same species as rare at
Fahnouth ; he has given to it the name of A. Baliij but Mr.
Thompson's name has the priority. — {Second Edition.)

30

THE WEiMUuTH ANEMONE.

This species, which I shall call the Weymouth
Anemone, is very easily distinguished from any other
that I am acquainted with, by several constant
characters ; and though there are three well-marked
varieties, they are all easily recognised as consti-
tuting but one and the same species. Tlie marks
common to all, and yet peculiar, are the folloAving.
The exterior surface is rougli with numerous sucking-
glands, arranged in close-set perpendicular ridges
of pale-yellow warts, with a crimson freckled skin
showing between. Every wart has a crimson speck
on its summit ; and as these are small and numerous,
they impart a general red hue to the whole body.
The tentacles are not numerous, and are chiefly
marginal; they are pale pellucid-yellowish in one
variety, and in another lovely rose-colour, but in
either condition are studded with transversely-oval
specks of opaque white ; these organs are usually
much spread horizontally, with their tips often curled
inward. Another remarkable peculiarity of this spe-
cies, is the degree to which it becomes transparent,
by distension with water. The effect of this is not
the general swelling of the body as in /I. crassicorms,
which is remarkable for the same habit effected in
another way, but the great dilatation of the disk and
tentacles, which then expand to an extraordinary
degi'ce, both becoming so diaphanous as to be almost
destitute of colour, and showing with absolute clear-
ness the convoluted filaments within the septal divi-
sions of the interior.

The third variety I have alluded to, is principally
found in deep water, though I have obtained one or

THE BLACK SAND-WORM.

31

two remarkably large examples of it on Byng Cliif
Ledge. It is larger in size, and coarser in appearance
tlian the other kinds, and is always tinged with a
bluish-gTcy or livid-green hue, though the character-
istic marks and habits are always to be recognised.
It is fond of taking up its abode within the angular
cells or chambers of Eschara foliacea, which affords
a retreat to so many and so various creatures.

I found beneath a stone another specimen of a
worm that seems to be imcommon, but which I have
met with also near Ilfracombe, as I have recorded
elsewhere, — the Black Sand Worm {Aremcola bran-
eMails) ; and a much more elegant animal of the same
class, which was new to me, Sujalion hoa ; it bears
a general resemblance to tlie scale-bearing Pol f/ noes,
but is drawn out to a much greater length, with very
numerous segments. Crawling in a pool occurred also
the beautiful Orange Pleurobranclius (P. plumnJa) ;
the great yellow Doris {D. tuherculata) was adliering
to a stone out of water, having resorted to the shallows,
doubtless, for the depositing of its ribbon of spawTi,
where it Iiad been left by the recess of the tide ; — and
the pretty little Cowiy ( Cyprcea Europoio), with ribbed
porcelain shell, and elegantly painted body, was not
uncommon. I saw for the first time Pilumnus In'r-
tellus, a little hairy Crab that has a gi'cat love for the
darkness, always resorting to the obscurest crannies ;
and AthancLS nitescens, a tiny species of Prawn, of a
dark sea-gi'cen hue, whose well-developed pincers give
it so much the aspect of a lobster, that it is generally
believed, without doubting, by the fishermen, to be the
young state of that much-honoured Crustacean. The

32

THE LOBSTER PRAWN.

habit of this pretty little species is to congregate in
some small hollow covered by the tide, usually beneath
the shelter of a protecting stone ; so fond is it of
companionship, that if you find one you may pretty
surely calculate on more. I have taken, one by one,
as many as fifteen out of a hollow hardly more than a
foot square. It lives long in an Aquarium ; but you
will rarely see it except you have occasion to empty
the contents, when you will see your Lobster-prawns,
as the last drops of water drain off, kicking and skip-
ping about from beneath some piece of rock, where
they had long been lurking unsuspected.

In the accompanying Plate, several animals and
plants are depicted, which inhabit these ledges. In
the foreground, near the middle of the picture, Tro-
chus ziziphlnus is represented crawling over a large
stone. Behind it, on the mass of rock, two specimens
of the Smooth Anemone [Actinia mesemhryanthe-
mum) are seen ; both are of the common dark crimson
variety, the one being contracted, the other expanded :
the latter displays its petal-like tentacles, and the
curious azure tubercles that stud the margin. Around
the edge of a projecting rock on the right hand is
creeping Doris jnlosa, a pretty white species of the
Nudibranch Mollusca.

Behind this is a tuft of the elegant Griffithsia
setacea ; and a much-cut frond of the delicate Dictyota
dichotoma rises from the rear of the Anemones;
while, in the left-hand corner of the foreground, is
that coarse shaggy plant, the Cladophora arcta.

CHAPTER III.

Let a man have all the world can give him, he is still miserable, if
he has a grovelling, vinlettered, undevout mind. Let him have his
gardens, his fields, his woods, his lawns, for grandeur, plenty, orna-
ment, and gratification ; while at the same time God is not in all his
thoughts. And let another man have neither field or garden ; let
him look only at nature with an enlightened mind — a mind which can
see and adore the Creator in his works, can consider them as demon-
strations of his power, his wisdom, his goodness, and his truth : this
man is gi'eater as well as happier in his povei-ty than the other in his
riches.

Jones of Nayland.

I WONDER whether others are conscious of a feeling
which I continually find ; a disposition to think tliat
that Avhich is remote must be Letter tlian tliat which is
near. It prevails in spite of myself ; in spite of
knowledge and reasoning : thus I am constantly
gazing out with longing eyes on tlie blue cliffs of the
receding coast, and saying, half unconsciously, to
myself, — " I wish I were at the foot of those cliffs ;
what treasures I miglit find there! " though reflection
tells me that the spot where I am is of the very same
character, and would assume the same tantalizing
position were I yonder.

Tlic majestic mass of Portland, rising out of tlie sea
right in front of me, awakened a desire to go over and
ex])lore its shores ; and as soon as spring-tide arrived I
made an opportunity to gratify my desire, though the

34

PORTLAND BEACH.

day was almost as unpropitious as could be, the wea-
ther being cold and rainy.

The zeal of an explorer, however, is not to be so
easily quenched ; and accordingly, accompanied by a
gentleman of the town, I crossed the Bay, in one
of the steamers that ply daily between Weymouth
and Portland.

The island has but one commodity, stone; and
that is abundant enough. A massive quay is built of
huge square blocks, whose weight and form are suffi-
cient to ensure their stability ; at least I suppose so,
for no trace of cement is visible at the joints. Simi-
lar blocks are piled on each other, all over the
wharves and their approaches, so that the passengers
have to thread long narrow alleys between cyclopean
architecture ; thinking, as they wind along, of the
Pyramids, or the ancient temples of Thebes. We
walked along the shore towards the Breakwater, but
it was most laborious work, and as unproductive as
toilsome. Tlie shore is formed of loose angular
blocks and rolled boulders of the same freestone, over
whicli walking is difficult and hazardous ; and rood
after rood we pass, without discerning a tuft of sea-
weed, except of the commonest kinds, and those — as
Ulva^ Enteromorplia^ Cladophora, &c. — stunted and
ill- grown. Of course animals are equally scarce, ex-
cept such as haunt the open sea; for no pools can exist
among these shifting masses, and besides some two
or three rock-loving species, as Actinia mesenihryan-
themum^ and TrocJius umhilicatus and T. cinerarius^
we saw absolutely nothing here. The TrocM indeed
were unusually fine and the former species, which is

COWSLIPS AND HYACINTHS.

35

generally found with the summit of the shell worn
away so as to expose the nacre, was almost univer-
sally perfect and unworn.

A slanting ledge farther on, dipping down into the
tide, and well covered with matted Fucus^ had some
narrow fissures, which we examined. In these we
found the little Shanny [Blennius pholis)^ or Tansy,
as it is called here, a fish rarely exceeding five inches
in length, which delights in such restricted limits ; it
is remarkable for the variety of its colours, scarcely
two being found alike ; these are often pretty, and
its brilliant scarlet eyes make it attractive. It is one
of the most suitable fishes for an Aquarium, as it
is readily procured, bears handling with impunity,
quickly becomes reconciled to imprisonment, and will
continue healthy with a far lower sup])ly of oxygen in
its water than many others could tolerate for a single
day. I may have occasion to speak of this little
fellow again.

As we saw no probability of finding here anything
that we could not procure any day under the Notlie or
Byng Cliff', we at length deserted the shore, and roamed
a little way up the hill. It was near the end of April
the Cowslips were shooting up their erect yellow tufts
in great profusion through the short turf, and the air
was loaded with their sugary fragrance. Where the
ground was broken, the blue Hyacinth was also in
blossom ; and the two elegant flowers mingled their
tall succulent pillar-like stalks in gentle rivalry : both
being remarkably fine of their kind. The Spinous or
Burnet liose {Rosa spinosissima) was just clothing its
prostrate stems with the young leaves, and giving

36

LAND SHELLS.

promise of both beauty and sweetness, when these fair
flowers shall have died away; and the clusters of
leaves, arranged in dense rosettes, of that caustic
plant, the Spurge [Euphorbia Portlandica)^ were so
numerous as to be quite characteristic of the
place.

The terrestrial MoUusca made up by their profusion
and variety the paucity of the marine kinds. The
common Garden Snail {Helix aspersa) was scattered
by myriads on the heaps of loose stones, and, on turn-
ing over the heaps, they were found as thickly lodged
in the interior. The more beautiful Banded Snail
{H. nemoralis) was also common and particularly
large ; indeed there seems something in this stony
island favourable to the development of bulk in its
natural history; for I observed that many of the plants
and animals which it yields in common with other
places had attained more than wonted size. There
was the Heath Snail (//. ericetomm) , a little species
prettily banded with brown, with a large umbilicus
perforating the centre of the shell nearly through and
through ; the Silky Snail {H. sericea) — at least I
think it was this species — the shell slightly woolly,
with a sm'face of short hairs ; and the Stone Snail
{H, lajncida)^ with a deep umbilicus, and a sharp edge
or keel mnning round each whorl of the shell. The
name of Lapicida or Stone-cutter, which Linna3us
conferred on this pretty Snail, refers to no peculiarity
of habit that I am aware of, except that of frequenting
stony places ; though, to be sure^ there is no other
trade so suitable to an inhabitant of Portland as this
of stone hewing, which engages the attention of nine-

REASONS OF HIDDEN THINGS.

37

tenths of its human occupants. We found it snugly
lodged in small cavities on the under sides of the
loose-lying stones, which, however, it was assuredly
innocent of having excavated. One more : the elegant
Cyclostome ( Cyclostoma elegans) was likewise nume-
rous, perhaps the most interesting of all. The late
warm rains had drawn it from its winter-quarters, and
it was now crawling by scores over the twigs and
leaves, with its spiral shelly operculum carried behind.
The mode in which this pretty mollusk proceeds is
very curious : for the under-surface of the foot, which
is long, is divided by a deep fissure into two parallel
ribbons, which take hold of the twig alternately, one
portion making good its hold while the other is
advanced in turn

But the rain at length began to come down in
earnest, and as our scientific zeal liad been but poorly
supported by success, it gave in ; and, succumbing to
the storm, we retreated to the cabin of the steamer,
which soon disgorged us dripping on Weymouth Quay.

THE BROAD-CLAW.

A very learned zoologist and very charming writer,
for whose writings I entertain the highest respect,
says : — It is folly and vanity to attempt to account
for all facts in nature, or to pretend to say why the
Great Creator made this thing, and why He made that,
and to discover in every creature a reason for its pecu-
liar organization. It is but another form of the same
vanity, having satisfied itself of the discoveries it has
made, to pretend to praise the All-wise Maker's
wisdom in so organizing his creatures. That God is

38

THE PRAISE OF GOD.

all-wise is a revealed truth ; and whether the organi-
zation before us seem excellent or imperfect, it matters
not ; — we know it is perfect and good, being the work
of an all- wise God."*

To this last sentiment I cordially subscribe ; but
I am not sure whether the former assertions are not
a little too sweeping ; or perhaps somewhat too incau-
tiously expressed. It is consummate folly and vanity,
indeed, to assume that ice have accounted for all facts
in nature, and for the reasons of them ; but not (as I
think) reverently and humbly to seek after the reasons
of those phenomena which at present are recondite.
Doubtless, in the present limited and lapsed condition
of our faculties, at least, there will ever remain pro-
fundities in the physical creation, unfathomable by
any sounding-line we can cast into them ; but the
conviction of this truth needs not prevent our penetrat-
ing as deep as we may, and recording those observa-
tions, which, if carefully made, will not fail to reward
us with increased knowledge of His works and ways,
" Whose way is in the sea, and his path in the deep
waters, and whose footsteps are not known." There
is always something to learn in studying the works
of God, as there must always remain an infinite
unknown.

And is the ascription of praise to God for what
we dimly discover of excellence in His handiwork, —
vanity ? Surely not ; for the Holy Scriptures direct
us to this work; Jehovah himself vouchsafing to
declare, He that offereth praise glorifieth Me ;" and

* Forbes's British Star-fishes, p. 98.

THE BROAD-CLAW.

39

many parts of His word, such as the Psalms of David,
the Proverbs of Solomon, the Book of Job, and the
teachings of the Lord Jesus himself, instruct us how
to do this, and furnish us with examples, in the various
details of the habits, instincts, and economy of what
we call the works of Nature. It is given as the
solemn condemnation of the polished nations of
antiquity, that ^^when they knew God [viz. in the
works of His creation] they glorified Him not as God"
(Rom. i. 21). It was not that men were lacking among
them who, as now, in their measure, studied and ad-
mired the works of Nature, so called, hut no ^^milse,
no glory, accrued to God from their studies.

There is found in the crannies and clefts of the rocky
ledges, and beneath stones that lie at the verge of low
water, a little Crab of somewhat peculiar structure and
no less interesting habits, which affords me the text
for my discourse above written. It is the Hairy
Broad-claw {Porcellana platycheles)^ one of those in-
teresting species that connect groups differing very
widely from each other in their typical forms. The
Common Crab and the Lobster appear very remote
from each other in their obvious characters, but these
Porcelain Crabs occupy a '^debatable gi'ound" between
them. Any one on looking at one would say in a
moment. It is a Crab ; its broad, flat carapace is un-
mistakeable, and the thin abdomen or tail is can'ied
just as the Common Crab carries his, pressed close up
to the under-side of the chest. But when we come
to examine it closely, we find the last joint of this
very abdomen furnished with fringed swimming-plates,
like that of a Lobster, the foot-jaws are largely devc-

40 ADAPTATION OF STRUCTURE TO HABIT.

loped, and the antennae are much longer than the body;
while in general conformation and structure it bears
the closest affinity with another Crustacean, found
commonly in the same haunts, which, from the form
of the carapace and the free abdomen, every one would
immediately pronounce to be a Lobster ; and it is so
named by the common people. I refer to the little
"Dutch Lobster" [Galatliea squamifera) ,

Let us now look at the manner of life of the little •
Crab, and we shall discover some interesting relations
between its habits and its conformation. I have said
that it inhabits crevices, and the under-sides of stones.
As soon as it is dropped into the Aquarium, it throws
out its abdomen, or "tail;^^ and gives several smart
flaps with it, which shoot it along diagonally back-
wards, as if to say, " Though I am a Crab, you see I
have learned to behave myself in some things like my
courtly cousins, the Lobster family." But he is not
much of a swimmer ; the flaps merely bring him to the
bottom slantwise, instead of perpendicularly, whence
he does not rise again. You turn your head away,
and, on looking again, you cannot think what is be-
come of your Broad-claw ! 1 have put in half-a-dozen
at a time, and have been astonished that, in a few
moments, not one was to be seen ; till, perhaps weeks
afterwards, on cleaning out the tank, I have found
every one clinging fast to the imder-side of some
piece of stone that lay on the bottom. When I knew
this, I placed flattish stones so close to the glass sides
that I could look beneath them, and had the pleasure
of finding them occupied by the Broad-claws. The
crevice formed by the inclination of the stone to the

ADAPTATION OF STEUCTUEE TO HABIT. 41

"bottom may be very narrow, and I am not sure but that
the Crab likes it all the better, for he is expressly
formed for such a dwelling ; his body is particularly
flat, his legs move in the same plane, and his claws,
though large for his size, are remarkably flat also,
thinned out, as it were, to an edge ; so that the whole
animal has somewhat the appearance of having been
crushed flat by the pressure of the stone under which
he lives. Here, then, is a beautiful adaptation of
structure to habit; but there is more of the same kind.
The Crabs are carnivorous, and in general they are
very active, wandering continually in search of prey,
which they seize, when observed, with their chiws.
How is our little Broad-claw to live, clinging fast to
his cranny, which he forsakes not from one month's
end to another? Like the thrifty housewives of
London, who do not go to market, but have their
bread and meat and groceries brought to their door.
Let us see how this is managed. Professor Bell,
in his beautiful " History of British Crustacea," tlius
alludes to one character of this genus. External
pedipalps gTcatly developed; the second joint very
large, rounded, with a single tooth on the outer
anterior angle ; the third joint much smaller, irregu-
larly trigonal, and with the remaining joints fringed
with long hair at the edges." In fact, however, all
these joints are fringed with hair, which curves in-
wards, but its use in the economy of the animal has
not yet, so far as I am aware, been made known.

Watching a Broad-claw beneath a stone close to
the side of my tank, I noticed that his long antennae
were continually flirted about; these are doubtless

42

A LIVINa CAST-KET.

sensitive organs of touch, or some analogous sense,
which inform the animal of the presence, and perhaps
of tlie nature, of objects within reach. At the same
time I remarked that the outer foot-jaws [pedipalps)
were employed alternately in making casts, being
thrown out deliberately, but without intermission, and
drawn in, exactly in the manner of the fringed hand
of a Barnacle, of which both the organ and the action
strongly reminded me. I looked at this more closely
with the aid of a lens,- each foot-jaw formed a perfect
spoon of hairs, which at every cast expanded, and
partly closed. That you may understand this better,
I must say that the foot-jaw resembles a sickle in
form, being composed of five joints, of which the last
four are curved like the blade of that implement.
Each of these joints is set along its inner edge with a
row of parallel bristles, of which those of the last joint
arch out in a semicircle, continuing the curve of the
limb ; the rest of the bristles are curved parallel or
concentrical with these, but diminish in length as
they recede downwards. It will be seen, therefore,
that when the joints of the foot-jaw are thrown out,
approaching to a straight line, the curved hairs are
made to diverge ; but as the cast is made, they re-
sume their parallelism, and sweep in, as with a net,
the atoms of the embraced water.

The microscope revealed to me a still higher per-
fection in this admirable contrivance. I then saw
that every individual hrisile is set on each side with
a row of short stiff hairs, projecting nearly at right
angles to its length ; these hairs meeting point to
point those of the next bristle, and so on in succes-

FOOT-JAW OF HKO VI)-(-r.AW.

THE GOSPEL-NET.

43

sion, there is formed a most complete net of regular
meshes, which must enclose and capture every tiny
insect or animalcule that floats within its range ;
while, at each out-cast, it opens at every mesh^ and
allows all refuse to he washed away or fall to the
ground. For we are not to suppose that the captures
thus promiscuously made are as indiscriminately
swallowed. A multitude of atoms are gathered which
would be quite unfit for food, and a power of selection
resides in the mouth, whether it be the sense of taste,
of touch, or any other analogous but recondite per-
ception, by which the useful only is admitted ; the
worthless, or at least the injurious, being rejected.

This arrangement, — which is very common in the
lowest forms of animal life, where food is brought by
constant ciliary currents, — reminds me of the Gospel
net, mentioned by our Lord, which is cast into the
sea, and gathers of every kind ; whicli, when it is full,
they draw to shore, and sit down, and gather the
good into vessels, but cast the bad away" (Matt. xiii.
47, 48). Persons of all sorts are gathered into the
professing Church here on earth ; it is an indiscrimi-
nate collection that determines nothing as to the eter-
nal condition of those who are embraced by it : the
selection is to be made at the end of the age," when
it will be found that not every one that saith Lord,
Lord ! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." O
reader ! see to it that you are robed in the righteous-
ness of Christ, that ^Svedding garment," without
which the Christian name and profession will bring
only the deeper condemnation !

I am afraid the many words I have been compelled

44

THE crab's hind FEET.

to use in describing this structure and its operation,
may not convey to my readers the same strong im-
pression of fitness and perfectness of contrivance,
which a glance at the little Crab, when at work,
would give ; to myself, it appeared one of the most
striking examples I had ever seen of that compensa-
tory adaptation of an organ to a requirement, which
Paley has so well illustrated. Perhaps I ouglit to
add, that in order to see the structure of the bristles,
they must be examined when recent, or preserved in
fluid ; for, in drying, the hairs Ml down and adhere
to the side, so as to be undistinguishable.

But I have not yet done with my little eremite. I
the less reluctantly linger on the contrivances dis-
played in his economy, because he is so common, and
so readily procured, that any of my readers who may
visit a rocky shore at low water, may verify these
particulars for themselves. When you first take up
one in your fingers, (which, by the way, do with a
little caution, for these gentlemen nip pretty hard,)
one of the most obvious peculiarities is that, besides
tliese flat nippers, you can find only three pairs of
legs instead of four, the complement which Crabs in
general rejoice in. You may institute a minute ex-
amination, as I did with the first individual that I
met with, and yet fail to discover any more ; but
there is, notwithstanding, a fourth pair, — very minute
indeed, tiny slender pins, set a little above the general
level, and folded down so closely in a groove, beneath
the edges of the carapace, as to be almost invisible.

What is the use of these feeble limbs ? No one
that I asked could tell me; till I asked the Crab

THEIR USE.

45

himself, or rather looked on while he used them.
Strange to say, they are didactyle, each being termi-
nated by a minute hand or claw of two fingers. They
are set, moreover, with radiating hairs, so that in all
respects they are the very representatives of the ante-
rior feet of the Prawn, which I shall presently have
occasion to describe, though placed at the opposite
end of the series. And this resemblance is not one of
structure only, hut of function also ; for these feeble
limbs are the cleansing brushes^ with which the
Broad-claw washes his person, applying them, with
the greatest ease, to the ichole surface of the abdomen^
and inferior region of the carapace^ while the fingers of
the little hand are used to pick off adhering matters,
that cannot be removed by brushing.

I do not then consider it an useless exercise to seek
for the reasons of any organization that seems unusual
or abnormal. When once these members that I have
been speaking of are seen in natural action, their
purposes become evident, and the perfection of their
contrivance becomes admirable ; and we may use
them as a fresh occasion of ascribing honour to tlic
Infinitely Holy, Wise and Good God, all whose
works praise Him.

Each shell, each crawling insect holds a rank
Important in the plan of Him, who framed
This scale of beings ; holds a rank, which lost,
Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap
Which natui-e's self would rue."

Stillingfleet.

46

A DREDGING DAY.

A DREDGING DAY.

The morning was clear, and promised a fair day ;
there was breeze enough to enable a boat to work — •
enough, in fact, to raise what sailors call a ''cat's paw"
upon the surface of the sea, and not sufficient to cover
it with '' white horses." It was a nice time for a
dredging excursion, though rather cold ; and I sent
word to Jonah F owler to bring his boat over, and we
would try a haul. The sun came out while we were
waiting, and penetrated through the clear water to
tlie bottom ; and the reflection of his rays from the
dimpling surface threw up on the boat's quarter a
running pattern of reticulate lines of light, as if to
give me in that bright net a good omen of success.
Little urchins stood on the quay-edge, watching the
preparations with curiosity, whose hanging ringlets,
and free attitudes as they stood with hands in tlie
pockets of their loose trowserS; looked like copies
{tableaux vi'vants, if you will) of the well-known print
of our nautical little Prince of Wales. The trim
boat's crew of the revenue cutter were lying at the
steps, or lounging with folded arms on the quay,
waiting for their officer ; but it was far beneath their
dignity to manifest curiosity or interest in any such
matters.

The preparations are made ; the dredges and keer-
drag are overhauled ; a goodly array of pans, tubs,
jars, and bottles are put on board ; my mackintosh and
swimming-belt are on (for you can never tell what
eventualities of weather or accident may occur) ; and a
stout packet of sea-stores are snugly thrust into the

THE STAET.

47

locker. Shove her off ! Up with mainsail and jib !
and away to go !"

Pleasant it is to start on such an excursion. The
day all before us ; hope dominant ; fancy busy with
what treasures of the deep the dredge may pour at
our feet ; the sun's rays cheerful ; the breeze exhila-
rating ; a good, stiff boat, clean and light, under foot,
and an agreeable companion, for such is our friend
Jone ; — and thus we swiftly glide out into the Bay.

The ship was cheer' d, the harbour clear'd ;

Merrily did we drop ;
Below the Kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top."

To many of my readers probably tlie whole scheme
now engaged in is as patent and clear as daylight ;
tlicy have been out dredging themselves, and can
fancy the matter perfectly, perhaps with a momentary
wish that they had been

there to see."

But some may honour these pages with their
perusal to whom it may not yet be quite clear, what
is the object of the excursion, and what the manner.
While then we are running down before this north-
west breeze to reach our field of operations, which is
some four or five miles away, I will occupy the time
with a word or two about dredging.

Valuable as are the acquisitions which tlie naturalist
frequently makes by searching the shores at low water
and at spring-tides, he feels that this gives him but a
small acquaintance with the treasures held in the

48

THE DREDGE.

possession of the mighty sea. The greater the recess
of the tide, the more curious, varied, and abundant are
the creatures he discovers ; — if then any mode could
be devised to scrape the floor of the sea itself at differ-
ent depths, and to secure the materials thus collected,
how important might be the result. The dredge is
the implement that does this. It is a strong bag with
an iron frame around the mouth, which is dragged
over the sea-bottom by a rope fastened to the boat,
by which also it is drawn up when full.

The rudest form of the instrument is that used for
procuring oysters for market. The bag is generally
made of iron rings linked together, and the mouth,
which is a four-sided frame of iron, has one of the
longer sides turned out to form a scraping lip. But
the naturalist's dredge is an improvement upon this
form ; the oyster-dredge, with all the care employed
in heaving, will frequently turn over in sinking, so
that the unlipped side of tlie frame is on the ground,
which will not scrape. Hence we have each of the
two long sides of the mouth made into a scraping lip,
so that the instrument cannot fall wrong. Instead of
rings our body is made of spunyam (a sort of small
rope), or fishing-line, netted with a small mesh, or,
which is better still, of a raw hide, (such as those
which the tobacconists receive from South America
enclosing tobacco, the hides of the wild cattle of the
Pampas,) cut into thongs, and netted in like manner.
Sometimes the bag is made of coarse sackcloth, or of
canvas ; but the former soon wears out, and the
latter is not sufficiently pervious to water ; — an im-
portant point ; for if there be not a free current through

THE KEER-DRAG.

49

the bag, while on the bottom, it embraces nothing,
merely driving everything before it, and coming up
empty. The hide net is almost indestructible.

To the two ends, or short sides of the frame, which
forms an oblong square, are attached by a hinge two
long triangles, which, meeting in front at some distance
from the mouth, are connected by a swivel-joint. To
this the dragging rope is bent, which must be long
enough to allow thrice as much at least to be over-
board as the perpendicular depth would require : — if
you are dredging in ten fathoms, you must use at
least thirty fathoms of line, or your di'cdge will make
long jumps over the ground instead of steadily raking
it. The inward end of the rope having been made
fast to one of the thwarts, the dredge is hove to wind-
ward, and the boat is put before the wind, or at least
allowed a flowing sheet.

The keer-drag is in principle similar to the dredge ;
but there are peculiarities in its construction, and it is
employed for different game. It is considerably larger ;
the one which I used was six feet wide, and one foot
high at the mouth, whereas the width of the dredge
does not usually exceed two feet. The mouth consists
of a stout iron rod bent up to form three sides of the
quadrangle, neither of which is thinned to a lip ; the
fourth side is made by a stout beam to which tlie iron
ends are riveted, and this by its lightness is always
uppermost when on the bottom. The handle is made
by three lines, one of which proceeds from the middle
of the beam and one from each of the two iron ends ;
they are united at some ten feet from the mouth,
where the drag-rope is attached. The net affixed to

50

GOOD ADVICE.

this framework is made of stout twine, and diminishes
in its diameter regularly like a fiinnel ; the point, which
may be about twelve feet from the mouth, is left open,
as it is lashed round with a piece of line when in use.
The chief peculiarity is, that the knitting is so man-
aged that the size of the meshes diminishes evenly, as
well as the diameter of the net, till at the point they
are very small and close. The reason of this will be
seen presently.

The Eoman poet admonishes us that different loca-
lities produce diflferent prey, and require different
implements : —

Nec tamen in medias pelagi te pergere sedes
Admoneam, vastique maris tentare profundum.
Inter utrumque loci melius moderabere funem.
Aspera num saxis loca sint ; nam talia lentos
Deposcunt calamos ; at purum retia littus.
Num mons horrentes demittat celsior umbras
In mare. Nam varie quidam fugiuntque petuntque.
Nam vada subnatis imo viridentur ab herbis.

Objectetque moras, et moUi serviat algae."

Ovid. Halibut. 83—92.

Which may be thus freely " done into English:" —

When you the dredge would use, go not away-
Far out to sea. Mind that your haul be made
According to your bottom. Where the ground
Is foul and ledgy, be content to fish
With hook and line. But where upon the sea
The morning sun casts shadows deep and long
From lofty Whitenose, — over with your dredge.
Where 'neath your keel the verdant sea-grass waves,
[The keer-drag try for nudibranchs and wrasse.
Should all these prove distasteful, on the shore]
For spring-tide patient wait, and overhaul the weeds.

Before we ran down to our dredging ground, my

JONAH POWLER. 51

master of the ceremonies proposed, in accordance
with this good counsel, that we should haul up Or
point or two, and have a scrape on the Zostera beds
that cover many acres of shallow water in the bight
off Preston Valley. But let me introduce my man to
you. — A clever fellow is Jone, and though only bred
as a fisherman, he is quite an amateur naturalist.
There is nobody else in Weymouth harbour that knows
anything about dredging (I have it from his own lips>
so you may rely on it) ; but he is familiar with the
feel of almost every yard of bottom from Wliitenose to
Church-Hope, and from Saint Aldhelm's Head to the
Bill. He follows dredging with all the zest of a
savant ; and it really does one's heart good to hear
how he pours you forth the crackjaw, the sesquipeda-
lian nomenclature. " Now, Sir, if you do want a
Gastrochcena, I can just put down your dredge upon
a lot of 'em ; we'll bring up three and four in a stone."

I'm in hopes we shall have a good Crihella or twa
off this bank, if we don't get choked up with them 'ere
Oj^hiocomasr He tells me in confidence that he has
been sore puzzled to find a name for his boat, but he
has at length determined to appellate her ^''Tlie Tur-
ritella,'' just to astonish the fishermen, you know,
Sir," — with an accompanying wink and chuckle, and
a patronising nudge in my ribs. Jone is a proud man
when he gets a real savant alone in his boat ; and he
talks with delight of the feats he has achieved in the
dredging line for ]\Ir. Bowerbank, Mr. Hanley, and
Professor Forbes. I will say, I found him no vain
boaster, but able to perform his professions ; and can
heartily recommend him to any brother naturalist who

e2

52

A HAUL WITH THE DRAG.

may desire to " dredge the deep sea under," in Wey-
mouth Bay, as one who knows what is worth getting,
and where to get it.

Well, here we are in the bight, just off the mouth
of Preston Valley, the only bit of pretty scenery any-
where near. This, however, is a little gem ; a verdant
dell opening to the sea, through which a streamlet
runs, with the sides and bottom covered with woods,
a rare feature in this neighbourhood. We are over
the Zostera ; the beds of dark-green grass are waving
in the heave of the swell, and we can make out the
long and narrow blades by closely looking down
beneath the shadow of the boat. Here, then, is the
place for the keer-drag. Down it goes, and sinks into
the long grass, while we slowly drag it for a couple of
hundred yards or so.

When disposed to tiy our luck we hauled on the
rope, till we brought the mouth of the drag to the
top of the water; a turn or hitch was then taken
round a belaying pin with the two side-lines of the
bridle, and the point of the net only was then hauled
on board, put into a pan of water, and untied. Here
was congregated the chief part of the prey taken, and
hence the need of having the meshes so small in this
part. Out swam in a moment a good many little
fishes that haunt the grass-bed; as Pipe-fishes [SyU"
gnathis) of several species, Gobies [Gobius unipunc"
tatiis, G, Euthensparri^ &c.), and bright-hued Conners
{Labrus and Crenilahrus), With these were two or
three active and charming Cuttles [Sepiola) ; and
clinging to the meshes of the net in various parts,
were several species of Nudibranch MoUusca, creatures

THE BURNING CLIFFS.

58

of remarkable elegance and beauty. All these demand
more consideration than I can now stay to give them ;
so that I propose to return to them in detail presently,
describing them to you, not from the hurried glances
we can give them in the boat, but as they appear when
at home in the Aquarium.

Meanwhile we put the boat before the wind and run
along the inhospitable coast on our left. We leave
the pleasant vale behind, and skim swiftly by the
black rocks of Ratcliff Head, and the distorted and
confused strata of Goggin's Barrow. We pass Osming-
ton Mills, where a rather ample sheet of water is poured
in a foaming cascade over the low cliff, and where those
curious circular blocks of grit-stone, flat on one side
and conical on the other, are imbedded with regularity
in the sandy face of the precipice ; and leave on our
quarter the rocks, where the abmidance of iron pyrites
and sulphur has more than once presented the strange
phenomenon of spontaneous fire, — a phenomenon dis-
tinctly remembered still by the inhabitants of Wey-
mouth, who night after night used to gaze out with
wonder on the Burning Cliffs.*

♦ In 1816, a large conical mass of earth began to slide from its
base, and continued with intermissions to descend for three years,
when it reached its present situation on the sea-beach, an oval cone of
800 feet in length, and about 80 in height. After a few years, smoke
and steam began to issue from several cracks and apertures, about
half way up its sides ; and in March, 1827, fire was seen to proceed
from them, on several occasions. An attempt to bore near the heated
part was made, which did not succeed, in consequence of the hardness
of the rock. But in April an excavation was commenced on the south
side of the cliflf about forty feet above the beach, the materials re-
moved consisting of lime and alum stone, intermixed with dark
bituminous earth, which was smoking at the time of removal. Stone

54

WHITENOSE.

At length we are under Whitenose, that bold chalk
cliff that is so prominent an object as the eye roves
along the coast-line from Weymouth. Here we turn
the boat's head to the southward, and throw the dredge
overboard in fourteen fathoms. And while I am en-
joying, with the line in my hand, what a dredger
particularly likes to feel, — the vibration produced by
the instrument as it rumbles and scrapes over a
moderately rough bottom, telling that it is doing its
work well, — we will gaze with admiration on this
magnificent precipice of dazzling white that rears its
noble head behind us. It is the termination of that
range of chalk hills which, with some few interruptions,
intersects the kingdom from the Yorkshire coast to
Dorset ; and stands in simple majesty, the snowy
whiteness of its vast face unvaried, except by the
slanting lines which mark the dipping-strata running
across it, and which look so fine and so regular as if
they had been dra^vn by the pen of a geometrician.
My companion told me a story of a lad of thirteen,
who four years ago fell from the loftiest part of the
summit, 500 feet above the sea. It is true a great
part of this descent was performed by rolling and
sliding, but for fifty feet the fall was absolutely per-

and stone-coal were afterwards quarried out, which emitted sparks of
fire sufficient for the men to light their pipes, and several gentlemen
present to light their cigars. As the excavation proceeded, the fire
increased to a blaze at the top, bottom, and sides ; and for the last
four feet the work was continued amidst red-hot materials, which
ultimately compelled the men to desist. The fire from the mass
thus removed was discernible from the Esplanade at Weymouth to a
great concourse of persons, and the scene of this curious phenomenon
still continues to present great attractions to visitors.

EXAMINATION OF THE HAUL. 65

pendicular. The boy had been seeking rabbits, which
are very numerous on the downs above, when he fell
over. Thirteen hours he lay helpless at the bottom,
in the hardest frost of the winter of 1849-50, and was
then found with a broken arm and thigh, but with no
other important injuries.

But up with the dredge ; let us see our success. It
feels pretty heavy as it mounts, and here as it breaks
the surface we can already see some bright-hued and
active creatures in its capacious bag. A wide board
resting on two thwarts serves for a table, and on this
— a few of the more delicate things, that appear at a
glance, having been first taken out — the whole con-
tents are poured. The empty dredge is returned to
the deep for another haul, while we set eagerly to
work with fingers and eyes on the heap before us.

What a pleasure it is to examine a tolerably prolific
dredge-haul ! I am not going to enumerate all the
things that we found ; it would make a pretty long
list. Numbers of rough stones and of old worm-eaten
shells, half of a broken bottle, and other strange
matters were there ; every one, however rude, worthy
of close examination, because studded with elegant
zoophytes, the tubes oi Serpulcs and oi\\Q.r Annelida^
bright-coloured pellucid Ascidians,graceful Nudibranch
Mollusca, the spawn of fishes, and endless other things.
Brittle-stars, by scores, were twining their long spiny
arms, like lizards' tails, among the tangled mjiss ;
arrayed in the most varied and most gorgeous hues,
of all varieties of kaleidoscopic patterns {see Plate
IV.) ; and Sand-stars not a few. The latter are much
more delicate in constitution than the former, being

56

SEA-STARS.

very difficult to keep alive; and also much more
brittle : the former, notwithstanding their English
name, I have not found so particularly fragile. Among
other members of this wonderful class of animals, we
obtained, in the course of our day's work, several of
that fine but common one, the Twelve-rayed Sun-star
[Solaster papposa) — a showy creature dressed in rich
scarlet livery, some eight inches in diameter. Two or
three of a species usually counted rare also occurred,
the Bird's-foot {Palmipes memhranaceus) ; more curious
and equally beautiful. {See Plate III.) It resembles
a pentagonal piece of thin leather, with the angles a
little produced and regularly pointed. The central
part of this disk is scarlet, and a double line of scarlet
proceeds from this to each angle, while the whole is
margined by a narrow band of the same gorgeous hue.
The remainder of the surface is of a pale yellow or
cream-colour, and covered in the most elegant manner
with tufts of minute spines arranged in lines, which
cross each other, lozenge-fashion, near the middle of
the disk, and run parallel to each other, at right angles
to the margin, between the points.

Not less attractive was another Starfish, the Eyed
Cribella [Cribella oculata). It consists of five finger-
like rays, tapering to a blunt point, and cleft nearly
to the centre ; the consistence stiffly fleshy, or almost
cartilaginous. The hue of both disk and rays, on
the superior surface, is a fine rosy purple. {See
Plate III.)

All these are very attractive occupants of an Aqua-
rium. They are active and restless, though slow in
movement, continually crawling about the rocks and

SPIDEE-CRABS.

57

round the sides of the tank, by a gliding motion pro-
duced by the attachment and shifting of hundreds of
sucker-feet, which are protruded at will, through
minute pores in the calcareous integument. Their
showy colours are exhibited to advantage on the dark
rocks, around the projections and angles of which they
wind their flexible bodies, now and then turning back
a ray, from which the pellucid suckers are seen stretch-
ing and sprawling ; and as they mount the glass, not
only can their hues be admired, but the exquisite
structure of their spines, and the mechanism of their
suckers, can be studied at leisure.

Every haul of the dredge brought up several uni-
valve shells, tenanted, not by their original construc-
tors and proprietors, but by that busy intruder the
Soldier-crab [Pagurus). Several species of this curious
creature occurred, to whose vagaries I may devote a
chapter presently. For a similar reason I shall only
just allude to the beautiful Cloak Anemone [Adamsia
palliata)^ and several other species of this charming
family. Long-legged Spider-crabs of the genera
Stenori/nchus, Inachus, &c. were abundant, sprawling
their slender limbs, like bristles, to an unconscionable
distance; tempting us to think that, if we liad legs
like these, we might cover the ground in a style that
would put to shame the old giant-slayer's seven league
boots.

But, as I have said, time and space would fail me
if I were to attempt an enumeration of all the objects
of interest that we brought to view in the course of a
good day's dredging, Mollusca, both naked and
shelled, both univalve and bivalve; crabs, prawns,

58

THE SEPIOLE.

and shrimps ; worms ; sponges ; sea- weeds ; all pre-
sented claims to notice ; and all contributed represen-
tatives to my stock, in the successive emptyings of the
dredge, for we worked pretty nearly all the way home.
And when we came to bring on shore the bottles,
jars, pans, pails, and tubs, we found them all well
tenanted with strange creatures, the greater part of
which were despatched on their way to London by
that same evening's mail- train.

The Plate on the opposite page represents a group
from the interior of an Aquarium, Over the stone in
front is crawling the Eyed Cribella [Cribella oculata)^
while a specimen of the Bird's-foot Starfish {Palmi-
pes memhranaceus) is mounting up the mass of broken
rock behind. On the right of the picture is a small
frond of the much folded and crumpled Sea-lettuce
{Ulva latissima) ; the pencilled plant of a darker
green that rises in the rear of the Ulva is Gladophora
rupestris ; while a tuft of Polysiplwnia urceolata
springs from a crevice in the rock above the Star-
fishes. Almost all the species have been already
described in these pages.

THE SEPIOLE.

My notions of the Cephalopoda, derived from
figures of the various species in books, were anything
but agreeable. I thought of them as hideous, repul-
sive, fierce, atrocious creatures, hated and feared when-
ever seen. But an acquaintance with the pretty
Sepiola vulgaris has not a little modified these ideas ;
and its beauty, sprightliness, and curious habits have
made it quite a favourite pet among the denizens of

THE SEPIOLE.

59

my Aquarium. I take it in considerable numbers in
this Bay, by means of the keer-drag already described,
which rakes the bottom. It is a little creature, rarely
exceeding an inch in length ; though the extensibility
of the arms somewhat varies its dimensions.

When we turn out two or three from the net into a
pail of sea-water, they are at first restless and active.
They shoot hither and thither, as if by a direct effort
of will, but in reality by the impulse of rapid and
forcible jets of water, directed towards various points,
from the mouth of the flexible funnel situated beneath
the body. After a few moments they suspend them-
selves in mid- water, hovering for many seconds in the
same spot, scarcely moving a hair's breadth either
way, but waving their large circular swimming-fins
rapidly and regularly up and doA\Ti, just like tlie wings
of an insect. Indeed, the resemblance of the little
Cephalopod, in these circumstances, to a brown moth
hovering over a flower, is most close and striking, and
cannot fail to suggest an interesting comparison.
The body is held in a horizontal position, the large
protuberant eyes gazing on either side ; and the
arms, grouped together in a thick bundle, hang
freely downwards. If you essay to count these
organs, you find only eight ; and even if you arc
aware that one of tlie characters of the genus is to
have ten, of which two are much longer than the rest,
you may search for these latter a long time in vain.
Of course I mean during the life and health of the
animal, when its impatience of being handled presents
obstacles to a very accurate investigation ; you may
then tmn it over and over with a stick, and look at

60

CONCEALED ARMS.

the bundle of arms from above and below in turn,
now grouped together, and now thrown all abroad in
anger at being teased ; still you can make out but
eight. It was not until after many trials that I at
length caught a peep at the missing organs — the pair
of long arms, — and discovered that it is the animal's
habit to carry them closely coiled up into little balls,
and packed down upon the mouth at the bottom of
the oral cavity. If we manage to insert the point of
a pin in the coil, and stretch out the spiral filament,
the little creature impatiently snatches it away, and
in a twinkling rolls it up again. A zealous votary of
the circular system would seize on this analogy with
the spirally folded tongue of a moth, and triumphantly
adduce it as additional proof that the Cephalopoda
represent, in the MoUuscan circle, the Lepidoptera
among insects.

While thus hovering motionless in the water, the
Sepiola presents a fair opportunity for observing its
curious transitions of colour, which are great and
sudden. We can scarcely assign any hue proper to
it. Now it is nearly white, or pellucid, with a faint
band of brown specks along the back, through which
the internal viscera glisten like silver. In an instant
the specks become spots, that come and go, and
change their dimensions and their forms, and appear
and disappear momentarily. The whole body, — arms,
fins, and all, — the parts which before appeared free,
display the spots, which, when looked at attentively,
are seen to play about it in the most singular manner,
having the appearance of a coloured fluid, injected
with constantly varying force into cavities in the

CHANGES OF COLOUR.

61

substance of the skin, of ever-changing dimensions.
Now the spots become rings, like the markings of a
panther's skin; and, as the little creature moves slightly,
either side beneath the fin is seen to glow with metal-
lic lustre, like that of gold-leaf seen through horn.
Again, the rings unite and coalesce, and form a beau-
tiful netted pattern of brown, which colour increasing,
leaves the interspaces a series of white spots on the
rich dark ground. These and other phases are every
instant interchanging, and passing suddenly and mo-
mentarily into each other with the utmost regularity.
But here is a change ! One is hovering in quiescence,
his colour pale, almost white ; one of his fellows
shoots along just over him ; with the quickness of
thought, the alarmed creature turns from white to an
uniform deep brown, the rich full colour suffusing the
skin in a second, like a blush on a young maiden's
face. The hue is very beautiful ; it is the fine, deep
sienna-tint of tortoise-shell ; a substance which, in-
deed, the mingling clouds of brown and pellucid
horn closely resemble in the intermediate phases of
colour.

Hitherto we liave seen the Sepiola only in the pail
of water into which it was turned out of the net. After
a little while it drops upon the bottom, and, crouching
up, remains motionless ; if you rouse it, it will again
swim for a few moments, but presently seeks some
corner, into which it thrusts its rear, and huddles up
as before. This is all that you will see of its habits
under such circumstances ; for in all probability the
morning will reveal your little protege a lump of white
jelly, dead and stiff, with uncoiled arms, on the naked

62

ITS MANNER OF BURROWING.

floor of his prison. But introduce him while in health
into an Aquarium where living sea-plants are perpe-
tually revivifying the water, and where the bottom,
varied with sand, gravel, and pieces of rock, imitates
the natm-al floor of the sea, and you will soon see
other particulars in the economy of our little friend,
which will, I doubt not, charm you as much as they
have pleased me.

The Sepiola is a burrower ; and very cleverly and
ingeniously does it perform a task which we might at
first suppose a somewhat awkward one, — the insertion
of its round corpulent body into the sand or gravel.
Watch it as it approaches the bottom, after a season
of hovering play, such as I have described. It drops
down to within an inch of the sand, then hangs sus-
pended, as if surveying the ground for a suitable bed.
Presently it selects a spot ; the first indication of its
choice being that a hollow about the size of a silver
fourpence is forcibly blown out of the sand imme-
diately beneath the group of pendent arms. Into the
cavity so made the little animal drops ; at that instant
the sand is blown out on all sides from beneath the
body backward, and the abdomen is thrust downward
before the cloud of sand which has been blown up
settles, but which presently falls around and upon the
body. Another forcible pufi* in front, one on each
side, and another behind, follow in quick succession,
the fine sand displaced at each blast settling round
the animal, as it thrusts itself into the hollow thus
more and more deepened.

I was not at first quite sure by what agency these
blowings, so admirably effective and suited to the

CUEIOUS USE OF THE FUNNEL.

63

purpose, were performed. The jet in front I readily
attributed to the action of the fleshy funnel projecting
from beneath the mantle on the breast ; but I did not
see how this could blow a stream directly backwards.
I therefore put one of my pets into a vessel with glass
sides, which was furnished with the requisite sand and
water. I at once saw that the funnel was indeed the
organ employed, and the only one, in every case ; and
perceived its beautiful adaptation for the work it had
to do, in its extreme flexibility. This organ is very
protrusile, and being perfectly flexible, its orifice can
be, and is, at will pointed in any direction, so as to
blow the jet of water forward, backward, or to cither
side at pleasure.

It frequently occurs, of course, that small stones are
mingled with the sand, or the animal may find it con-
venient to burrow in the loose gravel. In either case
the arms come to the aid of the funnel ; the sucking-
disks with which they are furnished being made to
adhere to the stones, which are dragged out and thro^v^l
aside.* You may suppose this to be a clumsy expe-
dient, but you would think differently if you saw it :
the rapidity with which the arms are thrust under
the body, and drawn out, bearing pieces of stone of
comparatively large size, and tlie graceful ease with
which they are then thrown foi*ward, discharging and
dropping the burden, impress the mind with admira-

* It is interesting to see that the removal of stones by means of
the Cuttle's suckers had been observed by Homer : —

" * 8' 5t6 irovKinro^os 6a\diJ.T)S €|€A/cojueVoio
Ilpus KOTv\r]^ouu<piu irvKivul \diyy€S ^xoyrai.'*

64

ECONOMY IN CREATION.

tion of the beautiful fitness of the organization for
the requirement.

This use of the funnel, and of the sucking arms, so
different from their normal purposes, affords additional
examples of that Divine economy in creation, which,
when a new function is ordained, does not always form
new and special organs for the necessity, but adapts
some already employed in other service for the new
work ; while, still, both the one and the other function
are fulfilled with such perfection, as shows that every
emergency was foreseen and provided for in the mighty
plan, and that it was not for want of resources that
distinct actions are performed by the same instru-
mentality. We admire the skill of the artisan who
can effect different operations with the same tool,
especially when we see that each kind of work is of
faultless excellence.

The ordinary employment of the sucking arms is
no doubt the same as in other Cephalopoda, the cap-
ture and retention of prey. Of this I saw an instance
in the case of one of my Sepiolae which had seized a
shrimp {Crangon trispinosus) , a sand-burro wer like
itself, and was, when I saw it, holding it firmly against
the homy jaws, which were devouring it. The dis-
charge of ink through the funnel I have also witnessed,
though this is far from being a frequent action with
this species. One of them that had been for a day or
two in an Aquarium, and was evidently at home there,
I put into another vessel. No other animal was
present, but the strangeness of the new abode
evidently frightened it ; it darted about in manifest
alarm and excitement, and presently shot forth from

A JET OF INK.

65

its funnel a cloud of inky fluid to a distance of
several inches ; another and another discharge suc-
ceeded in rapid sequence, and it was not for some
time that the animal recovered its equanimity. It
did not appear to me that this fluid could be of much
service to the little creature in the way of conceal-
ment ; for, although the matter was tolerably copious
and densely black, it did not difl'use itself in the
water, but Remained in masses, and when moved with
a stick was drawn into slimy strings.

Perhaps the facts above recorded may not possess
to otliers the novelty that they had to me. Dr.
Johnston, in his admirable " Introduction to Concho-
logy,^' has not included any species of Cephalopoda
in his enumeration of burrowing Mollusca ; nor have
I ever read of any tliat were known to possess the
habit. I ought to have said tliat it takes place to no
greater extent than to bring the animal just level with
the surface of the sand, which is in general thinly
spread over the posterior part. The eyes and the
dorsal edge of the mantle are always exposed ; and if
we carefully heap the sand over these parts, it is in
a moment blown away by the action of the funnel, or
removed by the undulation of the mantle-edge.

It would be unfair, however, if I were not to allow
that the little Sepiole has some unamiable traits.
The ])rctty bright-eyed Robin that so confidingly
picks crumbs from the window-sill, sad to say, fights
spitefully with his fellows, and eats nasty spiders !
And I am sorry to confess that my little pet can be
a real Cain at times. I saw one dart at an imoftcnd-
ing brother that was passing, and, seizing him with

F

66

A BAD CHARACTER.

murderous jaws, shed out liis life in a few seconds.
The poor victim shot his feeble column of ink, and
sank white and motionless to the bottom, as soon as
the ferocious grasp was loosened. The indictment
which old ^lian brings against the whole race, that
they are gluttonous terrible fellows for their belly "
— Seivol Kara KoiXLav — is his phrase) and murderous,
is, I am afraid, after all, not far from the truth.

CHAPTER IV.

When round thy wondrous works below
My searching rapturous glance I throw,
Tracing out wisdom, power, and love.
In earth or sky, in stream or grOve : —
Let not my heart within me burn.
Except in all I Thee disceni.

Keble.

How sweet is the coming in of Summer ! Many
a brilliant day of sunshine the too willing heart greets
as the glorious summer time," which, after all, we are
compelled to confess, is not the genuine thing ; and
though it is pleasant, we unreluctantly hurry in to the
fireside again. But at last we say, Tliis is the first
real summer day we have had ! " and there is really
no mistake about it. Cold days may come, and will
come after it ; but we feel that we have really tasted
the sweets of the genial season ; she has looked upon
us with her sunny, laughing face, and will not now
go away again.

There was a delicious haze spread over cliff* and
bank as we set out, a family party, to enjoy a morning
stroll near the end of May. I will not say it was

formosissimus annus ; " that was scarcely come yet ;
but it was a true summer morning. White cloudlets
were dimpling the blue heaven, and fleeting gaily
along before the pleasant breeze, that imparted the

f2

68

THE SKY-LARK,

sensation of freshness without coldness. Away we
tripped across the fields that crown the summit of
Byng Cliff, treading on a soft and painted carpet of
daisies and buttercups, pimpernel, clover and dande-
lion. The suburbs and villas looked attractive in
their bowery groves, just flushed with green. Cock-
chafers, with loud buzzings, were ''wheeling their
drony flight " round the brambles of the hedgerows,
and Larks were singing by scores in the dazzling
sky, now and then dropping to hover over the grass
a moment, before they sank in. A sweet picture of
innocent happiness does this bird present ; he pom's
out his heart in thrilling song far above the world in
the full beams of the bright sun, and then sinks to
repose in his humble nest, where the embrace of love
welcomes him, and his infant progeny call forth all
his fondness and all his joy !

Hark to that little snatch of a song ! I thought it
at first some lad at work, whistling " for want of
thought," so full and mellow are the notes : but no ;
it is a Starling in yonder cage. He repeats this bar
every two minutes or so, with an interval of silence
between. Flocks of Starlings circle round tlie fields,
not yet reduced to slavery and the cage ; and there
the Poke-pudding flits by, trailing after him his more
tlian sufficient longitude of tail.

We get into a lane, deeply cut up with ruts, and
reduced in its narrow dimensions by heaps of rotting
sea-grass bordering each side, on which we have to
mount to allow tlie manure-cart to pass. The carter-
lad, not •Urimindful of the elegancies of life, amidst his
somewhat sordid employment, has decked the head

ASSOCIATIONS.

69

of his white horse with a rosette of cherry-coloured
ribbons.

Everything is rich, luxuriant, and j)romising^ in
nature. The banks are crowded with the glossy,
black-spotted leaves of the Wake-robin, and the young
fronds of the Hart's-tongue Fern. The Germander
Speedwell, that loveliest and most constant of spring
flowers, peeps out with its laughing blue eyes every-
where from the rank herbage. Remembrances of last
spring, and of its pleasant walks about dear Ilfra-
combe, come crowding over our hearts, like guslies of
fragrance, or like the associations of some well remem-
bered melody. We see the same flowers again — hear
the same music — bask in the same sunsliine. It is one
advantage of tlie intercliange of the seasons, that these
associations are continually refreshed : we could not
go on enjoying so vividly the dclightfulness of sum-
mer, if it were not interrupted by winter. Every
beauty bursts upon us witli the charm of novelty, and
yet with the peculiar claim of old acquaintance.

0 evil day ! if I were sullen,

While the earth herself is adorning
This sweet May morning ;
And the children are pulling,
On every side,
In a thousand valleys, far and wide,

Freyh llowers ; while the sun shines warm,
And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm : —
I hear, I hear, with joy I hear !"

A lovely view suddenly opened seaward, whicli I
could not resist tlie temptation of sketching as I sat
on a gate. In front was a dell, chequered and parted
into fields by hedge-rows, and merging at length into

70

VEGETABLE SHELLS.

a sort of ravine : cottages were scattered here and
there. A low spit of rock runs out into the sea, where
I was the other day searching for Actinias. The ruins
of Scindsfoot Castle just peep over the brow of the
slope ; and beyond is the calm Bay sleeping under the
sun, bounded by Portland with its breakwater and
its throng of shipping. A little to the right is that
wondrous barrier, the Chesil Beach, and outside
that the vast expanse of West Bay and the British
Channel.

My little boy intemipts me with Give me some of
those shells f He points to the hedge, and I find that
he means the young shoots of the Male Shield Fern
coming up in great tufts, the points of each frond
being curled round like a ram's horn, or still more
closely like the shell of Trochus magus, which my
little urchin supposed them to be. What a strange
plastic imitative power there is in nature !

After a season in Devonshire, the scenery around
Weymouth appears tame and mean, but this road is
an exception to the rule. It is the back way to
Wyke, leading past Belfield, the seat of Mrs. Buxton ;
and what with the rural cliaracter of the lanes, the
woods that ornament the estate, and the fine views
that occur, it is by far the most charming walk in the
vicinity. Along the road-side there is a belt of wood,
into which we took the liberty of straying, though I
believe we were trespassers. However, the hoary and
lichened trunks of the trees, the cool shadow, and the
rank herbage that covered the ground, tempted us too
strongly. Among the coarse grass were many tufts
of the stinking Iris, and the whorled stalks of the

A CURIOUS SHELL-DOOR.

71

Wood Horsetail were piercing the turf ; and between
the oval plaited leaves of the Tway-hlade, which was
very abundant, the tall flowerstalk was shooting.
The Beeches were just clothing their twigs with tender
yellow leaves, and their beautiful grey smooth trunks
were profusely embraced by the clinging Ivy. Every-
thing wore a delightful freshness : —

" The sweet buds

Had not yet lost their starry diadems
Caught from the early sobbing of the morn."

Keats.

In the rough bark of an old willow I found half
an hour's amusement, in obtaining a pocket-box-full
of a very elegant but not uncommon sliell, Clausilia
nigricans. It is remarkable for having a sort of
spring-door to its sliells, composed of a shelly plate
affixed to a higlily clastic calcareous tlu'cad, wliich,
while it allows the door to be puslied aside by the
animal when it protrudes,- closes tightly of its own
accord the instant it withdraws. Dr. J. E. Gray calls
this ^^one of the most wonderful contrivances employed
by Nature for the protection of the Mollusca."

Birds were busy in the little grove, all intent on
their own concerns, careless of our intrusion. Two
Magpies were loudly brawling in a tree over our heads;
Blackbirds all around were pouring forth their mel-
low notes ; one was sitting on the top of a tall post,
flirting and opening his tail as he uttered his clear
whistle, and in the very height of enjoyment : at
my approach away he flies, finishing the strain as he

* Brit, Land Shells, p. 211.

72

APOLOGIES.

glides along — (it was much too good to be left incom-
plete)— and resuming it the moment he alights. The
Cuckoo's always welcome, always thrilling voice fell
on our startled ears, and settled any lingering doubt
of the reality of summer. A gay Greenfinch was
busy among the lovely blossoms, crimson and white,
that covered a crab-tree in the hedge; and, around the
same bush, a large yellow Dragon-fly was pursuing
his avocation of hawking for small insects.

I hope my readers will be indulgent to me in re-
peating these details. I am sure they must have
often enjoyed such scenes ; and I love to recall them,
not only in the general effect, but in the minute par-
ticulars. I love to linger on the individual features
of a pleasant scene ; for, in so doing, I am able in
greater fulness to reproduce to my own mind the im-
pressions awakened at the time. The delight we all
feel in free, pure, wild nature is far too evanescent
a thing; the business and care of life, the stern
realities of this Avorking-day world," rub off the
imprint too readily ; let us stereotype it if we can.

But what connexion is there between all this and
the Marine Aquarium ? Well, I have said, be indul-
gent ! I have been idling, I confess ; but still I am
on duty. 1 am going down to the Fleet at Wyke for
Actinias : yes, I assure you I am ; and presently I
will show you the result. So farewell to birds, in-
sects, flowers, and trees, while I make the best of my
way onwards.

I will not tarry to cast a stolen glance at the
sti'aggling village of Wyke, with its fine old church
tower that serves as a conspicuous landmark to mariners

THE FLEET.

73

coming up the Channel, but huny through it, and
across the fields to the sandy water's edge.

A curious and interesting scene was here before
me ; the tide was out, and the water was reduced to
what looked like a shallow rivulet, scarcely more than
a ditch in fact, with large patches of mud uncovered,
green with confervoid plants. On the opposite side, to
which one could have thrown a stone, rose a high beach
of pebbles, on which several fishermen's boats were
lying. This was the Chesil Bank, one of the most
singular and most extensive ridges of pebbles in the
world. It is a natural barrier thrown up by the sea,
sixteen miles in length, consisting of smoothly rolled
pebbles of white spar, quartz, jasper, &c., which regu-
larly diminish in size from that of an egg (their dimen-
sions down here) to that of a horse-bean at Abbots-
bury, and thence to mere fine gravel. This bank,
which connects Portland with the main, divides from
the sea of West Bay a very narrow inlet called the
Fleet, which runs up to a length of ten miles, and
forms at the extremity a swannery of about a thou-
sand swans. The creek is the resort in winter of the
Wild Swan, as well as many other species of water-
fowl.

I was curious to observe what zoological features
so remarkable a water might furnish ; and though I
did not obtain much, some peculiarities were noticed.
The little pools left isolated, and the shallow indenta-
tions of the muddy shore, were tenanted by multitudes
of little fishes, which were lying motionless in great
numbers, but shot away so invariably on the ajiproach
of a footfall that it was difficult to ascertain their

74

FLATFISHES.

nature. By perseverance, however, I captured several,
and found them to be the One-spotted Goby ( Gohius
umpunctatus) ; a tiny fish about two inclies long, and
well marked by a spot of rich dark blue on the dorsal
fin. It proved a lively and pleasing tenant of the
Aquarium.

Lying flat on the mud, in many cases with not
more tlian an inch of water above them, enjoying the
light and warmth of the sun, were multitudes of Fleii-
ronectidxB of several species, such as the Brill, the
Plaice, the Dab, and the Sole. All that I saw were
very young, from an inch to two inches in length.
Though easily caught, they are of little value, for they
do not live long in a tank, and are uninteresting from
their sluggish habits, as they lie perfectly still on the
bottom for hours together, trusting for concealment to
the similarity of their russet colour to that of the sand.

By digging in the sand some specimens of the
Launce(^l7?i??iO(fyto) were discovered; a slender silvery
fish, which has the habit of burrowing into the wet
sand on the retreat of the tide ; and also some Bi-
valves, as Pullastra aurea^ and Venus casina. But the
most interesting thing to me was the great multitudes
of Acti'nice that were expanding their flower-like disks
on the surface of the mud beneath the shallow water.
I was for some time disposed to consider this as a
strange species, partly from its colour, but principally
from what appeared to me its unusual locality and
habit ; but I am at length persuaded that it is the
Daisy Anemone (^4. bellis) ; though widely differing
from those individuals which dwell in the hollows of
the honeycombed limestone near Torquay.

THE DAISY ANEMONE.

75

Actinia bellis in tins situation is externally of a dull
wainscot-yellow hue, paler towards the base, which is
usually buried in the mud. The disk is blackish
brown, freckled with grey and white spots, and the
tentacles are similarly coloured. In other particulars,
as of form, aiTangement and number of the tentacles,
&c., it agrees with the normal state of the species; but
the body is thicker in proportion to the disk, which
has not the same tendency to assume the appearance
of a shallow cup.

This was not the first occasion on which I had met
witli this variety of the Daisy Actinia. A few days
before this I had taken a run up the inlet called the
Backwater, and had seen, towards the upper end, in the
shallows of the western side, a great number of dull
yellow objects scattered over the mud of the bottom.
You would suppose them to be pebbles ; but on taking
one up, — which you may easily do witli your hand if
you are in one of those little flat-bottomed skiffs tliat
are here called troughs, but at Poole bear the appella-
tion of canoes, — you perceive that you have captured
an Actinia. The soft, slimy, fetid mud affords no
proper surface for adhesion ; and hence the Anemones
can scarcely be said to adhere in the manner of the
genus, but simply to rest on their basal disk. This,
however, is not owing to any defect in the power of
adhesion, for, on being removed into a vessel of sea-
water, they are soon found clung fast to the bottom
and sides.

In one case I observed the interior of tlie stomacli
protruded from the mouth, in the form of two flat
corrugated semicircular lobes of a greyish hue, that

76

AN ANCIENT VILLAGE.

quite concealed the disk. Presently afterwards I
perceived that this individual had just given birth to
two young ones, one of which was still adhering to the
edge of the mouth. I attempted to remove it, but it
resisted; at length it came away, dragging a third
young one, which was attached to it, out of an orifice
situated at the extremity of a line that divides the
protrusile lobes from each other. After the birth, I
examined this orifice with the lens : its edge appeared
lacerated or jagged, and I found that it led, not into
the stomach, but into the cavity suiTounding the
stomach. I then searched at the opposite extremity
of the dividing line, and found a coiTcsponding orifice
into which I could readily insert a pin without the
least resistance till it reached the sucking base. A
good deal of the contorted filaments commonly called
ovarian, was discharged from botli orifices, which,
lying about, concealed them from view until searched
for.

THE LONG-TONGUED MEDUSA.

I continued my walk over the Ferry Bridge, and
along tlie ridge of pebbles, to the fishing village of
Chesil. It has an aspect of venerable antiquity, arising
chiefly from its being built, even to the poorest fisher-
men's huts, of massive stone ; the door-posts, the win-
dow-sills, the lintels, all of the grey freestone which
constitutes the staple of the island. The vast over-
hanging cliffs of the west side add to the grandeur
and impart an awfulness to the scene, which reminded
me of an exhumed town. The people visible were
few, and those were still, grave, and seemingly only

MEDUSA.

77

half awake, quite unlike the "fast living" people that
one is accustomed to see in these days. Two or three
sailors lounging in as many of the little stone-porches,
a superannuated fisherman with palsied fingers weav-
ing a mat of spunyarn, a little girl with pitcher on
her shoulder going for water to the brook, and a
woman or two half up the steep, and almost over the
houses, hanging out clothes, made up about the sum
total of the moving population.

Indications of the habits and doings of the village,
however, there were. At every second door nets were
hung out to dry ; and pieces of water-logged timber,
splintered and torn by tempests, collections of rusty
nails and iron work, crumpled slieets of green copper,
old blocks, and fragments of cordage, were heaped up
beneath the windows, or lay in the porticoes at every
turn. Fishing and wrecking WTre evidently the cha-
racteristic means of living liere.

I walked along the margin of the shore, wliere the
transparent wavelets of the wide, horizonless sea
were Avasliing the pebbles, and producing a constant
succession of whispering cadences, that fell musically,
the voices of the " many-sounding sea." Medusa3, by
scores, were washed up ; the common Aurelia aurita
lying helpless on the shingle like cakes of jelly, each
marked with four rings of purple. These were the
first Acalephs I had seen this season, and well pleased
I was to see them.

Wearisome walking it is over the pebbly beach ;
the loose stones give way beneath the tread, and at
every step the foot sinks in above the shoe-top. IIow
wonderful to reflect that, with such an apparently

78

LOBSTER FISHERY.

feeble, ever-sliifting material, the Almighty has curbed
the wildest fury of the raging sea, and made its very
rage build up its own barrier !

Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth as if it
had issued out of the womb ? "When I made the cloud the garment
thereof, and thick darkness a swaddjing band for it ; and brake up
for it ray decreed place, and set bars and doors ; and said, Hitherto
shalt thou come, but no further ; and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed?" — Job xxxviii. 8 — 11.

Several mackerel boats were hauled up on the beach,
and, while I stood, a party of stalwart fellows in Guern-
sey frocks and deck boots came running down with
rudder and oars, and, launching one of the skiffs, put
to sea ; for a report prevails that a shoal of Mackerel
had been seen in the offing, their first appearance this
season. Enormous lobster-pots lay about, to which
those used in Weymouth Bay are toys ; and a stout
rope, beset at intervals with great cork-floats, displayed
the device by which the position of tliese cages is
marked, and the manner in which they are raised for
examination ; while just off shore a line of well-boxes
was floating, in which the captured Crustaceans are
kept prisoners of war, till occasion serves for convey-
ing them to market.

Beyond the village the beach gave way to an iron-
bound shore, strewn with boulders and fallen masses
of stone, vast in dimensions, angular, smoooth and
white, heaped on each other in wild confusion. The
sea washed in among them, passing freely into their
interspaces, but not forming pools. Hence very few
sea-weeds were growing here, the surfaces of the rocks
being ever liable to be laid bare by the dashing of the

THE LONG-TONGUED MEDUSA.

79

unmitigated surf. There were, however, on the per-
pendicular and overhanging sides of the blocks, a few
tufts of that peculiarly beautiful, silky, bright-green
Conferva, CladopJwra gracilis^ and one or two of
the equally lovely, crimson-pencilled Callithamnion
corymbosum. TrocJius crassus, a rather rare shell,
was adhering to the rocks.

Here I found myself once more among my favour-
ites, the charming little Naked-eyed Medusse. It
was nearly high-tide, and the sea had the brilliant
crystalline clearness of spring-water: though, on
minute examination, it was seen to hold in suspension
millions of filmy bodies, the exuviae of the countless
acorn-barnacles (BaJanus), that stud tlie lower rocks.

Standing on the huge angular blocks, I dipped with
a ring-net at the end of a staff, and up came several
balls of clear jelly, which when turned into a glass
jar of water proved to be fine specimens of Sarsia
tuhulosa. Again and again the net went down, and
at every plunge brought up more of the same species,
which could be distinctly seen, on bringing the eye
nearer to the water, playing by scores in the sea,
almost wherever I looked.

Another species not less interesting, Bougainvillcca
Britamiica^ accompanied the Sarsicr, but not in any
considerable numbers ; and there were a few of that
lovely animated crystal globe, Cydippe pomiformis^
and a small Thaumantias or two, and many of those
curious, slender, fish-shaped animalcules, named Sa-
(jitta, some of them twice as large as those I had seen
at Ilfracombe, but apparently of the same species.

A week or two later than this, namely at the end of

80

ITS TENTACLES.

May, I found tlie Sarsia even more abundant around
the boulders at the Nothe Point. They were ac-
cumulated by hundreds if not thousands, sliooting
hither and thither near the surface of the clear water,
in the narrow interstices of the rocks, and in the little
inlets, borne in by the incoming flood-tide.

The size, the perfect transparency, the elegant form,
and the extraordinary vivacity of this species render
it one of the most interesting of the Medusae, for keep-
ing in a glass vessel of sea-water. Its shape is that
of an ellipse, of which about a third has been cut off
at one end ; a tall bell of the purest crystal, a little
narrowed at the mouth. At four equi-distant points on
the margin of this bell are placed as many knobs,
within each of which is a bright red speck, and from
every one of the knobs depends a tentacle resem-
bling a slender thread. Often these threads are
shrivelled up till they are not more than a quarter of
an incli long ; more commonly they are about an inch
and a half in length, but occasionally, when the Sarsia
rests motionless in the water, a little turned over on
one side, its tentacles are allowed to hang down in the
deep to a great length ; five inches I have seen them
extended, as measured by a rule placed against the
side of the glass. When thus stretched, they appear
like a thread of excessive tenuity ; but if you look very
closely you may see even with the naked eye that it is
not a simple thread, but rather a string of the most
minute white beads, which when placed under the
microscope are discovered to be a series of thickened
knobs, arranged in an imperfect spiral round the cen-
tral filament.

THE PEDUNCLE.

81

But the most remarkable and conspicuous feature
in this Medusa is the peduncle, which depends, like
the clapper of a bell, from the centre of the roof. This
is a somewhat thick, fleshy, cylindrical organ, capable
of energetic movements, and particularly of enormous
elongation and contraction. Sometimes it is shortened
so as to be wholly contained in the concavity of the
bell, being more or less curled up at the same time ;
at others it is lengthened and allowed to protrude far
beyond the margin, hanging down, — not merely to
twice the length of the body," as Professor Forbes
says ; — this gives a very inadequate idea of its powers
— but to Jive times that length. I carefully measured
one which was lying quite still, near the side of the
glass (a vessel with straight sides, so tliat there was no
irregular refraction), by applying an ivory scale to it ;
the peduncle was twenty lines in length, though the bell
was scarcely four. The basal part of this long tongue is
abruptly diminished to a mere thread, and though this
is not conspicuous when the organ is contracted, it
becomes a marked character in the extended condi-
tion ; in the case I have just mentioned the thread-
like neck formed just one-tliird of the whole length,
itself reaching far beyond the margin of the bell.

The motions of the Sarsice are more energetic than
those of any other Medusa that I am acquainted with.
In the unbounded freedom of their native sea, and in
the limited dimensions of a glass vase, they are alike
sprightly. By rapid pump-like contractions of their
umbrella, they dart through the water, and shoot round
and round, almost with the force and swiftness of a
swimming fish. The summit of the bell always goes

82

ITS VORACITY.

foremost, whether the direction of the movement be
vertical, horizontal, or, as is most commonly the case,
oblique ; and the tentacles, and the long white pro-
boscis, drag behind in trailing lines. Now and anon,
the shooting is suddenly suspended, the bell hangs
over and remains awhile motionless, the tentacles are
allowed to depend like spiders' webs, or are suddenly
drawn up into shrivelled puckers, become mutually
entangled and intertwisted, then slowly free themselves
and hang down again. Sometimes the motionless
bell itself sinks very gradually, and the tentacle-
threads take the most elegant curves and arches in
their descent.

The Sarsia is voracious, and the long and flexible
peduncle is not only the stomach which digests the
prey, but the hand that stretches forth to seek and
to grasp it. I put into the bottle containing several
the minute green-eyed fry of some fish, newly hatched,
about half-an-inch in length. In a very few minutes
I saw that a Sarsia had caught the little fish, which
was seized and partly swallowed by the clubbed extre-
mity of the peduncle. For hours afterwards the prey
was visible, though more and more engulphed ; the
large head and prominent green eyes of the victim
being very conspicuous.*

* Professor Agassiz, with whose masterly tract on a closely allied
species I was not at this time acquainted, states that Sarsia mirahilisy
with all the small Naked-eyed Medusae of the North American coasts,
disappears about the middle of summer, being killed by the heavy
rains of that season. (Mem. Amer. Acad. iv. 228.) If I were to judge
only by my Weymouth experience, I should say our Naked-eyed
Medusae conformed to the same rule ; as, though I searched often in
various situations, I scarcely obtained an individual of any species
after the date above mentioned. Yet, in the Bristol Channel, many

THE TROCHT.

83

PEARL-SHELLS.

Of the shelled JloUusca which the dredge ever and
anon brings up, the Trochi are among the most con-
spicuous for beauty. T. zizipMnus is exceedingly-
common in deep water, and not rare within tide-
marks. Its very regularly conic form, and the blotches
of dark purple that run in a spire round and round
the shell, are pleasing to the eye ; and the ani-
mal, which crawls freely in confinement, is richly
coloured, being of the tint of a ripe melon, striped
with black. [See Plate I.) One or two specimens
of a pure white variety of this species have occuiTcd
to me.

Though this is a shell of considerable size, it is ex-
ceeded in that respect, and (in the estimation of some,
probably) in that of beauty also, by T, granulatus.
The latter is esteemed a somewhat rare shell ; but in
this Bay, and off Portland, it is not at all uncommon.
In shape it is equally elegant with the former, the shell
tapering to a conical point, and displaying a surface
sculptured with spiral raised lines, each of which is
composed of a number of minute rounded knobs, like
a string of beads. Its texture is somewhat fragile,
and its colour a faint flesh- tint or yellowish white,
slightly dashed with purple.

In captivity the animal is rather chary of displaying
itself ; which is the more to be regretted since it is

kinds, from the minute Tiirris ner/lecta upwards, swarmed during the
months of August, September, and October, in 1852 ; and it is gene-
rally considered that the latter pai-t of summer and autumn is the
most favourable season for siu lying all the Medusae of our coasts.

a 2

«4

ARTIFICIAL PEARLS.

large and handsome. The large lappets on each side
of the neck, and the wing-like appendages of the
mantle, fmiiished with tentacular filaments, are con-
spicuous when it crawls ; though these parts are less
vividly coloured than in its more common congener.
Neither species, unfortunately, thrives, according to
my experience, in an Aquarium ; they sometimes ob-
stinately refuse to protrude from the very first, and,
after lingering a few days, die where they were put in.

The chief glory of this genus is the richly pearled
internal surface of their shells, in which they are not
excelled by any, even of the true margaritiferous bi-
valves. Both of the species I have named are very
brilliant, and it might be worth while to experiment
on them in the manner in which it is reported that
pearls are artificially produced by those ingenious
rogues the Chinese. Dr. Gray says that they intro-
duce little pieces of silver wire, bent into a peculiar
form, between the mantle of the pearl-oyster, while
yet alive, and the shell — not perforating the shell, as
has been sometimes stated. This zoologist himself
tried the experiment on the Unio^ a bivalve of our
fresh waters, and was very sanguine as to its success; —
but I have never heard of any one having suggested
the formation of pearls by the Troclii^ though, as these
beautiful objects are produced spontaneously by some
univalves (as Stromhus^ for example), I do not see
why it may not be possible. The origin of loose
pearls is known to be the irritation caused by some
extraneous body, to get rid of which the secreting
surface of the animal throws off*, in unusual quan-
tity, the brilliant nacreous matter. This, investing

THE GOBLET LUCERNARIA.

85

the offending substance, conceals its points and
roughnesses, and, in process of time, becomes round
by the addition of successive coats of pearl.

May not the Christian learn the happy art of con-
verting every thorn in the flesh " into a pearl for
his heavenly diadem ? " For these light afflictions,
which are but for a moment, work out for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

THE GOBLET LUCERNARIA.

The shore of the Bay known by the name of Bel-
mont, curving between the Nothe and Byng-Cliff,
consists of a series of low ledges almost horizontal,
running east and west, with a very gentle dip to the
southward. They arc for the most part densely co-
vered with a matted drapery of Fucus serrafus and
canalicidatus, wliicli hangs over tlie northern edges,
and conceals the narrow clefts that traverse them. If
we go at low water as far down as we can reach, and lift
the heavy masses from the ledges, and from tlie clefts,
we shall find them no unprofitable liunting ground.
Many kinds of delicate sea-weeds grow under the
shadow of the coarse olive Fuci, and among them
crawl many Nudibrancli Mollusca and otlicr interest-
ing creatures.

It was here that I met with the Goblet Luceniaria
{L. ci/athiformis), apparently a rare species, since it
seems to have been seen by only two observers, the
Norwegian zoologist Sars, who first described it, and
Dr. Landsborougli, who gave it a place in the Britisli
Fauna, by finding it on the coast of Arran. Dr.
Jolmston has given in his Britisli Zoophytes, p. 475,

86

ITS DISK.

a short description and a figure taken from this latter
specimen. The specimen which I have found is evi-
dently indentical with this, though there are some
differences in the form.

When extended, it stands about one-third of an inch
in height, shaped like a goblet, with an oval body,
somewhat flattened, being broad in one aspect, and
thin in another at right angles to it. This is perpen-
dicularly corrugated, so as to form four irregular lobes.
Above the body there is a decided neck or constriction,
not indicated in Dr. Johnston's figure, above which
the tentacular disk expands much like the mouth of a
phial. Below, the body is supported by a corrugated
footstalk, capable of considerable extension and con-
traction, terminating in a flat, dilated, sucking disk.

Viewed from above, the tentacular disk is seen to be
a pellucid gelatinous membrane, of a form indistinctly
stellar, with eight points. The spaces between the
points are furnished with tcntacula, about twelve in
each space, which are short, rather crowded, and set
in three rows, a little overarching the margin. Those
in the middle of the interspace are the longest, and
the length diminislies on each side : the points them-
selves are destitute of tentacles. The tentacles are
composed of a thick cylindrical stem, which has a
central opaque core ; and a globular white head, which,
under a power of 200 diameters, showed neither hairs
nor ciliary action, but appeared viscous. The tenta-
cles originate without the margin of the disk, for
the edge of the latter is distinctly traced within
their bases.

The delicate transparent disk is sliallowly funnel-

ITS HABITS.

87

shaped, descending abruptly in the centre, where rises
a cup-like mouth of a greenish hue, formed of thin
membrane, capable of considerable motion, sometimes
taking a circular shape, and at others wrinkled into
four lobes or lips, strongly reminding one of the
peduncle of many 'Medusae. Each of these lobes
corresponds with one, taken alternately, of the mar-
ginal angles, as do also four black spots, rising from
the interior of the body, and projecting into the disk
immediately around the mouth. These spots are the
summits of as many dark bands that are seen running
down the body longitudinally, and which appear to
be connected with the ovaries, for eacli of them is
bounded by a series of pale egg-like bodies, the upper
exti'cmity of each series running off in a number of
globular white corpuscles towards each of the eight
marginal interspaces.

The general colour of the animal is a pale dusky
brown or grey, the tint becoming warmer in some
parts. The translucency of the integument reveals
the internal organs, and hence the light and dark
bands already spoken of are conspicuous.

When I discovered the little creature it was attached
by its foot to a fragment of rock. For convenience of
examination I gently dislodged its sucker, as I would
have removed an Actinia, supposing it would soon
adhere to the sides of its vessel. Wliile I have liad
it, however, it has showed no inclination to refix itself,
but lies at length on the bottom. The tentacular
disk is habitually expanded, and it is not at all timid
or impatient of handling. If rough usage be applied,
and especially if it be lifted out of the water, it ])re-

88

ITS THREAD-CAPSULES.

sently enfolds the margin to so great an extent as
nearly to conceal the tentacles. The footstalk is also
contracted by corrugation, but no sooner is it immersed
again than this is lengthened, and the tentacles are
expanded as before. The changes in the outline of
the lips, and slight jerkings of the body to and fro,
or corrugations of the surface in various degrees,
constitute the chief of its movements.

On cutting off the globular head of a tentacle and
submitting it to pressure, I found the structure to
contain a moderate number of minute thread-capsules,
about TTtrcrth of an inch in length, of two forms : — the
one long-oval, apparently carrying a simple thread ;
the other oval, with a distinct internal chamber near
one end, indicating an armature on the thread. The
threads were projected from the former in several in-
stances, but I saw no example of the propulsion of the
latter.

I afterwards obtained a second specimen of this
little Lucernaria^ on a similar rocky ledge which runs
out from the eastern point of Lulworth Cove. In
every respect it agreed with the one above described,
which may therefore be considered as representing its
normal condition. Though inconspicuous for size or
colour, it is a form of much interest to the naturalist,
as it is evidently much less aberrant from the Actiniae
proper, with which its affinities connect it, than the
broad gelatinous-disked species to which the genus
Lucernaria was confined before the discovery of L.
cyathiformis. Though still peculiar, the form is not
very remote from that of the genus Corynactis^ by
which, as I conceive, it is linked with Actinia.

CHAPTER V.

How various the shades of marine vegetation,

Thrown here the rough flints and sea-pebbles among !

The feathered Conferva of deepest carnation,
The dark purple Sloke, and the olive Sea-thong !

Charlotte Smith.

Every one who has paid a visit to Weymouth is
familiar with the Nothe, an elevated promontory that
juts out a considerable distance to the eastward,
forming the southern boundary of the harbour. It is
a favourite walk ; and great numbers of persons climb
on a summer s afternoon the steep steps that lead up
to its grassy summit, whence they tuni, and cast a
glance at the busy ship-yard and the naiTOW harbour
lying beneath their feet, and, beyond the pier, at the
crowded esplanade receding in its sweeping curve till
it is lost in the distant shore. The long and lofty
barrier of this headland affords a most valuable shel-
ter from the violence of the south and west winds,
completely protecting the harbour in this quarter;
and the benefit thus gained is often sensibly aj)pre-
ciated when, from the quiet calm below, we mount the
ridge and suddenly encounter the force of a breeze
that is curling the waters of the Bay, and covering the
dark green space between us and Portland witli broad
sheets of driving foam. The extremity of the pro-
montory is occupied by the premises of the Coast-

90

THE MIXON.

guard, whence those hardy fellows are often exer-
cised in artillery practice, firing their one great gun
at a signal fixed on a Ibuoy some mile or two out
at sea.

A fine and substantial jetty of hewn stone has been
built out from the base of the point, lengthening the
harbour ; on the end of which a large lamp lighted with
gas from the town indicates the entrance to the port
in the hours of darkness. For the protection of this
important work from heavy seas, which are apt to pre-
vail from the south and east, and which have ere now
proved very injurious to it, a sort of breakwater has
been formed about thirty or forty yards off, which is
called the Mixon. It was made by throwing large
stones overboard, until a heap was accumulated, suffi-
cient to appear above the surface. The action of the
waves settled their angles one with another, and
gradually gave the mass considerable solidity ; and it
now appears as a low island of rocks, covered at
ordinary high tides.

Within the numberless crevices of this mass of un-
shapen stones, which run down to considerable depth,
though without possessing that isolation of the con-
tained water which would constitute them pools, grow
Alga3 of many species in more than littoral vigour.
The margins of the heap, especially the shoreward
margins, which enjoy a more protected sea, are fringed
with luxuriant tufts, and the surfaces of the individual
blocks are studded with hundreds of fine specimens.
In fact it is a varied, well-filled, and fertile garden of
marine botany, and the algologist who may visit
Weymouth will find it well worth his while to explore

SEA-WEEDS.

91

the Mixon. It can be reached only by means of a
boat, and can be examined only at low water of spring-
tides, and then only (at least with any comfort) pro-
vided no sea is running, as otherwise the breakers wash
over the mass, and prevent examination. A wet foot
is pretty sure to be an accompaniment of the expedi-
tion; for the angular blocks, offering here only project-
ing points, and there surfaces sloping in all angles of
obliquity, and draped with wet and slippery beds of
EnteromorpJice and other weeds, afford but a pre-
carious foot-hold for one used to these rough rocks,
and to an unpractised tread are sure to prove treach-
erous. In summer, however, a partial immersion
in these crystal waters is an evil of no terrible
magnitude.

The Lammarice luxuriate on the shelving outer
margin, and toss their broad brown fronds to and fro
in the rolling seas, like forest trees that rock in the
gales of autumn. But it is chiefly the red and gTcen
families of Algae that flourish here ; the Winged and
the Sinuated Delesserice ; the excessively ramified
Plocainiurn, whose brilliant crimson trees are so much
in demand by those who make mimic landscapes out
of dried sea-weeds ; the pencilled PolysiplionicB ; the
brush-like Dasya ; the feathery Ptilota ; and various
species of elegant Ceramia, so easily recognised by
their regularly jointed stems and double incurved tips;
and the tender Callithamma, among the most deli-
cately lovely, though the most minute, of marine Alga;.
Several species of Clado;phora, also, here spring from
the rocky surface in greater or less abundance, forming
pencil-like tufts of various hues of green, some indeed

92

LAYER.

dull and sombre, but others brilliantly vivid and
silky. And, besides the large lettuce-like leaves of
Ulva^ which here attain unusual size, great patches
of rock are covered with the equally large and still
more tender fronds of Porpliyra^ of a brownish-purple
tint, bearing no small resemblance in texture and
surface to gold-beater's skin, and which in the esteem
of some persons, perhaps, presents the sole redeeming
trait of "utility" amidst a Class proverbially "vile,"
since it contributes to the indulgence of their appe-
tite. For this is the Sloke, or Laver, which, being
stewed to jelly and served up with lemon-juice, is a
favourite dish at the tables of many. For myself, I
am free to confess that the exquisite beauty of form
and colour displayed by many of these humble plants ;
the delicacy of their simple structure ; and tlie pur-
poses which they evidently serve in the great chain of
being, of which it has been truly said —

From !N'ature*s chain whatever link you strike, —
Tenth or ten thousandth, — breaks the chain alike — '

are sufficient qualifications to redeem them from the
baseless charge of vileness, even without any preten-
sions to sapidity.

And while I am speaking of beauty, I will mention
a species of sea-weed that possesses it of a very pecu-
liar character, and in an extraordinary degi'ce. It
gi'ows in the vicinity of the Mixon, though not ex-
actly on it ; and indeed this is the only locality in
which I have met with it. It is the Cystoseira eri-
coides. Between the Mixon and the end of the jetty,
in about a fathom's depth, we discern, as the boat

THE CYSTOSEIRA.

93

glides smoothly along, a bush here and there of large
size springing from the bottom, conspicuous above
the olive and purple bed of common weeds by its
light greenish grey colour. These are the plants in
question. It is difficult to procure a growing speci-
men, for the rocks to which the plants are attached
are here all rather large and heavy masses, and the
depth of water even at low-tide prevents the use of
the hammer and chisel. By means of a boat-hook,
however, I have torn up considerable portions of a
shrub, from which I have then carefully severed un-
injured branches, which, being bound to the surface
of a shell or stone, survived some time in an Aquarium,
and displayed their remarkable gorgeousness of colour
to great advantage. None of this is visible when the
specimen is removed from the water; it is a shrub
with stout compact branches of a pale ycllowisli-olive
hue, set with needle-like leaves, whence its trivial
name of ericoides or heath-like while another
marked character is the swelling of the branches into
oval air-bladders, which, though solitary in this species,
more generally run in strings of several in succession,
as indicated by the generic name Cystoseira or Uad-
der chainy But the moment the plant is submerged
all its glory returns : the pale olive branches become
invested with a most brilliant flush of iridescent light
blue, not changeable in tint, though varying in inten-
sity according to the play of light that falls upon it.
Thus it may be compared to some Christians, who
are dull and profitless in prosperity, but whose gi^aces
shine out gloriously when they are plunged into the
deep floods of afilictiou.

94

THE AQUARIUM.

MY OWN TANK.

As the principal subject of these pages is the Marine
Aquarium, including, and indeed subsidiary to, the
history of the plants and animals which it enables us
to keep under our observation, it may not be imperti-
nent in me to give some account in detail of my own.
Hitherto I had contented myself with cylindrical glass
vases, ten inches in height and five in diameter, which
answer admirably for small objects ; with wide shallow
pans of yellow and white ware ; and with a foot-bath
of the latter. These, though affording opportunity
for many interesting observations, were deficient in
some points, which would be supplied by a tank of
ampler dimensions, with parallel sides to prevent
unequal refraction and consequent distortion, and
made wholly of plate-glass, to allow distinct vision
in every part.

Such a vessel I have had made under my own direc-
tion ; and as it will be the chief medium of most of
the notes that occur in the subsequent pages of this
work, I will describe in detail its dimensions, form,
and structure ; the mode in which I filled and stocked
it ; with some accounts of failure and disappointment
to serve as beacons, as well as of success to stimulate
with encouragement. I do not hold it up as a perfect
example, but as an essay actually made, 'Svith all its
imperfections on its head."

The tank is 2 feet long, 1| foot wide, 1| foot deep;
the sides and ends of y^ths plate-glass ; the bottom
of slate ; the corners of birch-wood, turned into pillars,
each surmounted by a knob, and united by a frame top

THE BOTTOM.

95

going all round. The glass is set in grooves in the
slate and wood, and fastened with white-lead putty.
I first stocked it before the emanations of the putty
&c. had sufficiently gone off; and hence the plants and
animals died almost as fast as they were put in, rarely
surviving the first night, although the water was
renewed from the sea once and sometimes twice a day.
The Mullet-fry and a few Actinias alone survived the
experiment, which was continued for a week.

At the end of that time I emptied it, had it carefully
cleansed and rinsed with fresh water, and allowed it
to remain in the open sun and air for a week, when I
judged all smell from the paint had ceased.

I now refilled it. The mode in which tliis was done
was as follows. First I laid on the bottom a stratum
of stiff blue clay, varying in thickness from two inches
to half-an-inch. On this a layer of small pebbles,
coarse gravel, fine gi-avel, and sand, was put, so as to
afford varieties of bottom. Then pieces of rock were
carefully put in, so selected and arranged as to make
arched passages and overhanging shelters, with one
mass rising pyramidally to within a few inches of the
surface.

The sea-weeds, attached to fragments of stone,
were now introduced ; the larger and heavier on the
bottom, the smaller and more delicate laid on the
ledges of the rocks, or inserted into the crevices.
Among the former was a large tuft of Furcellaria
fastigiata, two of Cliondrus crispus, two of Rho<hi-
meniapalmata, one of Dictyota dichotoma, a small
plant of Fucus serratus, one of Lammarta du/itata
(young), two tufts of Padina pavonia, and several

96

THE WATER.

masses of CoralUna officinalis in the encrusting state.
Among the latter were three tufts of Griffithsia setacea,
one of Delesseria alata, two of Plocamium coccineum^
and one large and one small bush of Phyllopliora
rubens. To these were added, about ten days after-
wards, a mass of Zostera marina.

About twenty gallons of sea- water, dipped from the
quay steps while the tide was coming in, were poured
into the tank, a plate being held under the stream, to
prevent the displacement of the contents by the falling
water. It was rather turbid at first, but soon cleared,
and in about two days became quite crystalline,
except a slight tinge of green, which always remained ;
not enough to alter the hue of any object in the vessel,
but perceptible, by contrast wth the clear air, when
the whole body of the fluid was looked through.

No animals were fut in till the third day, but from
the weeds multitudes of minute creatures swarmed
forth, quite peopling the water. At night the applica-
tion of a candle revealed a vast number of tiny animals
clinging to the sides, and visible through the clear
glass ; Annelides of the genus Syllis ; Rissoce and
other minute shell-fish : but principally Isopodous
and Entomostracous Crustacea^ for the most part so
small as to require a lens for their detection. The
careful examination of the water with the triple power
of a pocket-lens made manifest also that an immense
number of Infusoria and some Rotifera were tenant-
ing the tank.

These, especially the Crustacea^ could be drawn to
any part of the vessel by the moving of the candle ;
for when this was placed within an inch or two of the

MINUTE CRUSTACEA.

97

side, the living atoms would presently be seen crowd-
ing up to that part by myriads, and studding the
glass in the vicinity, just as if it were covered with
fine dust. I subsequently availed myself of this ac-
quaintance with the habits of the Entomostraca, to
provide food for the smaller fishes ; for I found that
they soon disappeared, not a trace being left of their
presence after the Tank had been stocked a few days,
they doubtless having been devoured by the Wrasses
and Mullets. I therefore gathered some tufts of the
more bushy sea- weeds, and allowed them to remain
floating in the Tank for an hour or two in the evening,
a candle being placed outside. The result was the
same as I have described ; the vast numbers that
swarmed out were really astonishing ; and I was
pleased to sec the little Mullets flock up to the spot
where the light revealed the tiny prey, and pick the
atoms from the glass, one by one, as fast as they
could seize them ; and yet the hosts crowded on,
faster than they could be devoured.

The animals of which I could take distinct cogni-
sance were as follow.

1 Fiftcen-spincd Stickleback Gasferosteus spinachia

7 Grey Mullet (young) Mu(jil capito

1 Black Goby Gohius niger

1 Corkwing Crenilabriis Cornuhicus

1 5-beard Rockling MotelJa 5-cirrata

1 Great Pipefish (young) Syngnatlius acns

1 Deep-nosed Pipe „ tyiiMe

2 Worm Pipe „ himhriciformis
2 Ashy Top Trochus cinerarius

1 Navel Do. „ umhiUcatus

II

98

THE STOCK.

3 Common Periwinkle Littorma Uttorea

3 Yellow Do.

1 Purple

1 Scrobicularia

1 Anomia

2 Common Cockle
5 Ascidia

5, Uttoralis
Purpura lapillus

Cardium edule

2 Hermit Crab
1 Do.
4 Sand Shrimp
1 Prawn

Pagurus Bernhardiis
„ Prideauxii
Crangon vulgaris
Paleemon serratus

3 Crown Worm

3 White-lined Worm

Serpula triquetra
Nereis hilineata

2 Parasitic
6 Plumose
5 Daisy

2 Tliick-homed Anemone Actinia crassicorms

3 Weymouth Do. „ clavata
Do. „ parasitica
Do. ,, dianthus
Do. „ hellis

The Actinice were dispersed about the pieces of rock,
in the reticulate cavities of a large piece of Eschara
foliacea^ and in the holes of Coralline-covered stones.
The SerpuldR and the AscidicB were attached to Oyster
shells, as was the Anomia ; the other animals, being
vagrant, chose their own resting-places and wanderings.

In about a week after the original stocking, the
following animals were added to the collection in the
Tank :—

1 jiEquoreal Pipefish
1 Rough Doris

Syngnathus cequoreus
Doris pilosa

THE STOCK.

99

2 Magus Top
1 Nerite

1 Squin
1 Pholas
1 Pisa

1 Cleanser Crab

1 Ebalia

1 Hermit (small)

3 Lobster-prawn
1 Brittle-star

1 Eyed Cribella

2 Scarlet Sunstar
1 Birclsfoot Star

3 Gibbous Starlet

1 Pui^le-tipped Urchin
7 Scarlet Madrepore
(from Ilfracombe)
3 Cloak Anemone

Trockus magus
Natica Alderi
Pecten opercularis
Pholas parva
Pisa tetraodon
Portunus depurator
Ebalia Pennantii

Pagurus ?

Athanas mtescens
Ophtocoma rosula
Cribella oculata
Solaster papposa
Palmipes membranacetis
Asterina gibbosa
Echinus miliaris

Balanophyllia regia

Adamsia palliata
Tlius there were nearly a hundred animals in this
Tank ; a number which I found far too great ; for
though they did not crowd the vessel at all apparently,
nor seem disproportioned to the space they occupied,
it became evident that the exhaustion of the oxygen
of the water went on more rapidly than it could be re-
newed, either by the evolution from the living plants,
or by the combination with this of artificial aeration,
by allowing two or three gallons a day to drip from a
vessel suspended over the Tank at the height of about
four feet.

For about ten days the animals appeared pretty
well ; a little diminution occurring from the assaults of
the predatory species on their weaker fellows. Then

h2

100

THE BLACK GOBY.

many of the more delicate began to grow sluggish and
manifestly unhealthy; some of the Fishes, of the
MoUusks, particularly the univalves, and the smaller
Crustacea, died off one by one ; and the water began
to have a tainted odour, arising, as I discovered, from
the carcases of some of the animals that had died
beneath the shelter of the stones.

The whole contents were therefore removed : the
plants and animals, — such of them, at least, as appeared
in health, — being temporarily placed in a pan, while the
water, sand, gravel, and clay were thrown away, the
interior of the tank well cleansed, and refilled with
new materials. With these I got on better ; though, as
it was always an object with me to have as many
animals under observation as possible, I did not care
to confine the number to such as would maintain the
balance with the plants. I preferred to change the
water periodically, as the sea flowed invitingly up to
the very door, and accordingly renewed it regularly
about once in three weeks.

THE BLACK GOBY.

This fish [Gobius niger)^ of which I had several
about three inches long, soon became tame, feeding
readily. After a few weeks they would come out of
their shelter as soon as a stick was put into the water,
and at length grew so bold as to snap at and seize
the stick. A little Two-spot Goby ( G. Uuthensparri)
elicited the cannibal propensities of his black cousin ;
for no sooner was the little creature put into the tank,
than presently the Black Goby caught sight of him,
and, rushing towards him, seized him by the tail,

ITS FEKOCITY.

101

which was in a moment engulfed in the capacious
throat. The Blackie glared like a demon as mth
dilated head he held fast his victim ^ clutching further
and further hold by repeated jerks : the delicate, pel-
lucid head of the unfortunate prey, projecting from
the cavernous mouth, panted and rolled its eyes in
pain, but there was no escape ; for now nothing was
visible but the head, when the ferocious victor shot
under an umbrageous weed, and on my next sight of
him all trace of his meal was gone.

The ferocity of this little fish is manifested even
towards its own species ; one can scarcely come within
sight of another without the stronger darting at the
weaker, and pursuing him with pertinacity for a con-
siderable distance, following him in all his doublings
and shifts, and through all the crevices and passages
which he essays in flight, for some time.

The Black Goby habitually loves retirement ; lurk-
ing under the shelter of the rocks and weeds, yet often
coming into view. He proceeds by starts, as if with
efforts, shooting a few inches, and resting a while
between the strokes, never floating and turning about
in the water, like surface-fishes. Near the bottom is
his proper sphere ; he never comes near the surface
except when, very hungry and eager, he sees a frag-
ment of food at the top, and shoots up perpendicularly
to seize it, turning instantly downward to his depths
again.

The colours of this fish are subject to gi'cat change,
probably connected with the passions. When it
seizes its food, especially if it is a living prey, the
general hue is a dull bluish black, nearly uniform, but

102

ITS ADHESIVE POWER.

occasionally varied with slight cloudings of a deeper
tint of the same colour. At other times, when lying
still, the body is of a pale pellucid hrown, with drab
clouds, and patches of white specks. The first
dorsal is always of an orange-fawn colour. The eyes
are striking, being of a pale blue, exactly like two
turquoises.

It is a characteristic of the fishes of this genus that
the ventral fins are soldered together, as it were, by
their inner edges, so as to form an oval disk. The
-object of this is the adhesion of the body by means
of a vacuum. Colonel Montagu, indeed, says of this
species, — In no instance have we observed that they
adhered either to rocks or to the bottom of the glass
vessel in which they have been kept alive for several
days."^ But I have seen the Black Goby adhering to
the glass sides of my Aquarium by its ventral sucker
repeatedly, thougli not until it had become familiar-
ized to its home by several weeks' captivity.

THE GREY MULLET.

Some half-dozen Mullet-fry, from an inch to an
inch and a quarter long, proved very hardy, surviving
apparently uninjured, even when the exudations from
the putty and paint killed everything else, even the
Actinias, before the Tank was seasoned. I attribute
this immunity to their constant habit of keeping at the
surface, where the water becomes perpetually aerated ;
for they rarely descend far below this, but play day
and night at the top of the water. They are social

* MS. quoted in Yarrell's Br. Fishes, i. 283.

THE GREY MULLET. 103

little fishes, congregating together into a little schull
as soon as put in, and always manifesting a tendency
to association. They were amusing, from their live-
liness, being never at rest, but ever swimming way-
wardly to and fro, most vivaciously ; and from the
eagerness with which they fed. Any minute atoms of
food, either vegetable or animal, they greedily devoured.
A bit of apple or pear-pulp, or of a ripe plum, or crumb
of bread, slightly chewed and spat into the water,
became the centre of rapid evolutions, the result of
w^hich was that every atom was cleared away before it
had descended many inches below the surft\ce. A
morsel of meat, or of fish, cooked, or the flesh of
prawn, treated in the same way, was devoured with the
same eagerness ; but perhaps the favourite food was
the spawn of a Prawn, or Shrimp, either cooked
or raw, every egg of which was snapped up as it
sank.

They were rather pugnacious, cliasing each otlicr
about, when one was more successful than usual, just
as chickens do, and often snatching the food from
each other's mouth.

When, through a predominance of animal life over
the vegetable, or from any otlier cause, the water in
the Tank has become to a considerable extent deprived
of its oxygen, I have noticed tliat the little Mullets
endeavour to supply the deficiency by protruding
their mouths from the surface and sucking in moutli-
fuls of air, presently disgorging a number of minute
bubbles, generally from the mouth, but occasionally
through the gill-aperture. That animals of aquatic
respiration are able for a time to oxygenate their

104 INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON COLOUR.

venous blood from air alone is proved by the fact that
many Fishes, MoUusks, and Zoophytes are able to
sm'vive for a long time a privation of water, provided
their respiratory organs be exposed to the atmosphere,
and be preserved from becoming dry ; while immersion
in water from which the oxygen has been exhausted
woukl presently prove fatal.

These little fishes afford another example of the
power of mental emotions in changing colours.
When pursued and caught with a net, in order to
transfer them from one vessel to another, they become
of pale semi-pellucid drab hue, on the back, with
three reddish lines. But after they have been put in,
they gradually resume their original colour, appearing
in a few minutes of a dark iron grey. Doubtless fear
produces this change, as it does in some of the
Reptiles — the Gecko, for example, as I know from
observation.

THE ANCIENT WRASSE.

Among the fishes which are now brouglit to market,
the Wrasses are conspicuous for the splendom' of their
colouring. They have put on their summer attire ; —
I know not whether, like our humble country belles,
they choose Whitsunday as the day of their first
appearance in holiday hues, but it was just about
that time that the magnificent Ancient Wrasse
{Lahrus maculatus) first fell under my notice, and
since that time the species has become increasingly
common.

The fishermen call this, as well as other species of

THE ANCIENT WRASSE.

105

the same genus, by the name of Conner. They take
it chiefly with hook and line on rocky ground ; and as
the hook often catches the fish by its thick fleshy lips,
no material injury is suffered by it. Hence I get spe-
cimens of remarkable beauty brought to me alive and
in health, notwithstanding the small dimensions of
the vessel in which they are held, perhaps a slop-
basin, or some three or four in a little mess-kid, barely
wide enough to allow them to turn. But this genus
is very hardy, and one of the most easily kept in an
Aquarium ; a fortunate circumstance, seeing that the
splendour of several of our species is such as can
scarcely be exceeded by the most richly-tinted deni-
zens of the tropical seas.

Great variety in the hues, and in their arrangement
or pattern, is displayed by the Ancient Wrasse. Two
specimens can scarcely be found exactly alike. Red
and green are the ordinary hues, sometimes pretty
equally balanced, at others the one hue predominating
almost to the exclusion of the other. The colours, too,
run through various gradations ; the red from orange
to scarlet, blood-red, and crimson ; the green from
blue to sea-green, gi-ass-grecn, olive and brown. One
of the most beautiful varieties that I have seen, and
one not uncommon, is that in which the green is
almost obliterated, appearing only on the head and
shoulders ; while the body, browTi above, softening to
silver-white on the sides and belly, is covered by
a net-work pattern of deep vermilion, the meshes
being irregular, but massive, and most rich in effect.
The fins are often orange, with bands or spots of
transparent gTcen.

106

THE CORKWING.

The Frontispiece to this volume represents such a
specimen, a little less than the natural size. The
fish attains, indeed, much greater dimensions, but the
most brilliantly colom'ed individuals are usually about
six inches in length. I have represented it as lurk-
ing under a projecting ledge of rock, a situation it
loves to haunt, under the shadow of the branching
tufts of sea- weeds, from which it picks its insect food.
The Sea-weeds introduced into the picture are as fol-
low : — immediately in front of the fish is a plant of
Chondrm crispus ; below its breast is tlie woolly
green Cladophora unciaUs^ a little species remarkable
for its compactness, and for the abrupt termination of
its tufts. Towards the left are seen two or three
fronds of the cm'ious and elegant Peacock's Tail
{Padina pavonia)y of which I have something to say
presently ; while springing from the same point, and
arching over the back of tlie fish, is a single leaf,
— almost as thin and pellucid as tissue-paper, — of
Punctaria latifolia.

THE CORKWING.
The most common of all our Wrasses is the little
Corkwing {Crenilahrus Cornuhicus). It is less pre-
tentious than some of its fellows ; yet bright-colom^ed
specimens are very pretty, and their minuteness,
hardiness, and lively maimers make them very desira-
ble tenants of an Aquarium. The common dimensions
are about two inches in length, but specimens are not
rare of twice that size. The colour is green, more or
less brilliant; large and well-coloured individuals may
be confoimded with the Green Wrasse {Lahrus Dono-

ITS BUSINESS-HABITS.

107

vam), which is also not rare with us ; but the little
Corkwing may be distinguished by having the fore
gill-plate minutely toothed along its free edge, and by
a black spot on each side of the tail, just before the
commencement of the tail-fin. Mr. Yarrell speaks of
the Green Wrasse as if it were a great rarity : but I
have had many specimens, some of which agreed accu-
rately with Donovan's beautiful figure. It attains six
or seven inches in length. To both species Ovid's
descriptive line will apply : —

"Turn viridis squamis, parvo Saxatilis ore

for all the Wrasses have the mouth small, though the
lips are thick ; and all may be designated by the term
Saxatilis, or Eoch-fislu

The little Corkwing frequents the fissures in the
rocky ledges, and is abundant all along the quays
within the harbour, hiding beneath the hanging fringe
of Fuci, that grows between tide-marks. The prawn-
catchers take them abundantly with their dip-nets,
when raking these sea- weeds ; in company with the
Fifteen-spined Stickle-back {Gasterosteus spinachia),
and other small harbour-fishes.

A Corkwing about two inches long, more than
usually pretty, being of a bright gTcen hue, with the
caudal spot distinct and black, was a tenant of the
Tank from the first. He was a fish of business:
never for a moment did he swim about as if at leisure,
but incessantly pursued one occupation, that of search-
ing the sea- weeds for minute animals. It was pleasant
to see with what diligence and sobriety — for he was
never eager or in a hurry — he pried into all the recesses

108

ITS TRAGICAL FATE.

of the leafy weeds, especially the bushy Chondrus,
taking all positions and attitudes in order to scrutinise
the inmost corners ; and with encouraging success,
for he was continually picking off something, invisible
indeed to my eye, but eaten with evident gusto, to
judge by the smacking of his lips. I suppose these
were chiefly Entomostracay or perhaps Infusoria^
which the globular crystalline lens of his eye magnified
at the short distance at which he saw them. This
distance, which was commonly about half-an-inch, was
made sufficiently manifest, by the action of the fish,
for the snap was made doubtless the moment the prey
was seen. I never once saw the Corkwing attempt
to take or even notice any floating atoms of food,
but only such as was attached, either to the Algse or
to stones.*

This pretty little fish came to an untimely end in
a singular way. A large specimen of the Parasitic
Actinia was in the Tank, a species which shoots out
its thread-bearing filaments in imusual abundance and
to great length, when alarmed. I suppose the Cork-
wing must have accidentally touched the Zoophyte in
passing, but this I did not see. On looking at the
Aquarium, I saw the little fish with one of the filaments
sticking to its mouth, evidently the accident of that
very instant. It was greatly distressed ; darted hither
and thither wildly as if in agony ; soon lay down on
its side, and though two or three times it started up
and essayed to swim, it was presently dead.

* Since then, however, I have had a Corkwing, which snapped up
readily atoms of cooked meat, thrown in by hand. {Second Edition.)

THE SUCKER.

109

PIPEFISHES.

The Pipefishes are rather uninteresting tenants of
an Aquarium ; their fins are small and of little power :
hence their motions are ordinarily slow. They hang
about in all attitudes, of which the perpendicular, either
with the head upward or downward, is a favourite one.
I have a very young specimen of the Great Pipe {Syn-
gnathus acus)^ a half grown Deep-nose [8. typJile)^
and a rather large ^quoreal {S. cequoreus)^ about
fifteen inches long. This last is slow and unwieldy,
possessing no fin but the dorsal ; while the fonncr two
have tiny pectorals which are fluttered with a rapid
vibration, and a small fan-like caudal. All the species
flutter the delicate and filmy dorsal fin, at intervals,
though but little eficct can be produced by such an
organ in locomotion.

THE TWO-SPOTTED SUCKER.

The dredge frequently brings up specimens of a
pretty little fish adhering to the interior of old bivalve
shells, or to stones. It is the Two-spotted Sucker
(Lepidogaster himaculatiis) ^ which owes its generic
name to the circumstance of the ventral fins being
united into a concave disk, by the application of which
to any smooth surface, and the muscular withdrawal
of the central parts, producing a vacuum, the animal
adheres with considerable force ; exactly on the princi-
ple of those suckers that children make of a piece of
wetted leather at the end of a string. The little fish
is not more than two inches long, somewhat tadpole-
shaped, but prettily coloured of a pale crimson or

110

ITS ADHESION EXPLAINED.

carnation, with an oval eye-like spot on each side, of
a deep red hue.

When put into a vessel of water (no easy matter
without injuring it, as it adheres so firmly to its liold),
it immediately clings to the side of its new habitation,
or to the first solid substance with which it comes into
contact. Here it will probably remain for a consider-
able time, unmoved, or now and then shift its position
a few inches, or take a wayward start, and wriggle
along with an awkward sort of agility to some other
part of the Aquarium, to which it sticks fast in a
moment as before. During the night it is much more
restless ; but, so far as I am aware, it has no power of
hovering in the water, or swimming deliberately to
and fro as other fishes do, its locomotive powers con-
sisting only of the ability to shift from one stationary
position to another.

As it thus has no power of pursuing prey, I con-
jecture that its subsistence is derived from those
microscopic organisms which are scattered abundantly
through the water, and which furnish support to mul-
titudes of other creatures more strictly immoveable.
In the case of these, which are for the most part in-
vertebrate, strongly ciliated smfaces are provided,
which produce constant and forcible currents, and
thus the floating atoms in the smTOunding fluid are
carried along to the orifice of the digestive canal.
Om' little Sucking-fish has no external apparatus of
cilia, that I am cognisant of, but a similar effect is
produced in another way. I have noticed that while
this little fish remains stationary, being fast moored
by its breast-anchor, it maintains a constant and

THE ECHENEIS.

Ill

regular fanning with its filmy pectoral fins. This habit
seemed to me at first useless and unaccountable, but
on consideration I have little doubt that its purpose
is to produce a more free and rapid change of the
surrounding water ; and that it is one of those com-
pensatory actions that we frequently meet with in
physiology, and that are so interesting.

In the tropical seas I have had many occasions
of witnessing the actions of a still more singular
Sucking-fish, the Echeneis. The notion put forth
in books, that this fish, being a very slow swimmer,
needs to be carried along by others, is simply absurd,
and must have been formed by those who never saw
tlie fisli alive. It is in no wise inferior, in swiftness or
power, to fishes of the same size with which it asso-
ciates ; the Sharks, for instance, to which it so com-
monly affixes itself. The Echeneis bears a vciy
close resemblance, when seen in tlie water, to a
young Shark. It is fond of attaching itself to a
grown Shark, usually choosing a spot just behind
the pectoral fin, but it as commonly adheres to
the rudder or to the bottom of a ship. I have
thouglit that the singular habit may be connected
with its manner of taking food ; especially as the
mouth, owing to the projection of the lower jaw, opens
on the upper side of the muzzle. Now when tlie co-
ronal disk is affixed to any foreign body, the lips arc
made to touch the latter also. We know that there
are multitudes of minute animals, such as Crustacea,
Cirripedia, &c., that live parasitically on the bodies of
marine animals, and on foreign objects habitually
submerged. If the Echeneis feeds on these, there is

112

SPAWN OF THE SUCKER.

an olbvious reason why the head should be affixed to
the surface during the dislodgement of the adhering
prey, in order to acquire greater steadiness, as well as
a leverage by which to act more effectively. What
confirms this view, is, that though the fish may con-
tinue to be seen, say on the ship^s rudder, for hours,
it is not continualhj adhering ; but ever and anon
shifts its position, detaching itself for a moment, and
then adhering again instantly.

Several times lately 1 have had brought up in the
dredge, old valves of the Cockle, Scallop and Oyster,
the concave surfaces of whicli were partly covered
with considerable patches of what looked like amber-
coloured beads, — such as are used to make bead-
purses, — set as close as they could lie, but only in a
single layer. They adhere quite firmly to the shell ;
and I knew that they were the spawn of some fish or
crustacean, but was at a loss to know what. On one
occasion, in tlie middle of the summer, I found the
little fiy escaping, so that the glass vase into which I
had dropped the valve was presently quite peopled
with tiny fry ; their gelatinous hyaline bodies barely
visible, and their presence only indicated by the pair
of lustrous, green goggle-eyes, which with the inter-
vening head constituted by far the greatest portion of
each little creature.

From that charming work Excursions to Arran,"
by the Rev. D. Landsborough, D.D., I learn that
this spawn was laid by the little Two-spotted
Sucker.

DOUBLE VISION.

113

DOUBLE VISION.

There is a phenomenon which has long been noticed
in that singular reptile the Chameleon, and long sup-
posed to be quite anomalous. It is that the eyes,
which in most vertebrate animals move only in unison
with each other, and as if by a common impulse, are
here quite independent ; the one glancing hither and
thither, while its fellow remains motionless, or looks
in different directions.

A few years ago Mr. Lukis of Guernsey observed
that the same peculiarity existed in the Sea-horse
{Hippocampus)^ a curious little fish of the Syngna-
thidcB or Pipefish family. In my " Devonshire Coast"
I mentioned the Worm Pipefish [Syngnatlius luiiibri-
ciformis) as a second example of the plicnomenon in
this class of animals ; but I have since found that it is
by no means so rare as it had been supposed. All
the Pipefishes display it; the Suckers {Lcp idog aster) ^
tiny fishes of low organization, manifest it strongly :
in the Little Weaver {Trachmus viper a) I have re-
marked it very distinctly, and with more than common
admiration, on accountof the unusual beauty ofthecyes
in this species, which resemble turquoises set in gold.

The Wrasses {Lalridoi) have the power of separate
motion, but in a less degree : in the Butterfly Blcnny
[Blennius ocellaris) and the Gattorugiiious Blenny
(i?. gattorugine) it is more or less distinct, in the
former more than the latter. The fishes just men-
tioned (the Blennies and the Wrasses) have the faculty
of moving the two eyes in unison as well as inde-
pendently^ apparently at pleasure.

I

114

THE HONEYCOMB CORAL.

These are all the species* in which I have noticed
the phenomenon of separate eye-movement, but I
suspect it will be found to prevail extensively among
fishes. It is a subject worthy of investigation by
the comparative anatomist. The effect to the be-
holder, if he is in a position to see both the eyes
of the animal at a glance, is highly singular and
interesting.

THE HONEYCOMB CORAL.

A person who has never seen it before cannot but
be struck with the appearance of a large leafy Coral
[Eschara foliacea)^ which grows in the form of broad
but thin plates, twisted and involved in irregular folds,
and sending off other plates at right angles, so as to
constitute a sort of honeycombed structure, rising to
the height of five or six inches, and covering a space
even much greater than its height. Its colour when
recent is a fine light red or brownish orange, and its
aspect is so noble that one is tempted to think it
rather a production of the tropical seas than a native
of our northern clime. It is always a welcome guest,
not only for its intrinsic merits, — yet it is a charming
object in the Aquarium, — but also because of the
variety of animals which make their abode in its
ample winding chambers. The Prickly Scallop [Pec-
ten varius) is frequently found in it ; it is usually
crowded with the little Masked Broad-claws {Porcel-
lana longicornis)^ which play at bo-peep in the gal-
leries ; the deep-water variety of Actinia clavata, and

* I have since observed it in the Gunnel {Murcenoides guttata),
{Second Edition,)

ITS STRUCTURE.

115

A, helh's, occasionally occupy a chamber, and divers
kinds of Nereidous worms crawl freely through it.
A beautiful specimen is now in my Tank, which has
grown like a noble crown around the summit of a
conical stone, the whole being nine or ten inches in
height. The basal stone is densely covered with
parasitic Zoophytes, and tubicolous Annelides of
many species.

But our admiration of this handsome Coral is much
heightened when we know something of its nature.
We see that its walls, which are not more than one
thirtieth of an inch in thickness, are composed of
stony substance, yet very brittle. Closer examina-
tion shows that this thickness, small as it is, in-
cludes two ranges of cells, wliicli are placed back
to back, opening by oval orifices on both sides of
the walls.

Every cell is inhabited (or rather has loai, for the
older ones are dead and vacant before the younger
are formed) by an active Polype of the Polyzoan
Class, whose head, crowned witli a funnel of radiating
ciliated tentacles, protrudes from the orilice or is with-
drawn into it at pleasure. These all are united by a
common life; a common bond of sensation and of
nutrition connects the whole of the individuals into
one compound being. A single Polype, inhabiting a
solitary cell, began the colony, which has grown by
the continual formation of new individuals on every
side, as buds grow into branches, which bud again
and form a tree.

Some idea of the populousness of such a commu-
nity may be gathered from the following calculations.

I 2

116

ITS POPULATION.

I took a piece from my specimen, on which I carefully
marked out an area of one-eighth of an inch square.
Within this I found the orifices of 45 cells ; as the
rows are double, this would give 90 cells in every
square eightli-of-an-inch ; or 5,760 cells in a square
inch. Now, in a moderate-sized specimen of the
Eschara, such as several that I have had in my
possession, there are at least 100 square inches of
wall, including all the convolutions, and all the par-
titions, which would give a population of 576,000
inhabitants ; so that a well-grown mass of this coral
may bear rank, for multitude, with Vienna, Paris, or
perhaps London itself.

Montgomery's exquisite description of the labours
of the Coral-worms are scarcely less applicable to
the architects of our humble Eschara than to those
which rear the colossal reefs and isles of the Pacific.
Familiar as the lines are, I must quote them.

" Millions on millions thus, from age to age,
With simplest skill, and toil iinwearyable,
No moment and no movement unimproved,
Laid line on line, on terrace terrace spread,
To swell the heightening, brightening, gradual mound,
By marvellous structure climbing tow'rds the day.
Each wTought alone, yet all together wrought ; —
Unconscious, not unworthy instruments,
By which a hand invisible was rearing
A new creation in the secret deep.

.... I saw the living pile ascend.
The mausoleum of its architects,
Still dying upwards as their labours closed :
Slime the material, but the slime was turn'd
To adamant, by their petrific touch :
Frail were their frames, ephemeral their lives,
Their masonry imperishable. All

EARTHLY SHADOWS OF HEAVENLY SUBSTANCE. 117

Life's needful functions, food, exertion, rest,
By nice economy of Providence,
Were overruled to carry on the process.
Which out of water brought forth solid rock.'*

Pelican Island.

It is a beautiful thought, by whom originated I
know not, that all earthly things are types of the
heavenlies ; the visible, shadows and outlines of the
invisible. Specimens of this sort of representation
are presented to us with considerable copiousness in
the Holy Scripture, where ideas of heavenly and un-
seen things are reflected, as it were, from the familiar
objects around us. And tliis is the only way in whicli
they could be communicable, witliout a direct and
miraculous change in tlie constitution of our minds.
Perhaps it is not too mucli to presume that tlie order
and fashion of material things were planned expressly
with this end in view ; that the characteristics of the
lamh were given it to make it fitly shadow forth the
spotlessness and unresisting meekness '^f our gi*eat
atoning Sacrifice, and the essential qualities of U(jht
were prescribed not only (perhaps not principally) to
make it a medium of conveying intelligence through
our eyes of worldly things, but that it might represent
the glory, purity, truth and omniscience of God, in
whom is no darkness at all."

It is true, that as yet we get but occasional glimpses
of these revelations : it is only now and then that a
homely object becomes a picture of something higher
— a dissolving view, that, while we gaze, changes its
lineaments into something of higher beauty and
deeper interest, a transparency lighted up in every
feature by a glory behind it. " Now we see through

118 EAETHLY SHADOWS OF HEAVENLY SUBSTANCE.

a glass, darkly." But hereafter much may be plain
and patent, that now we only guess at ; and the cur-
tain may be broadly lifted that now hangs thick and
close over Creation, permitting but occasional rays
to struggle beneath its fringes.

Little, indeed, my dull eyes can see of heavenly
teachings in earthly things ; but there is one resem-
blance to a high and holy mystery that I have de-
lighted to trace in one of the lowliest forms of
sentient being.

There is a City hidden in heaven, but destijied, by
and by, to come down to earth ; it rises street above
street, and wall above wall, and battlement above
battlement; its streets are of gold transparent as
glass, its gates are of pearl, and its foundations and
walls of crystal are garnished with precious stones.
It is peopled by happy spirits in resurrection bodies,
by star-crowned men who have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb, —
hij none else. Nay, the City is composed of these ; it is
made of living stones, built up one by one in slow
and gradual progress, each with an individual con-
sciousness, an individual life.

But (here is the mystery) the City is an individual
being; it is a Bride, a Wife. It is the Church of the
living God, the Bride of Christ, the Lamb's Wife.
One life rmis through the whole body, the life of
Christ, communicated in resmTcction power and per-
petuity to her. He bought her, — a pearl of great
price, — with all that He had; He nourishes and
cherishes her, and He will soon raise her to share his
throne.

THE JERUSALEM ABOVE.

119

Is it fanciful to discern a faint sliadow of tliese
glories in a poor Polype ? If it is, bear with the fancy,
for it is not lost time to turn our thoughts heavenward
for a moment, whatever be the occasion, ^^len I
look on the multitudes of Polypes inhabiting such a
structure as I have alluded to, each bearing his starry
crown, and all engaged in harmony, building up, wall
by wall and cell by cell, an edifice whose walls are of
crystalline clearness, often studded with what look
like gems,* and whose cells are closed with pearly
doors ; f when I watch the building gi'owing up into a
City, a commonwealth, of myriad individuals ; when
I know that, besides the separate life of each, there is
a common life, a bond of identity, that constitutes the
vast assemblage but one Being — One though ^lany —
I cannot help thinking of the heavenly Cit}^, the
Jerusalem which is above.

* As in Memhranipora, and Crisia, for instance.
+ As in Cdlularia.

CHAPTER VI.

What more felicity can fall to creature
Than to enjoy delight with liberty ?

Spenser.

A WALK THROUGH PORTLAND.

Some jottings of the amenities of Portland, whicli
I hastily put down in the course of a pedestrian excur-
sion through it, may not be unacceptable to such of
my readers as have not had an opportunity of becom-
ing acquainted with it ; for it is rather an original
little isle, and has some claims of its own to attention.

After clearing that city of stone blocks which I have
before mentioned, I wound round the foot of the hill,
and mounted the steep village of Fortune's Well, with
its pretty houses and nice shops, all of stone of course
(on the principle of patronising the home manufacture),
and the substantial church, and neat rectory, where
dwells — a blessing to the inhabitants — my venerated
friend, the Rev. Mr. Jenour. As I toiled up the preci-
pitous road in the summer's sun, it was a relief to
turn, at times, and solace my eyes with the almost
boundless prospect that expanded behind, every-
where indeed, except just in front. The villages of
Fortune's Well and Chesil, united into one, lie just
beneath ; then stretches away in a line, of which the
eye fails to detect the termination, the Chesil Beach

DEATH OF A STONE-CUTTEK.

121

dividing two waters, both beautiful ; the one undula-
ting with the long swells of the Atlantic, the other
smooth, or at most but rippled. Wyke crowns the
hill just opposite with Its tall tower and the hedge-
rowed fields chequering the slopes around, and beyond
It sweeps a long blue line of coast with dim headlands
here and there, as far as Torquay.

I passed the Quarries rapidly, for I wished to get to
the southern end of the Island by low water, desiring,
as the time was favourable, to explore the rocky caves
and coves that Indent the precipitous coast; — and
posted on througli two other villages, Higlistonc and
Wakeham, which, like the former two, merge Into one.
I met here with a garrulous old man, a characteristic
specimen of the Island population. Like nine-tenths
of his fellows, lie had united the trades of smuggler
-and stone-cutter ; he gave me some graphic anecdotes
of the adventm'cs of his younger days, when "running
tubs," and described the sad fate of his hopeful son,
a stone-hewer like himself, who was suddenly snatched
from his side by a block of stone falling upon him,
from the seaward cliff where they were quarrying.
" The stone split my poor boy right open," said the
old man ; and pathetically added, " IVe never worked
a stroke since ! "

Few specimens of vegetation can Portland produce
that attain the dimensions of a tree ; but near the
middle there is a pretty grove of horse-chestnut,
maple, elm, and other trees, of no gi'cat altitude
certainly, but imparting a rural aspect to the vicinity
of Pennsylvania Castle, the quondam seat of the gover-
nor of the Island. Beside this a narrow road scarped

122

CHURCH HOPE.

out of the rock brings the traveller to a far more
ancieut structure, which tradition assigns to

— That red king who, while of old
Through Bolderwood the chase he led,
By his loved huntsman's an'ow bled."

It is named indifferently Eufus Castle or Bow-and-
arrow Castle, from the square loop-holes with which
its solid walls are pierced. A single square tower
remains, on the summit of an almost isolated mass of
rock scarcely more than commensm-ate with itself,
along which the road winds forty feet deep, through
the arch of a bridge, which leads to the castle-door
from the adjacent heights.

A most magnificent prospect expands as we pass
under this bridge. AVe are on the verge of a preci-
pice, with a little cove below, called Chm'ch Hope,
the only landing for a boat along this coast. Broken
masses of stone are heaped in the wildest confusion
on every side, and all up the craggy slopes — a wilder-
ness of grey stone, of which the aspect is painfully
desolate, and, so to speak, ruined. A steep and diffi-
cult road has been cut down to the beach, and about
half-down is a hollow, whither the inhabitants resort
for water. Beneath a stone a stop-cock is inserted,
that none may be wasted of a fluid so precious : a
woman with her pails coming down informed me that
every drop they drink has to be fetched in this labo-
rious manner, and carried up the steep precipice. To
make it worse, the spring fails in droughts, when they
must resort still lower, to a little stream that breaks
out of the cliff below.

A GRAND LAND SLIP.

123

A little way beyond Church Hope, going* southward,
there is a vast chasm, produced by some convulsion of
nature prior to all tradition. Its general course is
straight, and parallel with the coast ; running perhaps
a quarter of a mile in length, and thirty yards in ave-
rage width (I speak conjecturally, for I had no means
of measuring it) ; the stone sides rising perpendicu-
larly, exactly like walls, with the stratification imitat-
ing courses of regular masonry, but of cyclopean
dimensions. Long brambles, shooting from the fis-
sures, spread in patches, which assist the glossy ivy
to throw a graceful drapery over the walls of this
yawning gulf; and the suspicious blackbird that shot
out of her nest at my approach, and the lesser birds
that hopped about, showed that, however awful the
scene appeared to me, it was not without its charms
for these gentle denizens.

I was struck with the resemblance which this phe-
nomenon bears to a chasm in Lundy that I have
elsewhere described. No doubt in each case the
efifect was produced by the partial separation and re-
cession of a slice (if I may use so undignified a term)
of the precipice, which, instead of proceeding to a fall,
which would simply have opened a new line of the
coast-edge, became, from some hindering cause, pre-
maturely arrested midway, and has remained so fixed.
This is not the only instance which I remarked of
parallelism to Lundy in phenomena ; though the geo-
logical formation of that rocky islet is very diflfercnt,
being granite.

At length I approached the southern extremity of
the isle, passing through another village called South-

124

keeve's hole.

well, or, as it is pronounced, Suthill," and coming
into sight of the two white lighthouses that are erected
above the Bill. It is remarkable how generally the
names of the hamlets contain the word well, "showing
doubtless that the existence of a spring of water was
the determining cause of the position of a village.
Here I turned off to the left, deferring to another
occasion a sight of the extreme point or Bill, for lack
of time, as I was desirous of exploring another singular
natural curiosity, Keeve's Hole. Over a breadth of
ploughed land, sown witli clover in strips, I made my
way towards the edge of the cliff ; but before reaching
it came suddenly on an oval pit about eighteen yards
long by eleven wide, and ten feet deep in the middle,
where the flat bed of stone is uncovered. The central
part of this bed has dropped away ; and through the
aperture, the thickness of the stratum being about
three feet, I looked down into an ample cavern. The
interior was somewhat dark, but sufficient light was
admitted to allow of the sides and bottom being
obscurely discerned ; a light which came not from the
orifice in the roof through which I was peering, but
from a gallery which, with some windings, opened on
the face of the cliff, and through which the waves of
the sea were dashing with a reverberating roar. I
could scarcely look down into the abyss without a
shuddering dread, which was not diminished by the
story told me by a lad near, of a foolhardy fellow
who, to elicit the admiration of his comrades, must
needs jump across the chasm. He failed to make
good his footing, and fell through into the cavern,
which, as well as I could judge, is about fifty feet deep.

NATURAL ARCHES.

125

Strange to say, he was not killed, nor materially hurt ;
and his companions having procured ropes from the
neighbouring lighthouse, got him out, frightened, and,
it may be charitably hoped, somewhat instructed by
tlie adventiKC. Whether the name of Keefe^s, Keeve's
or Cave's Hole, as it is variously written, was derived
from this involuntary explorer, I could not learn.

The sea-cliffs all about this part are highly pictu-
resque and romantic. The strata of stone are quite
horizontal, resembling courses of masonry ; and the
action of the waves and weather in the lapse of ages
has worn away the softer portions, producing a suc-
cession of caverns, supported by uncouth pillars, with
projecting groins and buttresses. Sometimes these
caves run into the solid land ; at otliers they open out
again upon the sea at a little distance, making long
corridors, or short series of arched vaults, and occa-
sionally, as in the example of Keeve's Hole just
described, the yielding of the roof makes a skylight
in the interior ; so that the various effects of the light
struggling with the gloom in these caves are the most
picturesque imaginable.

The sense of grandeur too is gi'catly augmented by
the perpetual moaning and roaring of the sea, which
breaks upon the foot of the rocks, and as it rolls in-
ward reverberates from the interior ; — a sound indefi-
nitely prolonged along the sinuous coast.

" Kufia TToKvcpotcT^oio da\a(rar]Sf

Alyia\(S ij.fyd\(f} ^pe/JLerai, (Tfiapayu 5e re ttuutos."

A slender thread of water falling from the top of

126

THE TANSY.

the cliff over the month of these cavities, greatly
increased the romantic effect ; after rainy weather, I
can well suppose it a fine columnar cascade, though
now it was small.

South of these arches, the cliffs become low and
shelving, so that it was not difficult to scramble down
to the water-side. The wash of the sea, however, was
much too great to make it anything of a collecting
ground. Besides the smooth Anemone, a few Trochi
and Furjpurce^ a Tansy or two [Blenmus phoUs)^ and
other equally common things, no animal life was visi-
ble. Alga3 were fine, of certain species. Laminaria
digitata was waving in great magnificence ; and that
singular plant Himanthalia lorea, consisting of long
and slender thongs springing from the centre of a
flat button : Chondrus, IlJiodf/me7ii'a, Ceramium, and
Foli/sijdioma, of common sorts, were all luxm-iant in
the sheltered nooks between the boulders. I got
also some deep-red mossy tufts of the delicate Calli-
thamnion h?/ssoideum, growing on the stems of other
Alga3, but on the whole my excursion was fruitless
in respect to natural history, though prolific in enter-
tainment.

THE TANSY.

One is apt to slight, as too mean to be worthy of
notice, those objects which are very common, though
they may possess as many points of intrinsic interest
as others, which, because they are more rare, occupy a
more prominent place in our regard. I have two or
three times passed by the Smooth Blenny, Shanny,
or as it is here called, Tansy [Blennius pholis)^ with

A fish's nest.

127

somewhat of a contemptuous notice, which really it is
not deserving of; for, though it is so abundant in
every shallow pool that idle little boys, on Saturday
half-holidays, make it the constant object of their
sporting excursions, as their metropolitan cousins
resort to the suburban canals to catch Tittle-bats," —
the Tansy is worth putting into an Aquarium. Some
specimens are ugly enough, it is true, both in form
and colour; but others are quite attractive: they vary
much from an uniform blackish olive, to a mixture of
bright colours, as green, white and yellow ; and the
eyes are almost always beautifully brilliant, the large
iris being of a vivid scarlet. It is an amusing fish in
captivity, displaying a mixture of impudence and
timidity, coming out fiercely to snatch a morsel of
food from before a fellow fish's mouth, and then
darting charily under the shadow of a rock to cat its
treacherously gotten booty.

What makes this fish more than usually interesting,
is, that it is one of those species which construct an
elaborate nest for the deposition of their eggs and the
hatching of their young :

" Atque avium dulces nidos imitata sub undis." — Ovid.

I have not had the good fortune to meet with the
structure myself, and shall therefore refer my readers
to the details mentioned by Mr. Couch in his Illus-
trations of Instinct" (p. 252 et seq,)^ where the con-
struction of the little dwelling, of fragments of coral-
line and other sea- weeds, interwoven by silken threads,
its suspension fi^om an overhanging rock, the deposit*
tion therein of the amber-coloured eggs, the habits

128

THE peacock's TAIL.

of the new-born young, the danger they incur from
predatory enemies, and the vigilant care of the affec-
tionate parent, are well described.

THE peacock's TAIL.

One of the most interesting of our native sea- weeds
is the Peacock's Tail [Padina pavonia). It is so
called from its shape, which, springing from a point,
expands into a broad fan, wdth an outline formmg, in
fine fronds, nearly three-fourths of a circle. A more
apt comparison would perhaps be the Tiu'key's tail,
as its form is more closely like, and the concentric
bands add to the resemblance. I had been familiar
with the plant on the shores of Jamaica, for it is
essentially a tropical species, but had never yet seen
British specimens in their native haunts : it is marked
as rare in om* books, and is confined to a few locali-
ties on the Channel coast. My friend Mr. Thompson,
however, taught me to look for it at Weymouth.

At the foot of the Nothe, bordering its southern
side throughout its length, the shore at low-tide runs
off in wide flat ledges, the structure of which I have
already described. On these, as one dips and another
rises, a number of wide shallow pools lie in a sort of
chain parallel to the low cliffs. Here I was instructed
to watch for the first appearance of the pretty Pea-
cock's Tail.

Unlike most of om- Algce, it is an annual plant, to
be found only in the summer. The cold of autumn
mthers its fan-like fi'onds, and the waves soon wash
away all trace of their existence, and it is not until
somewhat late in the spring that we detect the

SEA- WEED GARDENS.

129

germinating fans of our little friends again. Thougli
I instituted careful examinations of the spots indicated
at intervals of two or three days, it was almost the
last of May before I could detect the minute thing
springing from the mud in the tepid pool. Others,
however, soon appeared, and grew fast, so that by the
middle of July numerous beds of them were to be
found, in which the plants had attained almost their
full dimensions, the fronds varying from one to two
inches in diameter. Mr. Thompson has endeavoured
to propagate this pretty Alga with entire success ;
collecting the fronds from their native site, when fully
ripe, he scattered them in similar situations all along
the shore ; so that now, under Sandsfoot Castle, and
on the ledges between this and Byng Cliff, and in a
little bight of the rocks below the Nothe, there are
what I may call flourishing gardens of the Padina,
fully established, and needing no further care for their
perpetuity.

It is a curious and interesting Alga, not only for
its singular form, but because of its texture, which is
delicately membranous ; its colour, which is pale
whitish olive or drab, marked witli numerous con-
centric bands or zones ; its surface, which is covered
with a fine whitish deciduous powder, and its circular
margin (often split), which is fringed with a line of
very minute hairs, set at an angle from the plane
of the frond. The sides of the frond frequently curve
inward and form scrolls. The specimens will live a
good while in the Aquarium ; they are somewhat
difficult to dislodge in a growing state, owing to
the extreme tenuity and tenderness of their point of

K

130

THE STRAWBERRY CRAB.

attachment, and to the softness of the rock, a sort of
indurated clay, on which (at least with us) they gene-
rally grow; a substance which often grinds away
under the chisel, instead of splitting off.

THE STRAWBERRY CRAB.

Among the multitudes of curious creatures which
the dredge rakes up from the prolific bottom of
Weymouth Bay there occurs occasionally a pretty
little Crab, which is sometimes called the Strawberry,
from its being studded all over with pink tubercles on
a white gi'ound, remotely resembling the seeds that
adhere to the fleshy surface of that delicious fruit.
The same peculiarity has been seized to give its
scientific appellation, Eurynome aspera. These tu-
bercles under a low magnifier are very curious, con-
sisting of short cylindrical columns, the truncate
ends of which are beset with polished red or white
hemispherical knobs. The first pair of legs have
the joints very long, projecting awkwardly in an
angle on each side, and the wrists have a curious
twist.

Mr. Bell, in his beautiful work on the British Crus-
tacea, calls this one of our rare species, and says that
little is known of its habits. I am the more pleased
to have an opportunity of adding an item to its history,
and of tracing some connexion between its habits and
the peculiarities of its conformation.

The story may be summed up in a word; the
Strawberry Crab is a climber. If it were a terrestrial
animal, I should say its habits are arhoreal. True,
it now and then wanders over the bottom of its abode.

LONG-ARMED CLIMBERS.

131

with slow and painful march, the hind feet held up
at an angle above the level of the back ; but gene-
rally it seeks an elevated position. We usually see
it in the morning perched on the summit of some one
of the more bushy weeds in the Aquarium, as the
Chondrus or PJiyllophora ruhens, where it has taken
its station during the night, the season of its chief
activity, as of most other Crustacea. It interested
me much to see it climb : seizing the twigs above it
by stretching out its long arms alternately, it dragged
up its body from branch to branch, mounting to the
top of the plant deliberately, but with case. While
watching it, I was strongly reminded of the Orang-
otan at the Zoological Gardens ; the manner in which
each of these very dissimilar animals pcrfoiTned tlie
same feat was so closely alike as to create an agreeable
feeling of surprise.

This circumstance led me to think of another : the
resemblance was not only in habit, but in conforma-
tion also ; viz. in the great length of arm. This is
obviously an adaptation for climbing in the Quadru-
manc as well as the Crustacean ; and a few examples
occurred to my remembrance in which a similar struc-
ture is associated with the like habit. All the Monkey
tribe, for instance ; and the Sloths of South America,
which are almost exclusively arboreal, have the ante-
rior limbs excessively long. Many of the Longicorns
among beetles are remarkable for their developed arms,
and these are essentially tree-insects. Again, among
the Spiders, the perpendicular web-makers — as Epeira^
Tetragnatha^ &c., which run to and fro on the tracery
of their slender lines, like seamen manning the shrouds

K 2

132

THE CLOAK ANEMONE.

on a fleet gala-day, — have the anterior legs much
elongated ; while the genera which live on the ground
or on fixed objects, as the great hairy Spiders {Mygale^
Cteniza, &c.), the Wolf Spiders {Lycosa), and the
Jumpers {Salticus, &c.), have the legs very short.
Perhaps this parallel might be much extended; at
the same time I must confess the rule is not without
exception ; as witness the arboreal Squirrels, whose
fore limbs are sufficiently short.

THE CLOAK ANEMONE.

Among the singular disguises by which familiar
objects are sometimes rendered difficult of identifica-
tion, not the least interesting are some that arise from
the association of creatures very remote from each
other in structure, habit, and zoological position.
Many persons who know a Whelk as well as possible,
hesitate when they see the familiar shell tenanted,
not by the great black-spotted Mollusk, but by a
mongi'cl between Crab and Lobster, with stout, red,
pinching claws, and long, jointed, and pointed legs.
And still more mysterious does the thing look, when
two-thirds of the shell itself are enclosed in a thick
mass of purple- spotted flesh, through the midst of
which the busy Crab is poking his head and limbs.
In truth it is a strange affair, this threefold alliance
of Whelk, Hermit-crab, and Cloak-anemone.

Let me describe the last a little more particularly ;
it is the Adamsia palliata of zoologists. All round
the mouth of the shell is firmly adhering a soft but
firm pulpy mass of flesh, of which the upper part is
commonly of a warm brown hue, but the under surface

EXPLANATION OF ITS HABIT.

133

is delicately white, dotted over with round spots of
rosy purple. I have said it adheres around the shell-
mouth; and this is a curious circumstance, because,
as it does not extend across the orifice, the animal
assumes an annular form, the Crab inhabiting the
shell, and protruding freely through the opening.
On that side which is next the inner lip or column of
the shell, and beneath the breast of the Crab, there
opens a wide oblong mouth, in all essential parti-
culars like that of an Actinia, surrounded by a deli-
cate fringe of short white tentacles ; which in general
are freely exposed, seeking for prey ; the animal being
little alarmed by the rude treatment to wliich the
peregrinations of its active companion expose it.

This form, at first sight, seems so very anomalous,
that a naturalist of no small knowledge has recourse,
for its explanation, to the suggestion that the old
shell [of a Gasteropod Mollusk] with a young Crab
in it may have been swallowed by the Actinia ; that
the Crab may have forced its way through the walls
of the stomach and the integuments of the latter ; and
that the Actinia, then secreting a peculiar membrane
to defend its base, the Crab may have found itself
provided with a habitation suited to its wants." *
Yet it appears to me that the deviation from normal
structure is more apparent than real. The Adamsia
is evidently an Actinia of a long-oval form, capable
of development in its long diameter into two length-
ened wings. Its instinct invariably leads it to select
as its support the inner lip of some univalve shell ;

* Coldstream, in Johnston's Brit. Zooph. i. 209.

134

ILLUSTRATIVE

having adhered to which, the lateral expansions creep
along the sliell, following its surface until they have
surrounded the aperture, and meet each other on the
outer lip. Here the meeting edges unite by mutual
adhesion, and seem to grow together ; yet the suture is
always distinctly visible, both by a slight depression,
and by a pale line which assumes a zigzag form,
owing to the terminations of the body-striae fitting
into the interspaces of the opposite ones.

What is curious in the case is the instinct which
makes the Adamsia select a shell as its constant
support, and the association with it of a Hermit Crab
us the co-tenant of the same shell. This association
is, I think, constant; for, though tlie dredge does
occasionally bring up shells invested by the Adamsia^
which are empty, yet I incline to believe tliat these
shells liave been recently vacated by the tenant
Crabs, and not that they have never been so occupied
at all.

That the above is the correct explanation is evident
from specimens in various stages of development.
There is in my possession, while writing this note,
an Adamsia^ adliering to a Whelk, of which the lateral
lobes, though projected around the edges of the mouth
of the shell, have not yet met each other on the outer
lip, but are separated by a space of a quarter of an
inch. And my friend Mr. Thompson, whose oppor-
tunities for studying the marine animals of Dorset-
shire have been zealously improved, has just showed
me a very young specimen, not larger than a silver
threepence, in which the side lobes were not in the
least developed. This specimen had selected a land

EXAMPLES.

135

shell as its support, a not quite adult Garden Snail
[Helix aspersa), within which a Pagurm Prideauxii
had taken up his abode also. The Adamsia was
prettily spotted, though so young ; its position was,
as usual, the inner lip of the shell. This curious
specimen, interesting on more than one account, was
dredged in eight fathoms off Whitenose in Weymouth
Bay, a mile or two from land, on the 12th of Sep-
tember, 1853. It lived in captivity five days.

My notion is further confirmed by what takes
place in the disease and death of the animal. When
the Crab deserts the shell or dies out, the Anemone
for a while expands as usual. But, after a week or
two, it is evidently seen to be languishing ; and soon
its adhering base begins to peel off and shrink away
from the shell. Now, this process commences at the
suture, and as it goes on the suture divides, the lateral
portions separating more and more from eacli other,
by shrinking ; reversing exactly the steps hy lohich the
annular hahit was assumed, and which I have de-
scribed above. At length, the connexion of the
animal with the shell is wholly dissolved, and the
former collapses into a shapeless lump of flesh, from
which the integuments sloug away in gelatinous
shreds, and the whole swiftly becomes a putrescent
mass.

Since the above was written, Mr. Thompson has
favoured me with an account of an Adamsia so aber-
rant in its habit as to require a modification of the
statement that a shell is always chosen. My friend
writes as follows: — "I have lately obtained a spe-
cimen of Adamsia palliata, dredged in three fathoms'

136

THE BARBED THREADS.

water, on a frond of Fucits serratus. It is round and
united, but with a suture down one side." *

A curious evidence of the efficiency of the thread-
capsules as weapons of offence has occurred to me.
I was examining the brilliant purple filaments of
Adamsia palliata, under a power of 200 diameters.
There was no pressure applied, but a considerable
number of the small capsules were spontaneously dis-
lodged. In the aquatic box which I was using, there
was, still affixed to one of the glasses, the sucker of
a Gibbous Starlet [Asterina gihbosa) that I had just
before been looking at. The ciliary action of the
Adamsia's filament had been wheeling it round and
round, partly in contact with the sucker, and the
result was that a good number (a dozen or two at
least) of the thread capsules liad shot their darts into
the sucker, and were seen sticking all around its edge,
their threads imbedded into its substance, even up to
the very capsules. I thus saw how readily these
barbed threads are projected into tlic flesh of any
offending animal ; and if they are accompanied, as is
probable, by a subtle poisonous fluid, they are doubt-
less very effective.

The filament under pressure shows thread-capsules
in innumerable millions, forming the greatest part
of its substance. This immense number is probably
intended to meet the continual demand for the use of
the weapons during the life of the animal ; since, once

* I find that A. palliata has the power of shifting its locality like
other A ctiniadce. Two young specimens that I had in anAquarium>
crawled spontaneously from their shells, and attached themselves
the one to a stone, the other to a sea-weed frond. (Second Edition.)

THE PARASITIC ANEMONE.

137

shot, the thread sticks in the wounded flesh, and
carries the capsule with it ; while, if it fail to strike,
I suppose it can never be recoiled, and re-inclosed.

The filaments, which are of the same rose-purple
hue as the spots, are excessively abundant in this
species, and are projected on the slightest disturbance
of the animal. The firmness with which they adhere
to the fingers, when accidentally touched, so that it is
a difficult matter to clear them away, proves that even
the most callous parts of the human skin offer no
impediment to the entrance of those subtle weapons,
the barbed threads, though their poisonous properties
are too feeble to be appreciated by our nerves.

THE PARASITIC ANEMONE.

This species [Actinia paraaitica of Couch) takes
rank among the largest of our native Actinia?, being
only exceeded by fine specimens of A. diantlius^'- It
frequently attains a height of four inches, and a
diameter of two and a half. It is of a columnar form,
nearly equal in diameter throughout, but commonly
a little expanded at the base, which slightly spreads
over the substances to which it adheres.

The colouring of the body, though subject to some
variation, always maintains such an uniformity of
style and pattern as to render it easy of identification
at all times. Indeed I know of no species which is
less liable to be mistaken for any otlicr than this.
The ground-colour is a dirty white, or drab, often
slightly tinged with pale yellow ; longitudinal bands

* A. crassicornu occasionally attains a greater size than either.
(Second Ldition.)

138

THE PARASITIC ANEMONE.

of dark wood-lbrown, reddish, or purplish brown, riin
down the body, sometimes very regularly, and set so
closely as to leave the intermediate bands of ground-
colour much narrower than themselves: at other
times these bands are narrower, more separated, and
variously interrupted or broken. I have seen a
variety in which the bands took the form of chains of
round dark spots, the effect of which was handsome.
Immediately roimd the base the bands usually sub-
divide, and are varied by a single series of upright
oblong spots of rich yellow, which are usually mar-
gined with deeper brown than the bands. The whole
body is surrounded by close-set faint lines of pale hue,
sometimes scarcely distinguishable, except near the
summit, where they cut the bands in such a manner
as to form, with other similar lines, which there run
lengthwise, a reticulated pattern.

Towards the lower part of the body numerous warts
appear, mostly minute, but a few among them are
large and prominent. The body terminates above in
a slightly thickened rim, which is minutely notched,
but scarcely rises above the level of the disk, and is
obliterated when the tentacles are fully expanded.

The disk is a little wider than the diameter of
the body, which it overarches on all sides. Its
margin is somewhat thin, and occasionally thrown
into puckered folds, to a small extent. Thus it
appears to approach the peculiar form of A. bellts.
The disk is nearly flat or slightly hollowed, but rises
in the centre into a stout cone, in the middle of which
is the mouth, edged with crenated lips. The tentacles
are aiTanged in seven rows, of which the innermost

THE DISK AND TENTACLES.

139

contains aLout 20, the second 24, the thu-d 48, the
fourth 96 : the other rows are too closely set and too
numerous to be distinguished. Probably the whole
number of tentacles in a full-grown specimen may be
considered as certainly not less than 500. Tlic
innermost row springs from the disk about midway
between the lips and the margin ; they occasionallj^
stand erect, but more frequently arch outwards in
elegant curves. When distended with water these are
often an inch in length, and Jth of an inch in thick-
ness ; the others diminish in regular gradation until
those of the margin do not exceed -J^th in length and
a proportionate diameter. All the tentacles are of
the same form ; though this varies a little in different
specimens, sometimes being blunt and nearly cylindri-
cal, at others gradually tapering and drawn out to a
fine point. They are pellucid, faintly tinged with
flesh-colour, cream-yellow, or purplish, each one being
always marked with from one to five pairs of lines or
dashes of a dull-purplish colour, running down the
two opposite sides to the tip. Those rows which form
the marginal fringe are frequently divided into alter-
nate patches of colour, a patch of pale tentacles, then
one of purplish, six groups of each colour completing
the circle. These alternations do not conceal the
lateral marks of the tentacles ; and though sometimes
beautifully distinct, they are at others scarcely per-
ceptible.

The surface of the disk is pellucid yellowish-white,
marked with a circle of six squarish patches of opaque
white, corresponding to the lighter portion of the
marginal fi'inge : the lips arc also opaque white.

140

THE PARASITIC ANEMONE.

This fine and very distinct species is exceedingly-
abundant in Weymouth Bay, extending from the deep
water of the offing, even into the narrow harbour ; but
is never met with between tide-marks. It is, as its
name imports, parasitic in its habits, though not so
strictly but that we frequently find specimens adhering
to stones ; and in captivity it is by no means uncommon
for an individual to detach itself from its native site,
and adhere to the bottom of the vessel, or even to
crawl a little way up the perpendicular side. Gene-
rally, however, it is found embracing some univalve
shell, which is tenanted by a Soldier Crab ; young
specimens on Turritella terehra, Trochus magus, T.
zizipMnus, &c. ; but adults, which are much more fre-
quently met with than the young, almost invariably on
the great Whelk [Buccinum undatum). The dredge,
indeed, often brings up shells invested by the Actinia
which are empty ; but I believe that in every such
case, the shell has recently been vacated by the soldier,
and that the Actinia never voluntarily selects an empty
sliell for his base.

The crab who sustains the honourable office of
porter to this species is invariably Pagurus hern-
hardus, as P. Prideauxii is favoured with the support
oi Adamsia palliata.

In the rude and blundering manner in which the
bearer performs his office, it cannot be but that the
poor Actinia gets many a hard knock, and many a
rough squeeze, among the rocks and stones over which
his servant travels ; but he appears to bear these mis-
chances with great philosophy : I know of no species
which lives so constantly expanded. A rude shock

PROJECTILE WEAPONS.

141

will indeed cause it to withdraw its tentacles, and
contract its disk into that button-like shape which is
common to the genus ; but this is only for a moment :
it instantly expands again, and remains full blown
in spite of all its draggings about. Its skin also is
peculiarly tough and leathery ; a provision, doubtless,
against the accidents to which its vagTant life
exposes it.

We have no species which to such an extent as
this shoots forth those white filaments, which in this
family are weapons of offence. On being alarmed or
rudely handled, from several of the warts on the body
the animal shoots forth these threads, which exactly
resemble white sewing-cotton, to the length of four or
even six inches ; and under circumstances of great
irritation an immense bundle of such threads is pro-
jected from the mouth. These filaments are not
wasted: they are shot out in a straight line, but remain
attached to the animal, and presently all trace of them
has disappeared. They are withdrawn again into
the hody/^

This curious result, which I did not anticipate, I
proved by carefully watching the process with a lens.
The naked eye can readily perceive that each thread
is gi'adually corrugated into small irregular coils at
that end which is next the animal, while the free end
remains straight. By applying a pocket-lens with a
power of 15 diameters to the affixed end, I perceived

* I have since used the presence of this faculty for the purpose of
separating such Actiniae as possess it to form a genus, under the
name of Sagartia. — See a ^Memoir on Peachia hastata, in the LinnciUi
Transactions for 1855, p. 267. {Second Edition.)

142

THE PARASITIC ANEMONE.

that it was sucked in to the wart from which it had
proceeded, the orifice of which was clearly visible.
Fixing my attention on some part of the thread near
the wart, I saw it rapidly approach, and at length
disappear within its cavity, and the same process went
on constantly, and with all the projected threads
together, until all were retracted.

These threads have, I feel assured, no direct con-
nexion with the generative function ; they are weapons
of defence, and very effective ones. The fatal effects
produced by their adhesive contact upon a little fish I
have already described {vide ante, p. 108). Their power
of adhesion is remarkable, and must have been felt by
every one who has handled the species with the fingers ;
they cling around the flesh with the most annoying
tenacity, so that it is no easy matter to cleanse one's
hand of them. In what resides this adhesive power?
Doubtless in the barbed threads which are sheathed
in innumerable myriads in every filament. The force
with which these javelins are projected, their elastic
strength, and their excessive tenuity, enable them to
penetrate animal tissues, even of apparently dense
texture, and their barbed bristles enable them to
maintain a firm hold. On this matter I beg my
reader's reference to the note on the filaments of
Adamsta, in p. 136.

Under the compressorium the thread suddenly
cracks, with a start and a crepitation distinctly audi-
ble ; a curious circumstance, which seems to indicate a
crustaceous or siliceous structure somewhere. I think
it cannot be the walls of the filament itself, but the
capsules, that crack, minute as they are. The filament

ITS RANK ODOUR.

143

is more densely filled with capsules than that of any
species which I am acquainted with : perhaps there
are even millions of them. The capsules are of about
the average size of those found in other Actiniae, viz. ;
j^-^th of an inch in length, and of the ordinary form,
linear-oblong, almost straight ; the contained thread is
propelled to no great length, in some cases scarcely
exceeding that of the capsule, in others reaching to
five times the length ; or from ^^^th to yy-^th of an inch.
A slight thickness is discernible about the basal half,
which indicates an armed furniture, but I was unable
to resolve its precise structure.

A rank penetrating odour proceeds from this species,
in a greater degree than usual. It is communicated
to the hands by handling ; and repeated washings with
soap, and even scrubbings with a brush, scarcely avail
to remove it. It is insufferably nauseous.

In the accompanying picture the centre is occupied
by this Anemone, seated on the shell of the common
Whelk. From the same shell springs a branching
zoophyte, Sertularia abietina, while a Brittle-star
( OpJiiocoma rosula) is creeping by means of its long
snake-like arms over the lower part. Behind the
Actinia are seen three or four leaves of that lovely
sea- weed, Delesseria sanguinea ; a tuft of Callitham-
nion roseum springs from a crevice in the rock
above the Sertularia ; a patch of the velvet like Call.
Uotliii is seen on the stone in the foreground, and
one of the mossy C spongiosum in the rear. In
front of this last are some young leaves of Rhody-
menia palmata^ and a firond of the same species is
growing on the shell of the Whelk.

CHAPTER VII.

I saw the peaceful main,
One molten mirror, one illumined plain,
Clear as the blue, sublime, o'erarching sky.
« ♦ « *

A breeze sprang up, and with careering wing
Play'd like an unseen being on the water.
Slowly from slumber woke th' unwilling main,
Curling and murmuring, till the infant waves
Leap'd on his lap, and laugh'd in air and sunshine.

Montgomery.

A TRIP TO DURDLE-DOOR.

It was a sweet moming in July, when, intent on a
trip down the Bay, we put the dredges on board the
boat and made sail. A nice little air from the west-
ward bellied out the red canvas, and we bowled away
right before it. The craft in the harbour disappeared ;
the houses bordering the wide-spread esplanade grew
dimmer and dimmer beliind us, till they were no longer
distinguishable, and a slender line alone showed where
they stood. This line at length faded into the gene-
ral blue distant haze, that just said a belt of land was
there, and that was all.

So memory of past events, as on the rapid wings of
time we are ever borne farther and farther from them,
towards the ocean of eternity, gTOWS dim beliind us.
How much more faint I find the remembrance in
detail of my summer at Ilfracombe, than it was a few

A CALM.

145

months ago. My visit to Jamaica becomes every
year more filled with hiatuses of recollection, and
more and more reduces itself to a general hue ; lovely
and empurpled, indeed, it will ever be, but one in
which it requires more and more eflfort to trace se-
quences and to separate adventures; while of early
life how large a portion seems (perhaps only seems)
consigned to absolute oblivion ! Yet here and there,
along the line of retrospective glance, there are points
and prominences which seem as if they could never
die — occurrences which are, as it were, bumt-in on
the memory, and which the haziness of approximate
scenes and incidents serves only to place in bolder
relief; just as an increase of distance often makes
more conspicuous the mountain peaks which the
proximity of a multitude of minor objects concealed
or obscured.

Suddenly the wind fails ; ruffles up a little, then fails
again ; another little puff ; but all in vain. The sea
becomes as smooth as a table, as glassy as a mirror.
There is a dancing, glimmering haze all round the
horizon, which tells us it is all over with us ; and the
sun, looking out of a sky unveiled by a cloud, pours
down his ire upon our heads in the most ferocious
manner possible ; and we a couple of leagues from
home ! I thought of the Ancient Mariner : —

" Down dropp'd the breeze, the sails dropped down ;
'Twas sad as sad could be ;
And we did speak, only to break
The silence of the sea."

Nothing remained but to unstep the mast, and put
out the oars. A curious perforated rock was not more

L

146

DURDLE-DOOR.

than a mile or two distant, and we resolved to pull in
for it, as I had heard of its singular appearance.

On approaching the shore, a natural arch of im-
posing grandeur met the eye. The lofty cliffs of
white chalk are interrupted for a little space hy a
huge promontory of black rock, cutting across the
sandy beach, and projecting southward into the sea.
The western angle of the mass sends off a spur which
runs parallel with the shore, enclosing a snug little
cove ; and in the midst of this wall-like projection
yawns a vast orifice, like an enormous arched gate-
way, leading into the little recess. This perforation
is familiarly known as the Barn-door, or Durdlc-door,
and is one of the appointed places of resort to visitors.
I had the advantage of seeing it in that silent solitude
which is so congenial to the feelings when in the
presence of some stupendous work of Divine power ;
no human soul being visible far or near but the old
lame and bald-headed shepherd, who had with much
difficulty dragged himself down from the elevated
downs above, and, having left his crutches on the
sandy beach, was enjoying a bathe in the clear water.
Even he disappeared, limping up a ravine in the pre-
cipice, before I could get ashore.

It was solemn to stand on the angular ledges
beneath the arch, and gaze up at its magnificent span.
The height of the vault and the depth of the water
are sufficient to allow a vessel of considerable size to
pass through, at high tide ; but as it was now spring-
tide and low water, our little boat could not safely
thrid the bristling rocks that studded the passage,
especially as there was some swell, which, though

bat's corner.

147

imperceptible out in the open sea, was heavy enougli
to bulge in the sides of a boat against these angular
points and ribbed groins. We therefore rowed round
the end of the wall into the little cove, and, making
fast against the rock, stepped out as comfortably as
if it had been a quay.

The rocky wall is about sixty yards in height, and
nearly twice as long, from the angle of the promon-
tory to its bold and almost perpendicular termination.
Along the top, which appears nearly level, and is
said to be a yard or two wide, it is possible to walk
from the shore, and the view on each side from such a
situation must present uncommon grandeui*. Patches
of samphire, thrift, and otlier cliflF-loving plants, are
seen adorning, with verdure and gaiety, the angles
and dark fissures of the rock ; and various species of
sea-fowl, — among which are the guillemot, the auk,
the puffin, the shag, and one or two kinds of gulls, —
nestle on the shelves and ledges, and heighten by
their cries the savage wildness of the scene.

Having satiated to some extent my appetite for the
magnificent, I began to peer into the hollows and
pools of the exposed rock beneath. From the over-
shadowing darkness of the place I expected to make
a good harvest ; but though there were many likely
cavities, and a good number of zoophytes and sea-
weeds, I found nothing with which I was not familiar
before. I therefore set out to walk along the beach,
beneath the chalk cliff's, to a somewhat similar pro-
jection of black rock, which blocks up the way about
a mile off*, at a place called Bat's Corner.

The walk was fatiguing ; the glare from the per-
L 2

148

CATCHING YOUNG GULLS.

pendicular precipice, an unbroken face of white chalk
reflecting the rays of a July sun, was most oppressive
to the eyes, soon inducing frontal headache ; and the
loose shingle alternating with looser sand afforded no
firm hold for the sinking and sliding footsteps. My
two lads ran before, chasing, with great glee, the
young gulls, almost fledged, which had descended in
some unintelligible manner, from their nest-ledges up
the precipice, but were unable to fly. Cutting off
their retreat to the water, the boys chased them till
the poor things sought refuge in some corner of the
cliff, where of course they were easily caught. They
brought home two, nearly grown, which I believe
they kept in their gardens for some time. They were
probably the Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larusfuscus),
though, as several species breed about these cliffs,
which present little difference in their nesting plumage,
I cannot be certain.

A heap of broken rocks, half exposed at lowest
water, lies off the corner that terminates the beach.
It is known to the fishermen by the name of the Cow
and Calf. These rocks I wished to examine for Algoe,
and found my search not fi'uitless. The species were
gi'owing from the broken fragments of fallen chalk in
considerable abundance, and the specimens were par-
ticularly well-grown. Among them a pretty species
was common, which I had not observed at Weymouth,
— Chylocladia ovalis, I have compared the ramuli
of (7. articulata to bladders of red wine, set in chains ;
those of the present species are still more like such
bladders, being more oval, and set in rows along the
branches ; the plant is also taller and more ramified.

A BREEZE.

149

But there were indications of a breeze springing
up; clouds were forming over the land, and drifting
to the southward, and "cats' paws" here and there
were rufHing the silvery glaze of the sea into a deep
blue. We got on board, and by the time we had
pulled out a couple of hundred yards or so, down
came a pleasant breeze, cool and fresh, from the north-
west. The willing lads quickly stepped the mast, ran
up the main-sail and jib, and, giving her a flowing
sheet, put her before it ; while the water began to
ripple off under her quarter, with that rustling sound
which a boatman loves to liear.

" Tol 5' SjpvvovTos &Kov(raVj

'la-Toy 5* ilXarivov icoiKtjs tvrocrBi fi€<TdbiJ.7)S
^rrj(rau aetpaj/re?, Kara de "KporovoiaLu tFirjaav,
"EKkov 5' iVrta XevKot kvarp^Trroiai ^o^vaiy.
"Eirprjaev 5' &v€fxos filcToi/ Icrrlov' aix<p\ 5e Kvfia
'XT^iprj TTop<pvp€oi/ fx€yd\' "io-X^y vt^os lova-qs.
^'HS' €0ee»/ Kara KUfia oiairpijaaovaa KeKevBov**

Od. /8. 423.

The dredges were quickly down ; and while they
were gathering their various contents, I put overboard
my Medusa net, to see what the surface might pro-
duce on such a sweet summer day. No Medusse were
to be obtained, except one or two small specimens of
Cydijpj^e i^omiformiSj a brilliant little sphere of jelly,
resembling the clearest glass, rowed along by ciliary
paddles, set in eight rows, like the meridians of a
globe. But the net came in loaded with tiny active
creatures, which I saw, on putting a few of them into
a glass phial, to be the young of some Crab in one of
the stages of its metamorphosis : not in that earliest
state which is called Zoea^ but that secondary con-
dition known as Megalopa. Many of these minute

150

CRAB-LARV^.

animals I brought home, and placed in a vase, where
they afforded me some entertainment.

These little creatures were about one-fifth of an
inch in length ; they had assumed much of the form
of a Crab, but the abdomen projected like a long
slender tail behind, and was armed at the tip with
fine radiating pencils of hairs. The eyes, which were
very large, projected on each side, being set on thick
footstalks ; and as they were of a brilliant green hue,
and very lustrous, they formed a conspicuous feature
of the little animals. They manifested a sensibility
to light coiTcspondent to this development of the eyes.
At night they congregated on that side of their glass
prison which was next the candle ; and when I trans-
feiTed the light to the opposite side, they immediately
Bcuttled across, and crowded up as close to it as pos-
sible. They would follow the candle round and round
the glass, shifting as it shifted, and stopping when it
stopped. They were very nimble in swimming,
generally keeping near the surface ; but died off very
fast : tliough the vessel was proportionally large, a
few only out of some scores survived the first night.
One or two, however, underwent the change into the
Crab-form, which I was able to recognise as belonging
to the genus Portunus.

I took an interesting fish in a somewhat unusual
manner. Before the infant breeze had yet broken up
the glassy surface of the sea, a small object was seen
floating ahead, towards which we pulled. It proved
to be a fine specimen of the Sordid Dragonet [Calli-
onymus dracunculus) ; a fish which does not usually
come to the surface, much less float there. It seemed

DREDGING RESULTS.

151

stupified, making not the least attempt to escape, as
we lifted it with the hand-net, and placed it in a pan
of water. There, however, it seemed in no wise
injured, but was as lively as so sluggish a fish usually
is, playing on the bottom of the vessel. What could
have caused it to lie in the burning rays of the sun,
on the top of the sea ?

The dredges yielded me a fair harvest of zoolo-
gical varieties : — prettily painted Shrimps ( Crangon) ;
graceful Prawns of the genera Palcemon^ PandaluSy
and Hippolyte; the Tiny Cockle ( Cardium exiguum) ;
two minute Tops [Troclius exiguus, and T, striatus) ;
the porcelain-like Natica3 [N. Alder i and iV. monili-
fera)y remarkable for the enormous masses of white
gelatinous flesh which they protrude when they crawl,
investing and almost concealing the shell ; a few Star-
fishes and Urchins ; plenty of Ascidice and Botryllidce ;
various Annelides ; — Hermits and Spider-crabs by
scores ; several specimens of the beautiful Cloak
Anemone [Adamsia maculata) ; and a few of that
"magnificent species, the Plumose Anemone [Actinia
diantlius), as well as the Parasitic, the Daisy, and the
Weymouth Anemones [A. parasitica^ hellis, and da-
vata). Some of these I have already described ; others
I shall take occasion to allude to ; I will here content
myself with a notice of one of the most gorgeously
clad of all the creatures that inhabit the deep, — the
Sea-mouse.

It is not in its form that we must look for any
peculiar elegance, for it is a flattened worm, of an
oval outline bluntly pointed at each end ; — nor in its
general colour, for this is that of the pale brown sedi-

152

THE SEA-MOUSE.

mcnt that water deposits. But it is in the clothing
of long silky hair which covers each side, and which
reflects the most brilliant and refulgent hues, equal-
ling the splendours of the Humming-birds, or the
Diamond beetles. Hence Lamarck gave it the appel-
lation of Halithea^ or Sca-goddess ; and Linnaeus
before him had conferred on it the name of the goddess
of beauty, Aphrodite, the Greek title of Venus. The
great master of Natural Histoiy thus expresses his
admiration of this sea-worm : The Aphrodite acule-
ata, reflecting the sun-beams from the depths of the
sea, exhibits as vivid colours as the peacock itself,
spreading its jewelled train."

In the Aquarium, the Sea-mouse crawls restlessly
to and fro, and round the margin of the bottom ;
once or twice I have seen it essay to burrow under
the fine gravel, but generally it lives exposed. It is
uninteresting in its manners, though the brilliance of
its changing colours will always attract admiration.
Perhaps it is most beautiful by candle-light, when
red and orange reflections predominate ; by day, pearly •
greens and blues prevail. This difiference is owing to
the position of the light, and the angle at which it is
reflected. Thus, if the eye glance along the bristles
towards the light, which is reflected at an obtuse
angle, the reflected rays will be lilac, passing into
ultramarine ; if the angle of reflection be a right
angle, the rays will be green ; if the light be between
the observer and the animal (not directly but ob-
liquely, so as to make the angle of reflection more or
less acute), the reflections will take yellow, orange,
scarlet, and crimson hues.

A MARVELLOUS STRUCTURE.

153

As it crawls, the Aphrodite usually elevates the
tail, which is so folded together as to form a deep
groove beneath. By watching this, we see now and
then ejected a stream of water with considerable force.
I found that the jet occurred once in twenty-five
seconds, with punctual regularity. This is a respi-
ratory act ; the grooved orifice through which the jet
is poured is not the termination of the intestine, as
we may at first suppose, but the exit of a capacious
chamber which is external to the body, though con-
cealed.

A very marvellous and quite unparalleled structure
here comes into view. If we take a Sea-mouse into
our hand, we see the whole breadth of the back occupied
by a woolly substance, closely resembling felt, and
formed by the interlacing of fine hairs. If we insert
a penknife into the tail-groove, and slit up this felt-
like cover, we expose an ample cavity running the
whole length of the animal, tlic floor of whicli is tlic
true skin of the back, on which arc set two rows of
large overlapping plates, or membranous scales
{elytra).

The dense tissue of interwoven hair resembling felt
acts as a filter for the water to be respired, straining
off" the earthy particles held in it, whicli tlius accumu-
late in its substance, and impart that peculiar dirty
appearance which it possesses. The scales, according
to Dr. Williams,* are periodically elevated and de-
pressed. In tlie former action, the water permeates
the felt, and fills the vacuum formed between tliem
and the back. As soon as it is full, they collapse ;
* Report on the British Annelida, 200.

154

pennant's ebalia.

and the filtered fluid, now deprived of its oxygen, is
forcibly expelled at the anal groove. Well may the
adoring Psalmist include among the riches " of God,
the ^'things creeping innumerable, both small and
great beasts," wherewith ''this great and wide sea"
is filled ! *

pennant's ebalia.

A female of this quaint little Crab {Ebalia Pen-
nantn) was obtained, the knobbed carapace of which
carries a specimen of that curious pellucid Bryozoon,
Alcyonidium gelatinosum. This is a fruit-like body,
about an inch in length, nearly cylindrical, with the
tip rounded, and the base diminished to a footstalk
springing from a minute point. The beautiful bell-
like Polypes are projecting by hundreds from every
part of the surface, distinctly perceptible even with
the naked eye. Though this parasitic appendage
springs from the very centre of the tuberculous cross
on the back of the Crab, it projects forward over the
head, a position which has relation to the burrowing
habits of this little Crustacean.

The latter is inert, folding its legs on itself when
touched, and remaining motionless for some time.
It buries itself in the gravel, descending backwards :
this is a somewhat slow process, suited to its usual
phlegmatic habit. It brings its hindmost pairs of feet
on each side together; then thrusting down their
united points, opens and expands them, forcing apart
the gravel : at the same moment the posterior part of
the body is brought down into the hollow thus made,

* Psalm civ. 24, 25.

ITS LIFE AND DEATH.

155

and the action of the feet is repeated. The process is
continued until the hinder parts are covered, and the
muzzle alone is visible, with the two claws. Thus it
sits quite still, reminding one of a toad, the broad
triangular pedipalps that fit so close occasionally
opening, like the folding- doors of a tiny cabinet, and
allowing the palpi to be thrust out, to wipe the minute
eyes. The face, when examined with a lens through
the glass walls of the Aquarium, has a most funny
expression, being singularly like that of an ancient
man.

Like many marine animals, the Ebalia uses the
hours of night as its chief season of activity. As long
as the candles are in the room, it remains pretty still,
but as soon as darkness reigns it sets out on its
travels. Not indeed with the railway pace of some
of its fellows, does our little ancient travel ; he is but
a slow coach but he gropes about among tlie
pebbles, and is usually found the next morning, buried
at some distance from the point where the previous
evening had left him. Fortunately his movements
are easily traced ; for the tall ventricose parasite wliich
he carries on his back cannot easily be concealed, and
this betrays the secret of his hiding-place.

I kept my little prisoner for five or six weeks ; and
he miglit have survived an indefinite time, but for
the violence of a powerful neiglibour. One moniing
I saw his shell and limbs broken to fragments, and
emptied of all the soft ])arts. More than suspicion
rested on the savage Violet Fiddler {Porttmus 2)uher),
whose biography I shall presently record. The last
occasion on which I had seen my little Ebalia alive

156

SOLDIER-CRABS.

was two days before, when I had routed him out of
his burrow to show him to a visitor.

THE COMMON SOLDIER-CRAB*

The Soldiers (as indeed becomes their profession)
are well known to be pugnacious and impudent ; yet
watchful and cautious. Indeed, their manners and
disposition, no less than their appearance, bear the
strongest resemblance to those of Spiders, a resem-
blance not peculiar to this genus, but more or less
characteristic of all the Crabs. Two of them can
scarcely approach each other without manifestations
of hostility ; each warily stretches out his long feet
and feels the other, just as spiders do, and strives to
find an opportunity of seizing liis opponent in some
tender part with his own strong claws. Generally
they are satisfied with the proofs afforded of mutual
prowess, and each, finding the other armed at all
points, retires ; but, not unseldom, a regular passage
of arms ensues, the claws are rapidly thrown about,
widely gaping and threatening, and the combatants
roll over and over in the tussle.

Sometimes, however, the aggi-essive spirit is more
decided, more ferocious, more obstinate. One in the
Aquarium of the Zoological Gardens was seen to
approach another, who tenanted a shell somewhat
larger than his own, and, suddenly seizing his victim's
front with his powerful claw, drag him like lightning
from his house, into which the aggressor as swiftly
inserted his own body, leaving the miserable sufferer
struggling in the agonies of death.

AN UNEXPECTED GUEST.

157

The association which often exists between animals
of different races and even of different classes, is always
a curious phenomenon ; and the motives which impel
to the companionship, no less than the mode in which
acquaintance is first formed, are most recondite. When
this species [Pagurus lernhardus) inhabits the shells
of the Whelk, it is quite common, though by no means
universal, to find the spire of the shell occupied as the
seat of that very fine Anemone, Act. parasitica^ which
rears its tall and stout form like a thick pillar, sm*-
mounted by its dense fringe of tentacles that wave,
brush-like, with every vagrant movement of the Crab.

But I find that this association is not the only one
that exists here. While I was feeding one of my
Soldiers, by giving him a fragment of cooked meat,
which he, having seized it with one claw, had trans-
ferred to the foot-jaws, and was munching, I saw pro-
trude from between the body of tlic Crab and the
Whelk-shell the head of a beautiful worm. Nereis
hilineata, which rapidly glided out round the Crab's
left cheek, and, passing between the upper and lower
foot-jaws, seized the morsel of food, and, retreating,
forcibly dragged it from the Crab's very mouth. I be-
held this with amazement, admiring that, though the
Crab sought to recover his hold, he manifested not tlie
least sign of anger at the actions of the Worm. I had
afterwards many opportunities of seeing this scene
enacted over again; indeed, on every occasion that
I fed the Crab and watched its eating, the Worm ap-
peared after a few moments, aware, probably by the
vibrations of its huge fellow-tenant's body, that feeding
was going on, and not I think by any sense of smell.

158

QUARRELS AT MEALS.

for a reason whicli I shall presently adduce. The mode
and the place of the Worm's appearance were the same
in every case, and it invariably glided to the Crab's
month between the two left foot-jaws. I was sur-
prised to observe what a cavern opened beneath the
pointed head of the Nereis when it seized the morsel,
and with what force comparatively large pieces were
torn off and swallowed, and how firmly the throat-
jaws held the piece when the latter would not yield.
Occasionally it was dragged quite away from the
Crab's jaws, and quickly carried into the recesses of
the shell ; sometimes in this case he put in one of
his claws and recovered liis morsel ; at others he gave
a sudden start at missing his grasp, which frightened
the Worm and made it let go and retreat ; but some-
times the latter made good his foray, and enjoyed his
plunder in secret.

The Worm is itself a striking and even handsome
animal ; and there is in its colours and their distri-
bution,— two bright white lines running through the
whole length on a light red gi'ound, — a curious simi-
larity to the colouring of the Crab.

I have reason to think that tlie partnership in ques-
tion is by no means casual or exceptional, but ordi-
nary, if not constant. A second Whelk-shell in my
Aquarium, surmounted also by a Parasitic Actinia,
but which has been deserted by the Soldier, retains
a Nereis as its tenant : and I know from experience,
as well as from the report of others, that this showy
Worm is usually found a co-occupant with the Soldier
of old shells. The fishermen of Weymouth prize this
Worm for bait more than any other ; and are so well

OBTUSENESS OP SENSE.

159

aware of its habits that they commonly break all
Whelks containing Soldiers, in order to extract the
Nereis which they know is within. Dr. Johnston in
his description of N, hiUneata (Ann. N. H. July, 1839)
has alluded to their occurrence together.

Besides the interesting fact of this mutual friend-
ship, we learn somewhat from the above observation
of the rapacity and carnivorous habits of the genus
Nereis^ already inferred from their anatomical struc-
ture. That the senses of this Worm are not very
acute I infer from the following experiment. I
dropped a piece of meat into the mouth of the Whelk-
shell that was tenanted only by a Nereis, and watched
the result. After a time the Worm protruded, not
apparently induced so to do by any expectation of
food, and though its head was often brought almost
into contact with the flesh, it was evidently uncon-
scious of the proximity ; for it took not the slightest
notice of it, and allowed it to remain untouched
all day.

The gi'aphic description of the Soldier going about
on the bcacli, turning over and examining shells, and
now and then trying how they would fit his body, —
has been so often quoted that we are apt to think it
is a common sight, and may be witnessed by any
stroller on a shelly beach. Yet I think the fact has
been very seldom seen ; and I judge so from my
never having seen any other than the one well-knowTi
story, which, if I mistake not, was originally told by
old Du Tertre of some American species. I have had
the pleasure, however, of confirming its accuracy, at
least in some points.

160

THE CRAB CHANGES

Looking at my Aquarium, I saw that the Soldier
was in a different Whelk-shell from his own. Both
were surmounted, as I have said before, by the Para-
sitic Actinia, but a diversity in the colour of the ten-
tacles rendered these distinguishable from each other
at a glance. I shall call the Crab's own original
Whelk, No. 1, and the other No. 2. My curiosity
was excited, of course, and I sat down to watch.
The Crab kept fast hold of shell No. 1, by placing his
walking feet within its aperture, all the time he was
within No. 2. Presently he slipped out his plump
posteriors from the new tenement, and in a moment
popped back into his old one, which was indeed the
larger of the two, and liobblcd away.

The next day I saw the attempt renewed, and this
time witnessed the procedure ab initio. The Soldier
on his rambles blundered on a third Whelk-shell
invested by the beautiful Adamsia, but untenanted.
This he seized, rolled over, and turned about in all
directions, feeling it in all parts, both within and
without. The Adamsia he seemed not to like, and
tried repeatedly to scrape it off the shell with his pin-
cers, labouring hard at the work, though ineffectually :
the rude operation appeared to produce little incon-
venience to the soft and delicate, but tough-skinned
Anemone, which, withdrawing its tentacles, and con-
tracting its body, offered a passive resistance to the
persecutor. At length he was satisfied that the shell
was much too small, and, relinquishing it, proceeded
on his travels.

Presently he came to shell No. 2, that he had tried in
vain yesterday; that essay, however, he had evidently

HIS RESIDENCE.

161

forgotten, or, at least, he did not recognise the shell ;
for he immediately tegan to turn it about, rolling it
over and over with his sharp feet, twisting the Actinia
most awry. He carefully examined the interior, feeling
it all over with both claws, and trying every spot as
far as he could reach ; this examination he continued
for perhaps five minutes, and then, as if satisfied, drew
out his feet, and made an essay to quit his own shell.
It was apparent that the exposure of his soft person
was considered somewhat dangerous, for he first felt
with his antennae in all directions around, vibrating
them up and down, and partly coming out and retreat-
ing several times before he ventured. At length,
however, out he popped, and into the new liouse as
quickly, where he turned and settled himself com-
fortably. There was not much difference in dimen-
sions between the shells, but, as I have said, what
there was, was in favour of his original dwelling.

He remained in his new quarters for ten minutes or
more, moving about a little, but never for an instant
letting go his old house, on which he pertinaciously
kept his feet, occasionally putting in his pincers to
feel the interior. At length he decided that, incon-
venient as it was, it was better than the new one ; and
therefore he returned to it, as he had done the previous
day, and relinquished the attempt.

The day following he repeated the same process of
temporary exchange, walking about for a considerable
time with his new abode, and yet at length resuming
the old one.

On a subsequent occasion I saw another individual
of the same species, reduced to the condition of a

M

162

TENANT-RIGHT.

houseless wanderer." The Whelk-shell which it
inhabited had been laid hold of by the sucking-feet of
a Sea-Urchin [EcMnm miUaris)^ the Soldier having
bivouacked in unconscious proximity to this adhesive
subject. The rest of the Urchin's feet were'firmly moored
to the solid rock ; so that when the Crab attempted to
walk, he found his home-shell immoveable. What was
to be done ? He was probably hungry after his re-
pose, and food must be sought. After vainly dragging
for a few minutes, he chose the alternative of exposure,
let go his posterior hold, slipped from the shell, and
wandered naked. Half a day he roamed in this de-
fenceless state, till, meeting with a large Whelk-shell
empty, he gladly popped in, and though the tenement
was inconveniently ample, kept possession, wisely
judging that inconvenience was preferable to danger.

It is a doubtful point whether the Soldier is a
murderer and freebooter, like Ahab in Naboth's
vineyard, slaying before he takes possession, whenever
he happens to fancy a tenanted shell, or whether he
merely makes free with a house that he finds unoccu-
pied. Wishing to settle the point, I procured a living
Whelk of about the size to suit the Crab's necessity,
and put it into the tank, when the latter was in the
state of uneasiness described above. But, though they
were thus thrown into association for several days, the
Soldier never made the least assault upon the living
Mollusk, nor attempted to take his shell.

After the preceding observations were written, my
esteemed relative James A. Salter, Esq., mentioned in
conversation that he had witnessed the process of the
Soldier's ^'moving house." At my request he has

MK. SAI^TER^S OBSERVATIONS.

163

favoured me with the following particulars, which,
while they agree with my own observations in essential
points, superadd some interesting details.

I have many times found Hermit-crabs out of
their shells, in the mingled mass of a dredge-haul,
and on three occasions have watched the method in
which the houseless creature domiciliates himself.
These were the only occasions on which I endeavoured
to observe the operation : they always seem willing
enough to exhibit their housing performance.

My plan of observation was simply tliis : — I put
a naked Crab into a large glass jar of sea- water, witli
one shell, the latter of size about proportioned to the
former; and then I contemplated. In each case tlie
Crab proceeded in the same way.

Appearing to see the shell in the distance, the ani-
mal crawled tip to it for the purpose of seeing if the
house were to let ; and this circumstance he discovered
not by sight, but touch. Upon reaching the shell lie
hooked two of his legs into its open mouth, and thrust-
ing them as far down into its cavity as possible, com-
menced scrambling round tlic edge : he was evidently
probing to discover if there were already an inliabitant.
In each case the Crab pursued this probing operation
in the same direction — commencing on the projecting
side of the shell, and ending on the receding side.
Having performed this process once round, he in-
stantly, in the twinkling of an eye, erected straight his
tail, and whisked himself over the smooth lip of the shell
into its tube, with a rapid adroitness that was perfectly
marvellous. And then in his new contrasted position
he looked so funny — such at-hometshness there was in

M 2

164

THE PRAWNS.

it ; he was so different from the poor, houseless vaga-
bond with a drivelling tail, that one had seen miserably
crawling about a moment before : he looked right up
in your face, and said, as plainly as looks can speak,
^ How d'ye do ? here I am, quite at home already/
I never saw it without laughing."

THE COMMON PRAWN, AND THE BULLHEAD PRAWN.

The Prawns are particularly pleasing inhabitants
of the Aquarium. There is a certain lightness in the
slender filiform appendages of the head, which are
continually thrown into the most graceful curves, that
resembles in character the light tracery of ropes and
spars" so much admired in a trimly rigged ship.
Their bodies are so pellucid that a lady who was this
moment looking at the Tank compared them to ghosts,
and their smooth gliding movements aid the similitude.
The beautiful colours which adorn them I have de-
scribed elsewhere, and shall merely here say that the
fine contrasts of the black-margined lines of pale
yellow with the pellucid gi'ey of the ground, show
well as the animals rest on the dark stones. The two
species (P. serratus and P. squilla) are so closely alike
in their colours and in the distribution of these, that
it is only by minute examination and comparison that
we can determine what is characteristic of each. The
most obvious distinction is, that in the former the
outer tail-plate has a yellow line, the intermediate one
no spot or rarely a minute speck ; the middle plate
two parallel specks also minute. In P. squilla each
plate has a roundish or squarish spot of yellow, all

THE PRAWNS.

165

equal in size, and forming an angular band of spots.
The distinctions drawn from the form and dentition
of the rostrum, and the gibbous carapace of P. squilla,
I need not speak of particularly, as these are suffi-
ciently appreciable in cabinet specimens.

When viewed with a candle, the eyes of the Prawn
reflect the light with a glare exactly like that seen in
a cat's eyes under similar circumstances. The light,
in the case of the Prawn, is seen only when the candle
is held between the beholder and the insect, and
becomes brighter and larger the more nearly the flame
of the candle is brought to the line wliich unites the
observer's eyes and the object. It might seem as if
nothing could possibly be discerned when the flame
is absolutely in this line, but it is not so ; both eyes
being open, the line of vision of each eye passes on
one side of the candle, and we discern the two eyes of
the Prawn, like two little globes of fire.

In the case of the cat the phenomenon is said to be
produced by the choroid coat at the bottom of the
eye {tapetum lucidum), reflecting from its polished
metal-like surface the entering rays, and converging
them by its concavity, as if from a concave mirror.
This is simple and perfectly intelligible ; but I do not
see how a similar effect is produced in the compound
eyes of the Crustacea, each of which is composed of
a great number of conical lenses with apices inward.
What is there in this structure that can represent
a concave mirror ? Yet no one can look at the sight
I am speaking of, without feeling certain that the
optical process is one of concave reflection and con-
vergence of the rays ; and that the reflecting siuface

166

THE PRAWNS.

is in the interior of the globose compound eye. The
reflection is seen whatever part of the eye is opposite
the light (provided it be facetted, of course), but is
most full direct in front, where no unfacetted portion
can be seen. Yet it certainly has no connexion what-
ever with reflection from the exterior surface, as might
be suggested by any one who has not actually seen
it : the effect of this would be a minute point of light,
very different from this broad round gleam.

The different species of Pagurus, and some Crabs,
as Fortiiniis, exhibit the same phenomenon, but in a
lower degree ; the disk of light being smaller and of
less brilliance ; though their eyes are larger. I have
seen the same appearance in the eyes of Moths and
other nocturnal insects; so that doubtless it is de-
pendent on the common structure of facetted com-
pound eyes.

It is pretty to see the Prawn fed. When a morsel
of food is dropped through the water near its head,
the excessively long antennae (especially the long
filaments of the superior pair, which are carried per-
pendicularly upwards) seem principally to take cogni-
sance of its presence and of its qualities. The eyes,
though evidently alert, are, I think, less trusted. As
the morsel comes within reach, the second feet, the
principal organs of prehension, are stretched out, with
the two fingers (pincers) widely extended ; these seize
it with the most easy action possible, and in a moment
thrust it towards the mouth.

CLEANLINESS.

167

CLEANLINESS.

Many contemplative minds have been exercised on
the immense amount of energy and time that are
expended in the mere procuring of food and clothing ;
and the pious have bowed to the necessity as part of
the curse under which the earth still groans on account
of sin. " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread " was the righteous sentence on fallen man ; and
we know assuredly that if innocence had remained,
other clothing would have been unneeded.

But possibly it may not have struck every one that
almost as much of time and labour are consumed in
cleansing away impurities. Our bodies, our garments,
our furniture, our houses, our streets, are perpetually
being cleaned : it is clean, clean, clean, — wasli, scrub,
scour, brush, sweep, — from morning to night, from
week to week, from year to year, a constant unre-
mitting war with dirt ; a war hopeless because
endless, a war with an enemy that may be kept in
check, but can never be conquered. No sooner by
herculean efforts have we made a successful onslaught
on the foe, and apparently subdued him so that he
cannot show his face again, and begin to sit down in
complacency, than lo ! we descry his unsightly sappers
and miners retaking all the points we thought we
had secured, and we exclaim, in disappointment and
despair, —

" The creature's at his dirty work again ! **

I incline to think that tins necessity is as much a
judicial sentence as the other ; that it also is part of
the curse. It is true we may trace it to the laws of

168

A PENAL SENTENCE.

matter ; to the excretions of living beings, the natural
course of decomposition in organic substances, the
abrasion of inorganic surfaces by friction, the laws of
motion, of gravitation, and the like. I know that all
this may be said, and said truly ; and yet I doubt
much if this perpetual round of strife with dirt, that
makes the poet's lamentable ditty, —

" There is nae luck aboot the hoose
Upon a washin' day," —

applicable to all the world, and co-extensive with all
time, would have been our lot, if we had maintained
a Paradisiacal condition of existence.

Be it so ! judgment in neither case is unmingled
with mercy. It is not an unmitigated curse under
which Creation groans. A Father's hand is manifest
in the wisdom and love, which has made the pro-
nounced and inevitable sentence to be a corrective
discipline, and not a vindictive punishment. What
crimes have been prevented, what proficiency in ini-
quity cut short by the necessity of labour for the
support of life ! And in like manner tens of thousands
are daily kept out of idleness, and its concomitant
temptations, by the incessant demands of cleanliness
upon toil. The condition of existence being what it
is, a fallen condition^ a state in which a proclivity to
sin is the universal rule, how merciful is the appoint-
ment of a discipline which should directly minister
blessing to the mass of mankind in several ways!
Preventively, by limiting our opportunities of evil ;
temporally, by giving support, directly or indirectly,
to myriads of persons ; and spiritually, by reminding
us of an inward uncleanness, which must be effectually

ANIMAL CLEANLINESS.

169

purged away, tefore we can become inhabitants of
that city of light and bliss, into which shall enter
^'nothing that defileth!"

If this is a correct aspect of the subject, it was
natural that the inferior creatures, who fell federally
in their lord and head, should share in the conse-
quences of his sad lapse. Hence, we find not only
that the procuring of food occupies a large portion of
the time and energy of the brute animals, but also
that of what remains much is devoted to operations
of cleanliness, personal and local. In all probability
both of these occupations are to them actually plea-
sant, instead of burdensome ; their part of the punish-
ment (as I have elsewhere remarked) is, in many
respects, indignity rather than suffering, though they
have enough of the latter too. Every one has seen
how much of her leisure is occupied by a cat in cleans-
ing herself and her offspring ; aud the zest with which
she goes through her task indicates that it is not
unpleasing. Other animals perform analagous opera-
tions, varied, however, so much in the details of their
purposes, modes, and implements, that I am persuaded
an interesting treatise might be written exclusively
on animal cleanliness.

I am not going to write such a treatise, but merely
to describe an example that I have noticed among the
tenants of my Aquarium. I have before said that the
second pair of feet are used by the Prawn [PaUemon]
as his principal organs of prehension ; and this might
have been inferred from their superior length and
stoutness, particularly the size of the pincers or didac-
tyle hands. On cursory observation you are puzzled

170

. CLEANSING ORGANS.

to know what is the use of the slender first pair,
which are also furnished with didactyle hands, but
very diminutive and feeble. See the Prawn, however,
washing himself after dinner, or at any other spare
moment, for he is careful to maintain his polished
coat of mail most scrupulously clean. You will then
see that the front feet are cleansing organs. They
are beset with hairs which stand out at right angles
to the length of the limb, radiating in all directions,
like the bristles of a bottle-brush. You will not see
them to advantage, it is true, in dried specimens : but
in a living state, or even wlien preserved in spirits,
they are conspicuous enough under a lens. These
are the Prawn^s washing brushes, especially applied
to the cleansing of the under-surface of the thorax
and abdomen. When engaged in this operation, the
animal commonly throws in the tail under the body,
in that manner which we see assumed in the pink
specimens that arc brought to table, which is not,
however, the ordinary posture of life, the body being
nearly straight. Tlien he brings his forefeet to bear
on the belly, thrusting the bottle-brushes to and fro,
and into every angle and hollow with zealous industry,
withdrawing them now and then, and clearing them
of dirt by passing them between the foot-jaws. The
reason of the inbending of the tail is manifest ; the
brushes could not else reach the hinder joints of the
body, and still less the swimming plates ; but by
this means every part is brought within easy reach.
Sometimes the brushes are inserted between the edge
of the carapace and the body, and are thrust to and
fro, penetrating to an astonishing distance, as may be

THE SERPULA.

171

distinctly seen through the transparent integument.
Ever and anon the tiny forceps of the hand are em-
ployed to seize and pull off any fragment of extraneous
matter which clings to the skin too firmly to be
removed by brushing ; it is plucked off, and thrown
away, clear of the body and limbs. The long antennae
and all the other limbs are cleaned by means of the
foot-jaws principally.

THE SERPULA.

There is scarcely any object more familiar to the
eye of one accustomed to dredge, or to pore about the
water's edge at extreme low tide, than the tubes of
stony or shelly substance whicli are found adhering,
in various contortions and aggi^egations, to almost
every stationary object that is habitually submersed.
The under-sides of every ledge, of every boulder, and
almost every pebble, are studded with tliese twisting,
creeping tubes, which seem to contend witli the
crowding Acorn-barnacles {Balanus) for the possession
of every inch of space within their domain. Those
that occur within tide-marks are usually of a small
species, with the tube strongly carinated, and some-
what three-sided, and the exposed part of the animal
banded with bluish-grey. But in deep water they
arc much finer and more brilliantly coloured. I be-
lieve the former is S. triquetra^ the latter S, contor-
tupUcata; but the species of this tribe have yet to
be disentangled from the confusion of closet nomen-
clature. It is of the deep-water species that I would
speak ; not the rarer solitary kind [8. tuhulan'a), that
adheres to the stone or shell by only a small portion

172

ITS FANS.

of its tip, and rears the remainder of its tube in
pillar-like erectness to the height of half a foot or
more ; * — but of that most abundant one, which every
haul of the dredge raises, on old shells, broken pot-
tery, fragments of bottles, &c. grouped in intricately
contorted and intertwisted masses, which adhere for
the greater part of their length, and are free only at
or near the anterior extremity.

The tubes of fine specimens are about one-fourth
of an inch in diameter, cylindrical, with the mouth
slightly expanded. The successive stages of growth
may be traced by these expansions, for the addition
is evidently made, not from the expanded edge, but
from a little way within, so that the general diameter
of the tube is preserved, while these trumpet-lips
project at irregular distances, in a foliated manner, like
the bases of sheathing-leaves. You would probably
look with little interest on these clumps of dirty- white,
rough tubes, on seeing them come up in the dredge,
but in an Aquarium few objects are more attractive.
As soon as the tenants of these pipes begin to feel
themselves at home, they cautiously protrude. The
first thing you see is what looks like a scarlet cork
fitted into the mouth of the tube, as if into the neck
of a bottle ; by gradual steps, this is pushed a little,
and a little, farther out, until at length a brilliant
array of fans of the same gorgeous hue protrudes, and
expands into a sort of oval funnel, defective at one
side, and with the opposite margin bent inward in a
sinuous form.

* An error in nomenclature. Tubularia iq a true Sahella, not a
Serpula. {Second Edition.)

ITS STOPPER.

173

Take your pocket-lens now, and examine the struc-
ture of these brilliant organs in detail. Presto ! on
the slightest movement of your hand towards him, he
is gone ! He has retreated like a lightning flash into
his tube. But did you notice how cleverly, as he went,
he shut the door after him? A most marvellous
contrivance is here. Watch it as it again carefully
protrudes. There is a solid organ exactly conical,
seated at the end of a long flexible stem, which forms
the stopper : it is one of a pair of tentacles ; but as
only one could be of any service as a stopper, one
only is developed ; the other being minute. This
stopper is very beautiful ; it is always richly coloured,
usually orange, or vermilion, sometimes varied with
pure white : its flat extremity or top is made up of
ridges, which run from the centre to the circumference,
where they project in tiny teeth of the most exact
regularity. The fan-like expansions are formed of
radiating filaments, also very brilliant in hue, which
are the breathing organs, separating oxygen from the
currents of water which play along their ciliated
surfaces.

There is no distinct head in these animals, but the
organs I have described are protected by a sort of
projecting mantle or hood, beneath which is the orifice
of the stomach. Eyes it seems to have, and most
sharp ones ; for, as we saw, the animal is peculiarly
sensitive to the approach of any object, even though
this be on the outside of a glass tank, at the bottom
of whose interior it is expanded. Yet I have searched
in vain for any distinct organs of vision.

The mechanism by which the Serpula projects its

174

ITS BRISTLES FOR PROTRUDING.

body from its shelly tube, and by wliicli it withdraws
on alarm with such inconceivable rapidity, is won-
drously curious. I will describe each of these in
turn. Behind the head (or what for convenience
may be so named), the sides of the body are cut into
nipple-like feet, about seven pairs in all, which are
perforated, and carry so many bundles of fine elastic,
horny bristles, like the hairs of a cameVs-hair pencil,
each pencil carrying from twenty to thirty bristles.
By means of suitable muscles, the pencils are pushed
out to their full length, or withdrawn so as to be
wholly sheathed in the foot.

Now let us look at the structure of these bristles.
A few are simple hairs, but the majority are instru-
ments of elaborate workmanship, though high powers
of the microscope are needful to display them well.
Each bristle consists of a transparent, yellow homy
shaft, the extremity of which dilates into a slightly
enlarged knob. This is cleft into four points, three
of which are minute, but the fourth is developed into
a long, slightly divergent, highly elastic, tapering,
and finely pointed spear.

These organs come into operation when the animal
would extrude its body from the mouth of its tube.
Their action is manifestly that of pushing against the
walls of the interior, which on close examination are
seen to be lined with a delicate membrane, exuded
from the animal's skin. The opposite feet of one
segment protrude the pencils of bristles, one on each
side, the acute points of which penetrate and catch in
the lining membrane ; the segments behind this are
now drawn up close, and extend their bristles ; these

ITS ARRAY OF HOOKS.

175

catch in like manner ; then an elongating movement
takes place ; the pencils of the anterior segments being
now retracted, they yield to the movement and are
pushed forward, while the others are held firm by the
resistance of their holding bristles ; thus gradually
the foreparts of the animal are exposed.

But the gradual process would ill suit the necessity
of a creature so sensitive to alarm, when it wishes to
retreat. We have already seen how, with the fleetness
of a thought, its beautiful crown of scarlet plumes
disappears within a stony fastness ; let us now look
at the apparatus which effects this movement.

If we look at a Serpula recently dead, — which we
may readily do, since it is the habit of most tublcolous
Annelida to come out to die, — we shall find, with a
lens, a pale yellow line running along the upper surface
of each foot, transversely to the length of the body.
This is the border of an excessively delicate membrane,
and on placing it under a high power (say 300 dia-
meters) we are astonished at the elaborate provision
here made for prehension. This yellow line, which
cannot be appreciated by the unassisted eye, is a
muscular ribbon, on which stand up edgewise a mul-
titude of what I will call combs, or rather sub -trian-
gular plates. The edge of each plate is cut very
regularly into six teeth, which curve in one direction,
and one other curved so as to face these. The combs
stand side by side parallel to each other, along the
whole length of the ribbon, and there are muscular
fibres seen affixed to the smaller end of every plate,
which doubtless give it independent motion. I counted
one hundred and thirty-six plates on one ribbon ;

176

ITS HOOKS.

there are two ribbons on each thoracic segment, and
there are seven such segments: — hence we may-
compute the total number of prehensile comb-like
plates to be about one thousand nine hundred, each
of which is wielded by muscles at the will of the
animal ; while, as each plate carries seven teeth,
there are between thirteen and fourteen thousand
teeth hooked into the lining membrane of the cell,
when the animal chooses to descend. No wonder,
with so many muscles wielding so many grappling
hooks, that the retreat is so rapidly effected !

A gTOup of Serpulce of the species which I have
been describing, is represented in Plate V.

CHAPTER VIII.

The floor is of sand like the mountain-drift,
And the pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow;

From coral rocks the sea-plants lift

Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow.

The water is calm and still below.

For the winds and waves are absent there ;

And the sands are bright as the stars that glow
In the motionless fields of the upper air.
« * # * *

And life, in rare and beautiful forms.
Is sporting amid those bowers of stone.

And is safe, when the wrathful spirit of storma
Has made the top of the waves his own.

Percival.

A DRAG ON SMALLMOUTII SANDS.

I HAVE on two occasions described a dredging trip,
undertaken principally under the north line of coast,
ranging from Whitenose outward, and off shore
towards the spot where the East Indiaman, Aher^
gavenny, struck and sank with three hundred souls,
about fifty years ago. The place is still familiarly
spoken of by the fishermen under the ill-fated ship's
name, or as they frequently abbreviate it, "theAbbey,"
and they pretend that the remains of the wreck may
still be seen.

But frequently we varied the ground and its pro-
duce, by beating down to the southward, until we got

N

178

KING GEORGE.

within Portland Roads, and tlien^ reaching in-shore
towards the ferry, as far as we dared for the shallows,
dredged the ground over with the tide, in various
traverses off Smallmouth Sands, and under Sandsfoot.
The sand shoals off in some places very gradually,
and one day we scraped along and stuck fast, the
boat^s keel deep in the mud and silt, and immoveable,
though the shore was more than lialf a mile distant.
The tide, however, took us off after some delay, which
no doubt seemed longer than it really was, and
allowed us to go on with our dredging.

From tliis bay a favourable view is obtained of the
equestrian figure of George III., whicli is cut on the
slope of a hill above Preston, and which, by the ex-
posure of the chalk, is very conspicuous on the green
turf. It is a very remarkable work of art on several
accounts ; first, for that it was executed by a private
soldier with only his own resources ; secondly, for its
colossal dimensions, being 174 feet in height ; thirdly,
for its vraisemhlance not only to a man on horseback,
but to the king himself ; and fourthly, because being
intended to be viewed at some miles' distance, on a
very inclined surface, the drawing had to be made,
not in natural proportions, but very considerably
distorted : yet the success is complete.

In raking the bottom of this bay, we meet with
various kinds of gi'ound. In many places it is smooth
sand ; in others a whitish, tenacious mud ; off Sands-
foot Castle the low ledges crop out, and offer their
abrupt margins across the course in which we are
working ; these have to be carefully avoided. Again,
in some places there are extensive beds of Zoster a;

THE WEAVER.

179

in others great, tangled, half-rotten masses of dead
sea-weeds^ such as RhyttpJilea and Fucus^ with leaves
of the Zostera twining among them, fill the dredge ;
most disappointing, because both unpleasant and un-
productive. At other places we get stones, old shells,
and nice specimens of living weeds.

. The keer-drag on the sandy bottom takes several
interesting fishes. Among them is the little Weaver
[TracMnus vipera)^ a fish elegant in form and colour,
but dangerous, and reputed to be poisonous. The
first dorsal, which, being of a deep black hue, con-
trasts well with the chaste grey of the upper parts, is
armed with very strong spines, and there is a long
and very sharp one on each side of the head. The fish
is said to direct its blows with tliese spines with great
judgment and precision ; and wounds inflicted by
them are said to be peculiarly painful and difficult
of cure. Hence possibly it was the Scorpios of the
ancients : —

" Et capitis duro nociturus Scorpios ictu."

Ovro.

Other ground fishes I have also obtained here, as
the Solenette [Monochirus Unguatulus), and the Lemon
Sole {Solea pegusa), besides more common kinds of
Flat-fishes ; and other species resembling these in
form, colour, and habit, and as it were representing
them, though widely differing structurally. I refer to
the Skates and tlieir allies. Pretty little specimens
occur of the Thorn-back [Raia cZamfa), with numerous
white spots, very round, distinct, and ocellated ; and of
the Painted Eay (i?. 7nicroceUata), distinguished from

n2

180

WALKINa FORESTS.

its fellows by several series of pale bands, forming
concentric arcs sub-parallel to each of the four mar-
gins of the body. Mr. Yarrell speaks of this as very
rare, but I obtained three examples in one day. The
Bordered Ray [R. marginata) is another rarity which
I have taken here, distinguished by the wide band of
dark brown that margins the disk. The Angel {Squa-
tina angeliis) also sometimes comes up in the drag, a
species intermediate between the Rays and the Sharks ;
but he is too hideous to dwell upon.

Some lovely little Nudibranch Mollusca frequently
are found clinging to tlic mcslies of the net ; especially
one of extraordinary beauty, when examined with a
lens, though to the careless eye it appears dull and
insignificant. I refer to ^gtrus punctilucens, a little
slug of pale reddish-brown hue, covered with tubercles,
but studded here and there with black spots, in the
centre of which is a speck of most lustrous green or
blue, looking exactly as if a minute sapphire or eme-
rald had been set there.

But perhaps most characteristic of this particular
beat are the Crustacea. Various sorts of Oabs that
occur in deeper water are also found here, as the
Long-legged Spider-crabs [Stenorhynclms and Ina-
chus) ; and the more sluggish sorts, as Pisa, Hyas,
and Maia, whose rough shells are frequently so
covered with a forest of growing sea-weeds, that, as
they crawl and stagger along, they remind one of
Bimam wood coming to Dunsinane. The true
Shrimps (Crangon), or Sand-raisers, as they are not
inappropriately called by the fishermen, are, however,
peculiar to the shallow sands. Of this genus we have

^SOP PEAWNS.

181

five species at least in Weymouth Bay, some of wliicli,
remarkable for the variety and beauty of their
colours, I have noticed elsewhere.* All the species
burrow expertly in the sand, not entirely, but so as
just to leave exposed the two eyes, which, like the
garret-windows of a house (as Captain Harris says of
the eyes of the Hippopotamus), are placed on the
very summit of the head.

On the weeds and sea-grass those pretty Prawns
are abundant which have been called ^sops, after
the old hump-backed fabulist, because of the projec-
tion of the third segment of the abdomen dorsally,
giving to these little Crustacea a curiously deformed
appearance, when extended. The most common of
our species, Crancli's jT^sop (lUppolyte Cranchii)^ has
the hump very strongly marked. It is a pretty, active
little thing, darting rapidly from weed to weed, vary-
ing much in colour, but usually mottled and clouded
with white and purple. In another species just de-
scribed by ]\Ir. Thompson, under the name of IL
Whitet, the deformity is scarcely perceptible ; and
this is a particularly lovely kind, being as elegant
in form as it is brilliant in colour, and therefore very
desirable for an Aquarium. The whole of the animal
is of a fine emerald-green, with a pure white line run-
ning down the back ; the body sprinkled with s})ecks
of azure. In the tank this pretty species is not very
lively, habitually clinging to sea-weeds and swimming
little. Unfortunately it is the favourite prey of the
larger Prawns [Palcvmones], so that it cannot be pre-
served with these. If a few of the llijjpolijtes be turned
* Ann. of Nat. Hist. 1853.

182

THE PLUMOSE ANEMONE.

into an Aquarium, of which the Palcemones are tenants,
in a very few minutes each of tlie latter will be found
to have captured one of the elegant strangers, and to
be greedily devouring it.

Here, too, we got the Scarlet-lined iEsop {Pandalus
annulicornis) ^ a Prawn of larger dimensions, sufficient
to entitle it to a place at our tables. You would at
first sight mistake it for the common Prawn (^Palcemon
serratus), but for the diagonal stripes of rich red that
run along each side of its pellucid body. It is a
handsome species; but as I have not observed any
peculiarities of importance in its economy, I content
myself with a figure of it, wliich will be found in
Plate VI.

THE PLUMOSE ANEMONE.

This species [Actinia diantlius) is by far the
largest and most magnificent of our native Ane-
mones, though I think I could hardly call it, with
Milller, actiniarum pulclierrima^^' as it is excelled
in beauty sm*ely by A. crass icorms, and by several
of the smaller species.* It varies greatly in size,
form (so far at least as this depends on exten-
sion or contraction), and colour. I have seen speci-
mens in the same colony, doubtless a family group,
one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and others four
inches. Dr. Johnston speaks of some five inches
wide. Sometimes the same individual shrinks down
to an abject flatness, and presently swells and rises

♦ A more extended acquaintance vdih. the species has induced me
to rescind this judgment, and to conciir in Miiller's verdict. {Second
Edition.)

ITS APPEARANCE.

183

into a noble, massive column, from which the fringed
disk expands and arches over on every side, reminding
the beholder of a palm-tree. Then again, on some
cause of alarm, real or supposed, it will suddenly close,
and assume a distended globose appearance, with the
oval mouth a little open, and filled with the clustering
tentacles.

In colour the variety, though considerable, is re-
stricted to certain limits easily defined. The most
beautiful varieties that I have seen are the pure white,
and the rich full orange or red-lead; but the more
common states are cream-colour, flesh-colour, pale red,
and olive. This last is perhaps the least pleasing hue,
but there is considerable variation even here, for in
some the tint approaches to a warm umber brown, and
in others becomes a dingy, blackish olive. Generally
speaking, the hue, whatever it be, is uniform in the
same individual ; but I possess specimens of the umber-
coloured, in whicli the tentacles are almost white,
imparting a peculiar speckled aspect to the disk;
the crenated mouth in these is full orange."^

Tlie body is smooth, lubricated with mucus, and
perfectly free from sucking glands. It forms at the
summit of the column a thick rounded rim, sometimes
everted, not in the least crenated, within which a deep

* The specimen described in the Comish Fauna, iiL 79, referred

to by Dr. Johnston as probably belonging to another species, I should
suppose to be but a variety similar to the above. The only thing
remarkable in it that I see is, that it is said to live between tide-
marks." [This, however, I have since found to present no diflBculty ;
since I have found this species abundant at Tenby, between tide-
marks ; and Mr. C. W. Peach informs me that such is its habit in the
north of Scotland.] {Second Edition.)

184

ITS STRUCTURE.

groove exists around the exterior of the tentacular
disk. The latter is membranous, expanded, and ex-
cessively puckered or frilled with broad and deep
involutions, of which there are usually six or eight ;
the infoldings are sometimes simple, sometimes com-
pound ; in the latter case forming a semi-globose
head of fine slender tentacles, crowded together in
seeming confusion.

When more carefully examined, the membranous
disk appears to be really circular in outline ; tlie
mouth, an oval orifice with crenated lips, is not placed
on a cone; delicate lines, as usual, radiate from it.
The innermost tentacles are placed at about half an
inch from the mouth (in a large specimen) ; these
are scattered irregularly and loosely ; others succeed,
more thickly, until towards the margin they become
a dense fringe, defying enumeration. The innermost
ones are stouter than the outermost : the length of
both varies much in specimens of the same size ; —
sometimes being not more than one-fourth of an inch
long, at others thrice this length.

The whole texture is somewhat pellucid, especially
on the oral disk and the tentacles : the outer covering
of the body appears sub-coriaceous, though soft and
mucous.

In Weymouth Bay this species Is very common,
and still more abundant in the deeper water of the
offing ; both the dredge and the trawl constantly
bringing up single specimens and clustered groups.
The latter are sometimes very numerous, as many as
twenty being not uncommonly crowded on a single
oyster-shell. Of course such a group on so limited a

ITS LOCOMOTIVE POWERS. 185

space, must include a good many small ones ; gene-
rally they are of all sizes, from the gigantic forefather
of the family to the tiny great-grandchildren that are
scattered round his base, no larger than peas. In
general all the members of each group are of the
same hue ; as they are, I presume, strictly one family.
Yet one now and then sees an individual of quite
another colour in the group ; a circumstance to be
accounted for on the supposition of an accidental in-
trusion on a ground already occupied. Flat stones,
but more commonly large bivalve shells — such as
oysters, pectens, and pinnae — are the sites selected for
the colonies of this Actinia.

Dr. Johnston's statement, that A. dianthns is a
permanently attached species, and cannot be removed
from its site without organic injury to the base," is
not confirmed by my experience. I find that it can
be removed by the fingers without any difficulty, and
that it adheres again to a fresh place with the same
readiness as other Actimce. I have now in my Aqua-
rium several specimens of large size, wliich I dis-
placed in the usual manner, from their oyster-shells,
by shoving them off carefully with the back of my
finger-nails, and which I merely set down on the
pieces of rock-work. I found them firmly fixed in the
course of an hour or two, and they have manifested
no disposition to unsettle themselves since, though
they have been there for several weeks. On tlie other
hand, one which I had put in with the shell to which
it was affixed, presently crawled spontaneously from
his original site, and took up a new abode on the rock-
work. The change was effected by the ordinary

186

THE RUNCINA.

gliding movement of the base, and was not particu-
larly slow. Indeed, I can state distinctly that
dianthus crawls as freely as any other species.*

The rank odour noticed in A. parasitica is very
powerful and enduring in this species also, as it is in
A, crassicornis.

The principal object in the accompanying Plate, is
an expanded specimen of the Plumose Anemone {Ac-
tinia dianthus) of the wliite variety, attached to an
oyster-shell. In the front is a group of Serpula con-
tortuplicata^ with their cork-like opercula protruded,
and their scarlet fans expanded. They are seated on
a Scallop [Pecten ojyercularis] ; from which also springs
a frond of the exquisitely delicate Nitophyllum punc-
tatum. Behind the Anemone are some tufts of the
Sea-grass (Zostera marina) .

RUNCINA HANCOCKI.

On the 17th of September, I took this little MoUusk
by hundreds on tlie Zostera left dry at low spring-tide,
below Sandsfoot Castle. In raking the edges of the
grass in the shallow pools with a ring-net, the little
black, shining Nudibranchs were left on the cloth.
Some were of much larger size than mentioned by
Forbes and Hanley, being fully a quarter of an inch
long when crawling,! while others were of various

* This fact has now been abundantly confirmed, not only by my
own experience, but by that of many who at this time (1856), in
London and elsewhere, are keeping dianthus in aquaria. {Second
Edition.)

t I lately found in one of my tanks at London, a specimen of
Buncina IlancocJci, which was four lines in length when crawling,
and stout in proportion. {Second Edition.)

SWIMMING CRABS.

187

degrees of minuteness, down to half a line. When
contracted, out of water, they presented a close resem-
blance to a glossy beetle — a Oyrinus^ for example ; but
in crawling the body was considerably elongated.

In the Aquarium they are fond of crawling up the
side perpendicularly till they reach the surface, when
they float back downward, or more generally let go,
bend in the foot, and drop at once to the bottom.

THE FIDDLER.

Beneath a large flat stone, exposed at extreme low
water, at the end of one of the low rough ledges
that run out from the foot of Byng Cliff", I found in
September a full-grown specimen of the Velvet Fid-
dling Crab {Portunm jyuher). All tlic Crabs of this
family, which contains a great number of species and
not a few genera, are distinguished at once by a pe-
culiar modification of the hindmost pair of feet, for
the performance of an important function. They are
all Swimming Crabs; and the facility with which they
can roam through the element they inhabit, depends
largely on the completeness of the modification which
I refer to. Our common eatable Crab, the bulky,
thick-clawed, livid 8-pounder, that lies with all his
ten pairs of feet so meekly folded across his breast, can
swim — about as well as a stone of the same size.

Now examine his hindmost feet ; their single toe
tapers to a sharp point, in no wise differing from
those of the four pairs that precede them. But the
Portumdce^ or Swimming Crabs, have this last pair of
feet much flattened out sidewise, and the toe in par-
ticular dilated into an oval, thin-edged plate; which,

188

THE FIDDLER.

striking obliquely upon the water, acts as an oar, with
that peculiar action which is known to boatmen as
sculling. In the common Shore-crab {Carcmus moenas) ^
that abundant olive-green kind which on every rocky
shore little boys and girls catch, by letting down into
the crevices a piece of string with a fragment of offal
tied to it, — we observe a transition condition of the
hind-foot; there is a decided tendency to an ovate
form, though tlie tip is yet taper and acute. And the
habits of the animal agree with this structure. The
power of shooting slantwise through the water exists,
which bears the same sort of relation to the free and
easy swimming of the typical Portunidcc^ the Oceanic
Crabs of the tropics, as the long leaps of the Flying
Squirrels and the Petauri bear to the sustained flight
of a bird.

None of our native Crabs are " at the top of the
tree" in the swimming profession ; their efforts, even
those of the best of them (and there is a good deal of
difference in the species even of the true Portuni), are
awkward bunglings, when compared with the freedom
and fleetness of those I have seen in the Caribbean sea,
and among the Gulf weed, in the tropical Atlantic,
which shoot through the water almost like a fish, with
the feet on the side that happens to be the front all
tucked close up, and those on the opposite side
stretched away behind, so as to hold no water,^^ as
a seaman would say, and thus offer no impediment to
the way. Our species are obliged to keep their pair
of sculls continually working while they swim ; a
series of laborious efforts just sufficient to counteract
J:he force of gravity ; and the see-saw motion of the

ITS PUGNACITY.

189

bent and flattened joints of the oar-feet is so much
like that of a fiddler's elbow, as to have given rise to
a very widely adopted appellation of these Crabs,
among our marine populace.

An old male of the Velvet Fiddler is a striking and
handsome Crab. His body generally is clothed Avith
a short velvety pile of a pale brown or drab hue, from
beneath which here and there shines out the glossy
deep black shell, especially where rubbed, as at the
edges. The feet, particularly the plates of the oars,
are conspicuously striped with black ; the large and
formidable claws are marked with bright scarlet and
azure, as are also the foot-jaws and face ; while the
eyes are of the richest vermilion, projecting from
hollow black sockets.

I said that he is a " striking" Crab ; and, though I
was quite innocent of a pun when I wrote the word, it
is characteristic in more senses than one. Both it and
its frequent companion, the Shore Crab, when appre-
hensive of assault, use the powerful claws, not to
seize, but to strike transversely, as a mower uses his
scythe ; and this action they perform viciously, and
with great force and effect.

In the Aquarium the Velvet Fiddler was shy and
recluse. He at once slid into the most obscure recess
he could find, beneath the dark shadow of two pieces
of rock that formed an arch. For some days he re-
mained gloomily in his new castle ; but at length he
ventured out under the cover of night, and would
wander about the floor of the tank. But he never lost
his cautious suspicion, and the approach of the candle
was usually the signal for a rush back to his dark re-

190

GIANT GRIMES EXPLOITS.

treat. He was a fit representative of one of those giants
that nursery tradition tells of, as infesting Cambria
and Cornwall, *4n good King Arthur s days.^' Gloomy
and grim, strong, ferocious, crafty and cruel^ he would
squat in his obscure lair, watching for the unsuspect-
ing tenants of the tank to stray near, or would now
and again rush out, and seize them with fatal force
and precision. As the Giants Grim of old spared
not ordinary-sized men for any sympathy of race, so
our giant Crab had no respect for lesser Crabs, except
a taste for their flesh. I had two or three full-grown
Soldier Crabs [Pagurus hernliardus) ; themselves war-
riors of no mean prowess ; two, at least, of these fell
a prey to the fierce Fiddler. His manner of pro-
ceeding was regular and methodical. Grasping the
unthinking Soldier by the thorax, and crushing it so
as to paralyse the creature, he dragged the body out
of the protecting shell. The soft, plump abdomen
was the honne hoiiclie; this was torn off and eaten Avith
gusto, while the rest of the animal was wrenclied limb
from limb with savage wantonness, and the fragments
scattered in front of his cave.

I saw him one day snap at a Prawn, but the elegant
and agile animal was much too quick to be so caught:
with a flap of its tail it shot away backward, and
laughed its enemy to scorn.

There was a large Sea-worm, however {Nereis fela-
gica)^ a many-footed, Centipede-like creature, some
seven inches long, that fared worse. The Fiddler
seized the worm in one powerful claw, and began to
gnaw it up as we do a radish : the writhings of the
victim interrupted the epicure's enjoyment ; he there-

THE POGGE.

191

fore took hold with the other claw also, and soon bit
the body into two pieces, which continued to writhe
and wriggle to the last. The giant's dinner in this
instance lasted about an hour.

The Crabs are the scavengers of the sea ; like the
wolves and hyaenas of the land, they devour indis-
criminately dead and living prey. The bodies of all
sorts of dead creatures are removed by the obscene
appetite of these greedy Crustacea ; and there is no
doubt that many an enormous Crab, whose sapidity
elicits praise at the epicure^s table, has rioted on the
decaying body of some unfortunate mariner. But
what of that ? Let us imitate the philosopliy of the
negro mentioned by Captain Crow. On the Guinea
Coast people are buried beneath their own huts, and
the Land-crabs are seen crawling in and out of holes
in the floor with revolting familiarity : notT\dthstand-
ing which, they are caught and eaten with avidity.
A negro, with whom the worthy Captain remonstrated
on the subject, seemed to think this but a reasonable
and just retaliation, a sort of payment in kind ; reply-
ing with a grin and chuckle of triumph : — Crab eat
black man ; black man eat he /^^

THE POGGE.

An " odd fish," rejoicing in the elegant cognomen
of Pogge among the vulgar, but known to the scientific
votaries of sesquipcdalianism by the title of Asjndo^
phoriis cata2)hractits,^ is occasionally found lurking

* This little unconscious fisli has as many aliases as a house-
breaker, to say nothing of his hang-gallows look. According to Mr.
Yarrell's list of synonymes, he is the Armed Bullhead, the Pogge,

192

LAMM-FISHING.

about the quays of Weymouth. Men and boys who
collect prawns and shrimps (the latter term used in
its popular, not its zoological sense) go round in boats
along the sides of the sea-walls, as well those outside
of the harbour forming the esplanade as the commercial
quays. These at low-water-line are clothed with a
ragged olive fringe of Fuci^ chiefly F, serratus, which
hang down in an almost uninterrupted line of dense
tufts, affording shelter to many small animals. The
fisherman is provided with a lamm, a kind of bag-net,
the frame of which is in the form of a bow of four feet
diameter, the place of the chord being occupied by a
stout piece of wood, from the centre of which passes
a staff eight feet long, crossing the bow, to whose
middle it is fastened. The net is a bag fixed to the
bow and chord. It is used in this manner : The
feherman, dipping it beneath the hanging weeds,
raises it to the surfixce, shaking it, and as it were
raking the weeds with its chord ; his comrade slowly
pushing the boat meanwhile along the quay. After
two or three dips he examines his success, picks out
the prawns and shrimps, and deposits them in a bag
at his waist, and throws out contemptuously all
rubbish."

It is this rubbish," however, which to any one
but the prawn-catcher constitutes the main game.
Many interesting little creatures have I got in this
way. Among the fishes this Pogge has occurred two

the Lyrie, the Sea-poacher, the Pluck, the Noble ; while the admirers
of Greek and Latin may choose between Aspidophoriis Europaeus,
Cottus cataphractus, Cataphractus Schoneveldii, and Aspidophorue
cataphractus.

THE USE OF A BEARD.

193

or three times ; chiefly small specimens not more than
two inches, or three, in length ; but one among them
had attained the length of five inches, nearly the full
dimensions of the species. The small ones were black,
but the larger a dull, dirty grey. The most marked
peculiarity of this little fish is its armature ; it is
clothed, like a knight of the age of chivalry, in a suit
of plate-mail, cap-a-pie. Every one of the bony plates
of which its lorica is composed is furnished with an
elevated central keel ; and as the plates run in regular
longitudinal series, the surface of the body is armed
with ciglit elevated sharp ridges running from head to
tail. The huge head bristles with spines and bony
points, and the nose terminates in a couple of spines
that stand up and curve backwards like the horn of a
Rhinoceros in miniature ; wliile the whole under-sur-
face of the head, which is flat, is covered with a beard
of horny, thread-like filaments, very numerous and
close-set, hanging perpendicularly downwards. Let
me not, however, be understood as speaking dis-
respectfully of this mental adornment; for I doubt
not it would be considered quite an elegant appendage
in Regent Street or Pall Mall.

In the Aquarium the Pogge soon showed how ex-
clusively he is a bottom-fish. Though his fins are
ample, he has scarcely any power of swimming except
by strong muscular cftbrt, struggling upward for a
little distance, and sinking to the bottom the moment
the effort is relaxed. In general it lay motionless on
the ground, wliile I had it ; and I presume this is its
habit when at liberty. The beard-filaments are pro-
bably delicate organs of touch, endowed with a high

0

194

SEA-WEEDS

sensibility; and these, when the fish lies on a soft
bottom, such as mud or sand, would be partly buried
in it, and would be cognisant of the presence of any
Annelide or Echinoderm that might be burrowing in
the ground or crawling over it, fit for the capacious
mouth to engulf, and the ample gullet to swallow.

THE NOTHE LEDGES.

In pursuing the line of shore which extends from
the foot of the Lookout to the Nothe Point, beneath
a range of low, crumbling, marly cliff, we pass for
a while over nearly horizontal ledges, which dip suc-
cessively into the sea, as I have more than once had
occasion to mention. This is a rich collecting ground.
The broad, shallow, half-tide pools afibrd Anthea
cereus of the grey variety. Actinia mesembryantliemum^
and A, crassicorms ; and in the latter part of summer
Padina pavonia grows in them. Tliose parts of the
ledges that are uncovered only at the lowest tides,
yield the grcen-tentacled and crimson-tipped variety
of Anthea^ very brilliant and silky, and in great pro-
fusion ; and among the sea-weeds, two or three kinds
of Cladophora^ CoralUna, and Jania, thick tufts of
RhytijMcea pinastroides, and some Polysiphonice and
Callithamnia,

After we have passed along for some distance, the
cliffs begin to grow more lofty, and more solid and
rocky in their character ; the pools disappear, and the
ledges become more rough, and more indented with
deep narrow fissures, until they terminate in an ab-

ON THE NOTHE LEDGES. 195

rupt wall or quay, which protects a tiny mimic bay.
This little indentation is a most prolific source of
washed sea-weeds in the summer and autumn, and
many specimens of rarity and beauty are gathered
here. The rich and brilliant Rhodymenia laciniata is
not uncommon, and the more delicate and scarcely
less beautiful Nitophyllum punctatum [see Plate V.),
with Delesseria sanguinea and smuosa, and many other
species equally attractive, occur. Some of these are, it
is true, deep-water kinds, washed in by the tides ; the
first named, for example, I have never met with in a
growing state ; but this little bay is particularly rich
in littoral species. At the bottom of the wall or
quay-like edge grow several fine tufts of those very
elegant Algae, Griffithsia coralUna^ and G, setacea ;
Ceramtum echionotum [see Plate VI.) and C. cih'atumy
exquisite plants for microscopic study, arc also scat-
tered about in the lowest levels, though not often
uncovered ; and the fissures which penetrate the stone
are well fringed with Delesseria alata, Dasya coccinea^
Chylocladia articidata^ Ptilota phtmosa^ and other
shade-loving species, that grow in dense mossy tufts.
The only living specimen that I found at Weymouth
of Delesseria sanguinea^ was growing in one of these
clefts, where also small and brightly-coloured speci-
mens of Pyllopliora rulens occur; — a plant which
is obtained much more abundantly, and of far greater
dimensions, by the dredge. This is an Alga of much
value for the Aquarium. It is elegant in form and
colour ; it bears confinement perfectly, and throws off
a large quantity of oxygen; besides which it is
almost always studded with multitudes of parasitic

0 2

196

SEA-WEEDS

animals, particularly the smaller Zoophytes, and the
branching Bryozoa.

The higher clefts in this vicinity produce Codium
tomejitosum, rather a rare plant here, which I value
because upon it, as on a pasture, I almost always find
a lovely little mollusk resembling the Nudibranchs,
— Acteon virtdi's, — whose green coat is spangled over
with most lustrous specks of blue and green, as if it
were powdered with gems. This plant is useful though
not elegant, as it affords a favourite food, not only to
this, but to other species of phytivorous Mollusks,
and it will survive well in a confined vessel of sea-
water.

Griffithsia setacea, which I have mentioned above,
is a beautiful inhabitant of an aquarium, and one
which thrives in confinement. Professor Harvey
speaks of the ease with which it is domesticated ; *
and my experience agrees with his. Its attachment
to the rock is commonly slight, and its base minute,
so that it is sometimes difficult to procure a firmly-
growing specimen ; still, however, it lives and grows,
though with barely sufficient base to hold the filaments
together. [See Plate II.)

The surfaces of the rocks are studded between tide-
levels with that curious plant Rwularia nitida; which
is sure to attract attention, with its little shining balls
of vivid green colour, like school-boys' marbles, lying
on little beds of vegetation that adhere to the naked
rock. We attempt to take them up, and find them
blown bladders of tender gelatinous membrane ! In
the early autumn this singular plant occurs in abun-
* Phycol. Brit. p. 181

ON THE NOTHE LEDGES.

197

dance on this spot, though it is said to be rare on our
shores generally.

From this point onwards to the Nothe, the cliff is
more and more precipitous, and the shore encumbered
with immense blocks that have fallen from above, and
lie confusedly heaped upon each other. The under
surfaces of these angular masses occasionally yield
fine specimens of some of the more delicate Algce,
but, generally speaking, the result scarcely repays the
labour and difficulty of their examination.

CHAPTER IX.

Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ; and the fowls of
the air, and they shall tell thee ; or speak to the earth, and it shall
teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who
knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought
this ?— Job xii. 7 — 9.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shew-
eth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night showeth knowledge. — Psalm xix. 1, 2,

THE RIGHT USE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

On a bright sunny morning in September, I found
myself on a lonely part of the shore about a mile
from the town. I had taken the gratification of a
bathe, and felt invigorated, but not wearied, with the
exertion of swimming. I had come down to this part
of the shore to search a particular ledge at the lowest
water of spring-tide, but I had somewhat anticipated
my time, as the tide had yet a full hour to recede.
Compelled therefore to involuntary idleness, I laid my
collecting basket on the white sand, and sat down on
one of the blocks of red conglomerate, immediately
under the ruins of Sandsfoot Castle, which crown the
edge of the cliff, already partly fallen, and threatening,
at no distant date, to descend, a mere heap of dis-
jointed stones, upon the beach.

My thoughts began to run on the utility, the real
legitimate object, of Natural History ; the manner in

THE SCRIPTURAL USE OF SCIENCE. 199

which, and the motives with which it should be
studied, with relation to Religion. Many persons of
eminence seem to have considered it and kindred
studies as the only occupations worthy of exalted
minds, as if the acquisition of intellectual know-
ledge formed the chief end of existence both here and
hereafter ; while multitudes of humble believers are
afraid of all natural science, and stand aloof from it,
as if its influence were necessarily adverse to true
piety. The truth, as usual, probably lies between the
two extremes.

It seems a sufficient reply to the scruples of the
pious, but perliaps ill-instructed, persons last men-
tioned, to take the Holy Scriptures in our hands, and
point out how large a place natural science occupies
therein. The Holy Spirit has deigned to employ it
in all ages as a vehicle of instruction to man ; and
there is scarcely a single book in the whole Bible,
from which this proposition might not be proved. The
most devotional parts of the Book of God, such as
the Psalms, particularly those later ones in the collec-
tion, which are emphatically Psalms of praise and
the Song of Songs ; the direct appeals of Jehovah
himself ; and the words of Him who spake as never
man spake, — would afford us the most abundant
materials for the evidence.

On the other hand, he must grossly miss the intent
of the Sacred Word, who supposes that even in such
passages the communication of natural knowledge is
the chief end proposed. Some of the attributes of
the Creator, indeed, may be deduced from his works,
and man is held responsible for the deduction. But if

200

TESTIMONY TO THE

this be attained, it will go but a little way towards that
acquaintance with God " which will set a man " at
peace," and to communicate which is the object of the
Divine Revelation. A man may be a most learned
and complete expounder of the truths of natural theo-
logy, and yet be pitiably blind on the all-important
subject of a sinner's justification with God.

Perhaps the best mode of arriving at the true use
of the natural sciences, is to examine how they are
treated in the Word of God. And it appears to me
that there are three distinct modes of instruction,
under one or other of which, most if not all of the
passages which speak of natural objects may be
arranged.

I. The direct Testimony which the Creatures give
to God.

Wlien Jehovah breaks in upon the unsatisfactory
conference between Job and his friends, He uses this
vehicle of instruction. The construction of the ma-
terial universe, tlie plienomena of light and darkness,
of heat and cold, of meteors, the revolutions of the
heavenly bodies, the structure of the earth, the pro-
portions of land and sea, and especially the economy
and instincts of various animals, are appealed to, in
a series of interrogations of unparallelled majesty, as
witnesses to Him. But here there are two metliods of
appeal. The one rests on man's ignorance, the other
on his knowledge. Knowest thou the ordinances of
heaven ? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may
go, and say unto thee. Here we are ? Knowest thou
the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth ?"

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

201

(Job xxxviii. xxxix.) These are queries calculated
to abase and humble proud man. There are thousands
of effects which we perceive, but of which all our phi-
losophy fails to discover the cause ; so that we must
continually say with Agur, There be three things
which are too wonderful for me; yea, four which I know
not." (Prov. XXX. 18.) ^' As thou knowest not the
way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the
womb of her that is with child ; even so thou knowest
not the works of God who maketh all." (Eccl. xi. 5.)
Here then, at the outset, our much ignorance ought to
humble that pride and self-sufficiency which is too apt
to be the accompaniment of a little acquaintance with
natural science. While the contemplation of tlic per-
fection with which everything is ordained and governed,
ought to make us satisfied with the Divine Wisdom,
and to check our repinings when its ordinances do not
agree with our inclinations. An humble, teachable,
child-like spirit, ready to receive every revelation of
God, becomes one who looks on the Divine handiwork.

Still we can trace much in the created world, which
we are able to understand, much of which we can
perceive the reasons, and discern the fitness. And
several of the perfections of God may clearly be
inferred from these, being reflected by his works as
by a mirror. These his perfections, his eternal
power and Godhead," have been manifested in the
things that are made, as He himself informs us ; for
He hath shewed them unto us," (Rom. i. 19, 20.)
So that we are without excuse, if we see Him not in
them. Thus, the greatness and power of God are
insisted on in the passage already alluded to (Job

e

202

THE PERFECTIONS

xxxviii — xli.), — from his formation and control of
the planets, the ocean, the lightning, the hugest and
most terrible of beasts, and so forth ; as from his
entire and absolute command of the elements (Psalm
cxlvii. 15 — 18) in accomplishing his iiTCsistible de-
crees. The wisdom of God, including his wondrous
contrivance in planning, and skill in executing his
works, is seen in the multitudinous varieties of form
in the creatures, in the correspondence of part with
part, in the perfect adaptation of organs to their uses,
in the wonderful and unerring instincts of animals,
in their relations to the places which they inhabit,
and in the general bearing of the details of creation
on the order, stability, and well-being of the whole
(see Job xxxviii. &c. ; Psalm civ. 17 — 24 ; cxlvii. 4).
The eternity of God may be inferred from the circum-
stance of creation having been prior to all creature
experience (Job xxxviii. 21 ; Psalm civ. 31) ; and his
immutability from the stable order of the universe ;
from the unerring regularity of the celestial orbs
(Psalm Ixxxix. 37 ; civ. 19 ; Jeremiah xxxi. 35, 36) ;
and from the constant renewal of the face of nature
(Psalm cxlviii. 6). The omnipresence and ever watch-
ful providence of God are in like manner taught us
by the constant and imiversal harmony of the vast
machinery of creation (Psalm cxxxix. 7 — 12). But
perhaps the most obvious lesson which we learn from
the creatures, at least the animate creatures, as it is
the one most frequently insisted on in the Word, is
the kindness of God, the benevolence of his character,
manifested in his tender care for their comfort, and
his rich supply of all their need. It is hardly neces-

OF THE CREATOR.

203

sary to cite particular passages ; almost all those
which I have already adduced have this bearing;
but in addition to them there are the teachings of the
Lord Jesus, which on several occasions pointed in
the same direction. Would He inculcate a confident
trust in our Heavenly Father for the supply of needed
food? He enforces it by these words : — " Behold the
fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into bams ; yet your Heavenly
Father feedeth them." (Matthew vi. 26). Are we
tempted to be anxious for raiment ? The beauteous
array of the lilies of the field reads us a homily of the
Divine care over them, and therefore h fortiori over
us (verse 30). Would our gracious Master guard us
against " the fear of man which bringeth a snare?"
He sends us to the sparrows, and tells us that not
one of them shall fall to the ground without our
Father " (Matt. x. 29).

This, then, is one important use to be made of the
study of natural science ; it brings us, in some sense,
into the presence of God ; or rather it gives us cogni-
sance of Him, and reveals to us some of his essential
attributes. But here natural theology stops. Beyond
this point it cannot go a single step as a guide ;
though, as a comimnion^ it may still accompany us
under the tutelage of another directory. This might
have sufficed us if we had stood in Adam's position
of unsinning innocence ; we might have come to God
with our offering of praise gathered from our consi-
deration of his works, and have been accepted. But
to come to Him now^ with such a tribute and nothing
else, is to offer Cain's offering ; to plead not guilty

204

THE LIMIT OF SCIENCE.

to the charge brought against us in the court of Divine
Justice, and to ignore the only Avay of reconciliation.
This, I fear, too many of our philosophers and natural
theologians do. They offer Cain's fruit of the
ground," without the blood of Abel's firstling."
But it is not and cannot be accepted ; for there is no
way into the Holiest but by the Blood of Jesus.
Natural religion can tell us, ex cathedra^ nothing
about this. When an anxious conscience demands
to know something more of God, something of his
feelings towards offenders, of his way of dealing with
rebels, Avhether there is forgiveness with Him, and
mercy, — the creatures are mute. One says. It is not
in me ! and another says. It is not in me ! All are
ominously dumb on such questions as tliese."^

To enlighten us on these points is the grand object
of the Word of God. It reveals to man the full
hopelessness of his state, drawing aside the curtain
from that hideous scene of eternal and utter ruin
into which he had fallen by sin. It reveals also the
remedy, God manifest in the flesh, bearing as a sub-
stitute human guilt, that through the blood-shedding
of one spotless and infinitely perfect Victim, there
might be full and free justification for every one that
believeth.

* Natural theology is quite overrated by those who would repre-
sent it as the foundation of the edifice : it is not that, but rather
the taper by which we must grope our way to the edifice. ... It is
not that natural religion is the premises, and Christianity the con-
clusion ; but it is that natural religion creates an appetite which it
cannot quell : and he who is urged thereby, seeks for a rest and a
satisfaction which he can only obtain in the fulness of the Gospel. —
Chalmers, Bridgew, Treat, ii. 290, 291.

EXEMPLARY INSTRUCTION.

205

When this grand inquiry, this quastio qucBstionum^
is settled authoritatively by the Divine Oracles, the
creatures may again come in, and teach us, subordi-
nately, many useful lessons. We are thus brought to
the second method of instruction.

II. Moral lessons conveyed hy examples.
Thus the wisest of men sends the sluggard to the
ant, that his sloth may be reproved by the contempla-
tion of her diligence (Pro v. vi. 6 — 8). Thus Agur
teaches foresight from the same insects, prudence
from the conies, order and combination from the
locust, assiduous persevering industry from the spider,
and propriety and dignity from various other animals
(Prov. XXX. 25 — 31). Thus too the Lord affectingly
contrasts the brutish ingratitude of Israel to Himself
with tlie affection of the ox and the ass to their
master (Isa. i. 3) ; and their stupid ignorance of his
coming judgments with the instinctive foresight of
the migratory birds (Jer. viii. 7). After the same
manner the stubborn wilfulness of the unbroken
horse or mule is held up as a character to be avoided
by the people of God (Psalm xxxii. 9). By a process
of thought somewhat similar, tlie inspired Preacher
reads the stamp of vanity on earthly tilings, from the
perpetual change and decadence of all creatures. (Eccl.
i. 4—7.)

III. Spir itual parallelism hy way of synibol or
analogy.

This is a mode of treating natural objects very
extensively adopted in the Sacred Word. Truths
thus presented find acceptance where they would have

206

THE SYMBOL.

been rejected if offered in an abstract or didactic form ;
they insinuate themselves insensibly, while the mind
is pleased in tracing the resemblance of the shadow
to the substance. It is a very ancient notion, that all
things have been created, as it were, in series, each
of which is, in all its members, a representation or
countei-part of all the rest. Or, as the Platonists
expressed it, that the Creator having conceived in
Himself the exemplars of all things, produces them
from Him in images." The whole system of Scrip-
tural parabolism and typology depends on this analogy,
which assuredly exists, though perhaps not to the
extent assumed in the above notion.

Examples of this use of natural objects are num-
berless in tlie Holy Scriptm-es, and will occur to
every thoughtful reader. Often the resemblance is
confined to a single point, and is alluded to in a simile
or comparison ; as when the effect of a single indis-
cretion upon character is likened to a dead fly in a
pot of ointment (Eccl. x. 1) ; the state of a sinner
wandering from God, to that of a sheep going astray
(Isa. liii. 6) ; and the inveterate love of sin, to the
incorrigible filthiness of the dog and the swine
(2 Peter ii. 22). The Book of Proverbs and the Song
of Songs are full of these similes, those of the latter
poem often running into the more elaborate allegory.

Somewhat like this is the adoption of natural
objects to form types, emblems, or symbols. These
commonly suggest many points of parallelism, though
they are not always expressed. The various types
of the ritual law illustrate this use; as do also the
extensive series of images employed in the symbolic

THE ALLEGORY.

207

prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah and John.
Thus, when the Lord Jesus is represented by a Lamb
(John i. 29, &c.), the figure alludes to the meekness,
purity, submission, and fitness for sacrifice of that
animal ; and when He stands as the lion (Eev. v. 5) ,
the qualities of power, prevalence, majesty, and
terribleness, are comprehended in the symbol. The
mystic cherubim, — whether they represent the church
or the heavenly angels, or both, — are pictured by
various animals (Ezek. i. ; Rev. iv.) ; and the change
of character which the kingdom of Christ will intro-
duce upon earth, is figured by the harmonious com-
panionship of ferocious creatures with those of gentle
dispositions (Isaiah xi.).

But not infrequently tlie parallelism is drawn out
and expanded into so many particulars as to constitute
an allegory or parable. Thus Jotham instructs his
people by the story of the trees selecting a king
(Judges ix.) ; the prophet Ezekiel sketches the history
of Assyria under the emblem of a cedar (Ezek. xxxi.),
and Nalium depicts the same ferocious monarchy
under that of a lion (Nah. ii. 11 — 13) ; the former
prophet again represents the Egyptian king as a
crocodile, and graphically describes him as caught in
the net of tlie nations (Ezek. xxxii.) ; and gives a most
vivid picture of Israel, under the imagery of a lion's
whelp trained by the old lioness to the love of blood,
and at last taken in the toils (Ezek. xix.). The fre-
quency with which the vine is chosen as the subject
of allegorical representation is remarkable ; as are also
the variety and copiousness of the details which are
employed to depict it (Sec Ps. Ixxx. ; Isa. v. ; Ezek.

208

SUGGESTIVE TEACHING

XV. ; xix. ; Matt. xxi. ; John xv. ; and several other
passages). Many of the parables of the Lord Jesus
come under this head ; as also a large portion of the
Song of Songs.

The examples which I have here selected might be
greatly extended ; but these are more than sufficient
to illusti'ate the way in which the Word of God sanc-
tions the study of his works. Not only do these
passages require a considerable amount of acquaint-
ance with the qualities of external objects, in order
to be understood ; but they afford us a warrant for
a similar use of them. Not only is it legitimate to
deduce the existence, and somewhat of the character
of God from the creatures, but we may use them as
remembrancers to suggest many truths which they
could not teach us. Truths and doctrines which we
could only learn from the written Word may be vividly
brought to mind by the suggestive and emblematic
imagery of nature. And thus the world of created
things around us may become a mirror continually
reflecting heavenly things.

This is one of the happiest and most profitable
employments of natural science. I would that it were
more familiar, more habitual to me. It is a good
thing to see the Creator in his works ; but it is far
better to trace in them the God of revelation, the God
of Grace, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and of all who believe in his name. If we
stop short at the former discovery, it will be of little
avail to us. We shall be like a prisoner under sen-
tence of death, who, when the king sends him terms
of life and freedom, should occupy himself solely with

OF CREATION.

209

the genuineness of the credentials, to the utter disre-
gard of the message : — should, after a minute exami-
nation of the seal, triumphantly exclaim, Yes ! this
clearly proves, what I have long suspected, that there
is a King!" and should then complacently turn to his
dungeon-wall, and hug his chain, without a glance at
the document which has been sent to him !

P

CHAPTER X.

Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay,
With fry innumerable swarm : . , . .

part single or with mate
Graze the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves
Of coral stray ; or, sporting with quick glance.
Show to the sun their waved coats dropp'd with gold.

Milton.

THE TRUMPET LUCERNARIA.

The summer was over, but I still lingered at Wey-
mouth. Spring-tides came and went with tantalizing
regularity ; but, though the sea receded far below the
lowest level reached in summer, it was almost unavail-
able to me. Day after day I used to go down and
look upon tlie ledges, but fierce autumnal gales blew
with characteristic violence and pertinacity, and huge
seas rolled in, sweeping over the flats, shooting up in
forcible jets from the fissures, and laying bare for a
moment large tracts of inviting sea-weeds, only to
cover them the next a fathom deep.

In a brief interval of gentleness, however, I found
an animal which had long been an object of desire to
me, a normal form of the genus Lucernaria. The
small, aberrant, vase-like species, L, cyatMformis^ I had
taken already ; but I wished to see the more elegant
sorts, which resemble in figure the trumpet-shaped
flower of a Convolvulus, representations of which by

THE TRUMPET LUCERNARIA, 211

the pencil of Mrs. Johnston I had been in the habit
of admiring, in her husband's admirable ^' History of
British Zoophytes."

It was on the 3rd of October that I detached, at
that sort of little natural pier that I have described
under the Nothe cliffs, a frond of Fucus serratus, with
a bushy tuft of EJiodomela suhfusca growing parasi-
tically on it. To one of the branchlets of the latter
plant a little mass of jelly was adhering, which, on
my dropping the branch into a phial of water, pre-
sently expanded, and I had the pleasure of seeing tlie
bell-like form of Lucernaria auricula. It was a very
young specimen, not much more than one-eiglith of
an inch in height ; but I liad got a clue to the search,
and I subsequently obtained, through the month of
October, many more. In spite of the gales and seas,
I managed to drag up a good deal of the FucuSy
which is hereabout profusely fringed with Rhodomela^
and also with Ceramium ruhrum ; and on these, as
also occasionally on the Fucus itself, and once or
twice on Padiiia^ I found tlie Lucernaria}.

My mode of examination was as follows. Collecting
a basketful of the tufts at random, I brought them
home ; then one by one I waved them to and fro, in
the tank of water, between my eye and the light,
whereby the animals became distinctly discernible,
and were easily detached. Sometimes four or five
were scattered over one tuft of the parasitic plant,
and it was rare to find a Bhodomela of any size,
without one at least.

The specimens were evidently the young of the
season ; many were no larger than I have named ; but

p2

212 THE TRUMPET LUCERNARIA.

some were as much as one-third of an inch in diameter.
They were very beautiful, closely resembling a bell, or
trumpet-mouthed monopetalous flower, with a short
flexible footstalk, and a small, expanded, sucking-disk
at the base. The substance was clear, transparent,
gelatinous ; the flower-like expansion thin and filmy,
with the margin projecting into eight equi-distant
points. From each of these points radiated about
twenty slender tentacular threads, bearing at their
extremities orange or yellow globules. The ovaries
radiated in eight irregular bands from the centre of
the flower to the marginal points, and from the centre
itself projected a little, protrusile, four-cleft mouth ;
closely like the peduncle of a Thaumaiitias. Indeed
I was strongly struck with the resemblance which
the creature bore to a small Medusa, and I consider
it as a link that connects the normal Actiniae with
the Acalephae.

In some specimens there were eight little oval
warts, which hung from the outside of the margin,
placed midway between the angles or points. Mon-
tagu has made these warts the distinctive character
of this species; but I think they are not to be
depended on ; for many of my specimens, not at all to
be distinguished from these in form, colour, or habit,
were destitute of the least trace of the warts. It is
possible that it may be a distinction of sex.

The specimens were very difiicult to preserve alive.
The beautiful groups of globe-headed threads soon
contracted and agglutinated into shapeless masses, the
hold of the foot loosened, and the animal dropped
helpless to the bottom, and decayed. Indeed, I found

THE BELL LUCERNARIA. 213

that the hold was very readily let go, even in health ;
the little animal travels quickly, causing itself to
adhere to any substance, either by the contact of the
tentacles, of the marginal warts, or of the foot-disk.

From what O. Fabricius says of the food of this
species, — vescitur omscis,^' — I presented to one a
little Gammarus locusta ; the Lucernaria strove to
take in the prey with its mobile mouth, and succeeded
in partially embracing it, holding it for several hours,
after which it dropped it. The shrimp was early
rendered powerless.

In colour these delicate creatures vary much. Tlie
expanded membrane is usually colourless ; but the
mouth, the ovaries, the edges of the disk, and the
foot display colour. This may be grass-green, olive,
drab, whitish, or various sliades of rose-pink. The
warts are commonly whitish, and the tentacle-globules
pale orange yellow. In some specimens, opaque-
white specks were scattered over the disk, which in
others were absolutely wanting. The nature of these
I cannot conjecture.

In February of the present year (1854) Mr. Thomp-
son of Weymouth was so kind as to send me up
several specimens of what I take to be a distinct
species, L, carnpanulata. It is less elegant, more
cup or bell-shaped, with scarcely any perceptible
stalk. These specimens were about an inch in height,
more dense in texture, of a dark dull green hue.

My friend has favoured me with the following
notice of the habits of this species. The Lucernarice
I find as follows : — at extreme low water, beds of
sea-grass {Zostera marina) are exposed ; on some of

214

THE LUCERNAKIA.

these, little pools, four or five feet across and eighteen
inches deep, are formed, the matted roots of the
Zostera having been washed away. The bottom of
the pools is of clear sand, with innumerable broken
tubes of a species of Sahella [Terehella?] and a few
Pagurus lernhardus^ all small specimens ; also Venus
striatula and Mactra stultorum. On the surface of
these little lakes, and round the edges, float the
leaves of the Zostera which grow nearest the margin ;
and attached to these leaves on their under-sides, with
the mouth and tentacles downwards, rests the Lucer^
naria on the watch for prey ; at times in a state of
rest, at others in constant motion. The heads of the
tentacles possess great power of adhesion, and I
expect you will find the filaments or threads highly
developed."

The accompanying plate represents two specimens
of Lucernaria auricula attached to a pendent thread
of sea- weed. In the foreground is that fine bivalve
[Pectunculus ghjcimeris)^ which is taken in deep water
in this Bay ; its summit is covered with the common
Acorn-shell [Balanus balanoides) ; on which rests
the scarlet-lined ^sop-prawn [Pandalus annuli"
corm's). Behind this spring two fronds of the Ladies'
tresses [Laminaria phylUtes), From the rock above
the Lucernarice is growing a bushy tuft of a coarse
but curious Alga [Ceramium ecMonotum) ; and below
is seen a plant of exquisite structure, one of the most
simple, but one of the most lovely of sea-weeds, the
Bryopsis plumosa.

FAREWELL TO WEYMOUTH.

215

A LAST LOOK AT WEYMOUTH.
In this changing state, the hrightest^ like

" the darkest day,

Live till to-morrow, will have pass'd away

— the summer, only too swiftly, passes into autumn,
and autumn quickly merges into gloomy winter. The
sea-side has few charms in December ; reluctantly, we
took our last walk upon the now bleak and spongy
Nothe, our last stroll along the gusty and deserted
Esplanade, and our last look at Weymouth. This,
however, was a charming one. Just half-way between
Weymouth and Dorchester, the hills, which rise
gradually on each side, attain their greatest elevation,
and the high road passes over the summit of the ridge.
Here we made the carriage halt, and for ten minutes
" cast one longing lingering look behind,'*

on a widely- expanded panorama of the scenes with
which we had been so familiar. The sun and sky
were all that could be wished ; the air more autumnal
than wintry; and, as we gazed on the town and
harbour, about four miles distant, the long promon-
tory of the Nothe, the calm, silvery Bay, the huge
mass of Portland, like a sleeping lion, and the
boundless expanse of open sea beyond, we could not
help feeling that this was by far the finest prospect
we had seen in Dorsetshire.

But even in London, thanks to the Aquarium, the
same pleasant studies can be prosecuted that had
occupied me on the coast ; and thus, by means of a
few specimens that I brought up with me, and by the
aid of contributions forwarded to me by the kind

216

THE SPINOUS COCKLES.

courtesy of friends, I have yet a few more notes to
add to the zoological portion of this volume. The chief
of these collections were sent to me by Mr. William
Thompson from Weymouth, and by the Rev. C.
Kingsley from Torquay ; and to these gentlemen, as
well as to other friends who have aided me, I beg
thus to express my greatest obligations.

THE SPINOUS COCKLES.

Among a number of animals of great interest, sent
to me in January from the vicinity of Torquay, by
the courtesy of the Rev. C. Kingsley, were a posse of
Cockles ; not the plebeian sort, that boys with sten-
torian lungs cry about the streets of sea-port towns
at 'Hwo-pence a quart," but those giants, Cardium
aculeatum and C. tuberculatum, the real aristocracy
of the cockle kind. The favour of the kind donor
was the greater, as the sands of Livermead and
Paignton, whence these were procured, are almost the
only British locality for the species, especially for
the latter, which is among the rarest as well as the
finest of our native bivalves.

They looked healthy when turned out of the jar,
though they had performed their journey up in that
bitter, almost Arctic weather, that we had at the
beginning of January ; and, under the excitement of
the genial atmosphere of the parlour, they presently
grew quite frisky. Many persons are aware that the
Common Cockle can perform gymnastic feats of no
mean celebrity, but the evolutions of Signor Tuber-
culato are worth seeing. Some of the troupe I had
put into a pan of sea-water, others I had turned out

THEIR AGILITY.

217

into a dish dry, as knowing that an occasional expo-
sure to the air is a contingency that they are not
unused to. By and by, as we were quietly reading,
our attention was attracted to the table where the
dish was placed, by a rattling uproar, as if flint stones
were rolling one over the other about the dish. " Oh !
look at the Cockles!" was the exclamation; and
they were indeed displaying their agility, and their
beauty too, in fine style. The valves of the largest
were gaping to the extent of three quarters of an inch ;
but the intermediate space was filled up by the spongy-
looking, fleshy mantle, of a semi-pellucid orange hue.
At one end protruted the siphons, two thick, short
tubes, soldered as it were into one, and enveloped on
all sides in a shaggy fringe of cirri or tentacles. The
circular orifices of these tubes, — small holes perfectly
round, with a white border, — had a curious appearance
as we looked at the heart-sliaped end of the valves.
The discharging orifice, liowever, was but rarely
visible ; being usually closed, while the other remained
constantly open. But these things were what we
afterwards saw : for some time we could look at
nothing but the magnificent foot, and the curious
manner in which it was used.

The two lips of the mantle suddenly separate, and,
gaping widely all along the front, recede nearly to the
valves ; while, at the same moment, a huge organ is
thrust out somewhat like a tongue, nearly cylindrical,
but a little flattened, and tapering to a point. Its sur-
face is smooth, and brilliantly glossy ; and its colour a
fine rich scarlet, approaching to orange ; but a better
idea of it than can be conveyed by any description

218

THEIR HABITS

will be obtained by supposing it to be made of
polished cornelian. This beautiful and versatile foot
is suddenly thrust out sideways, to the distance of
four inches from the shell. Then, its point being
curved backwards, the animal pushes it strongly
against any opposing object, by the resistance of which
the whole animal, shell and all, makes a considerable
step forwards. If the Cockle were on its native sands,
the leaps thus made would doubtless be more precise
in their direction, and much more effective; but,
cooped up with its fellows in a deep dish, all these
herculean efforts availed only to knock the massive
shells against the sides, or roll them irregularly over
each other.

It was curious to notice the extent to which the
interior of the Cockle was revealed, when the mouth
gaped, and the foot was thrust out. By the aid of a
candle we could see the interior surfaces of both
valves, as it seemed, almost to the very beaks. I say,
as it seemed^ for so thin is the mantle where it lines
the shell, and so closely does it adhere to it, that
every character of the valves, whether as regards
colour or irregularity of surface, was distinctly visible ;
and thus we are able to distinguish the species, not
only by their external marks, but by one character
drawn from the interior ; — the ribs in tuherculatum
extending only half-way across the valves, while in
aculeatum they reach back to the beaks.

The former is much the finer species ; the valves
are more globose, and of a warmer colour ; those that
I have are even more spinous. The mantle is of a
rich deep orange, with elevated ribs, corresponding to

IN CAPTIVITY.

219

those of the valves, of a yellow hue. These ribs of
the mantle are visible in aculeatum also, but in tuber-
culatum they are much more strongly marked, both
in form and colour. The siphons display the same
orange hue as the mantle-lips, and have a finer appear-
ance than in the other species ; the interior of the
orifices, in both, is covered with a layer of white
pearly substance, almost luminous. In the foot of
tuherculatum, which agrees in the particulars already
mentioned with that of its congener, I observed a
beautiful opalescent gleam, when under water.

I had supposed that they would disphiy their in-
stincts to more advantage if placed in circumstances
more accordant to their habits. I therefore first
imitated the sandy beach from which tlie tide has just
retired, by laying mj proteges on a bowl of wet sand ;
and afterwards placed them in a large vessel of sea-
water, with a sandy bottom of several inches deep.
But in neither case was there any con-espondent action
in the animals ; they did not attempt to burrow, nor
were they so active as when in the clean dish. Most
of them soon died ; one only, a large specimen of C.
aculeatum, lived about ten days, in the circumstances
last mentioned, content to lie submerged on the top
of the sand ; though the siphons, mantle, and foot
indicated health, until the last day or two of its life.
Sickness is marked, in these animals, by the lax state
of the mantle, which permanently recedes from the
foot, and gapes ; by the softness of the foot, which is
partially protruded; and by the shrinking of the
siphons.

A considerable number of those sent up, we killed

220

RESPIRATION.

to save their lives;" making gastronomical use of
them. The scalloped Cockles of Paignton we had
known only by reputation ; we tried them in this way,
and found them worthy of their fame.

Mr. Kingsley has favoured me with the follow-
ing observations on the respiration of these species : —
" Whether Mr. Clark be right or not in saying that
the water is received through both siphons, he is right,
against Mr. Akler and Mr. Cocks, in saying that it is
expelled through both. What I see is this. From
the small anal siphon, the water is expelled in steady
periodic currents, forming a ripple (under three inches
of water) several inches off. From the large siphon
it is expelled seldom and capriciously, in a violent jet ;
give ten a minute to the small, one in four or five
minutes to the large. If disturbed, they commonly
jet the water from the large tube.

The large siphon opens periodically, — I think
nnswering to the jets of the small siphon, — till it is
quite circular. The small one almost always keeps
an oval form : I can see no inward current in either.
Clark is right in saying that they lie long without
using the siphons ; sometimes they are not out for a
whole day.

What is the use of the fringes ? They cannot
strain the water in so large an animal as this Cockle,
which, when the siphon is open, has a J-inch pipe
fiiUy patulous."

THE ROUGH SYRINX.

When once we have begun to look with curiosity
on the strange things that ordinary people pass over

STKANGE MARINE CREATURES. 221

witliout notice, our wonder is continually excited by
the variety of phase, and often by the uncouthness of
form, under which some of the meaner creatures are
presented to us. And this is very specially the case
with the inhabitants of the sea. We can scarcely
poke and pry for an hour among the rocks at low-water
mark, or walk with an observant downcast eye along
the beach after a gale, without finding some oddly-
fashioned, suspicious-looking being, unlike any form
of life that we have seen before. The dark, concealed
interior of the sea becomes thus invested with a fi-esh
mystery ; its vast recesses appear to be stored with all
imaginable forms, and we are tempted to think there
must be multitudes of living creatures whose very
figure and structure have never yet been suspected.

" 0 Sea ! old Sea ! who yet knows half
Of thy wonders or thy pride ! '*

Yet so full and close has been the attention with
which the naturalists of the last hundred years have
studied the forms and affinities of organic existence,
that all these strange beings find their place in the
arranged systems of Nature ; and it is rare indeed to
discover an animal or plant so diverse from those
already familiar to us, that we are compelled to isolate
it, or even to express uncertainty as to its general
relations.

Among the treasures sent me by Mr. Kingsley was
a specimen of the Rough Syrinx {Syrinx nudus),
called by Pennant the Tube Worm. I presume it
must be an unusually fine one of its kind ; for though
it was my first acquaintance with the strange creature,

222

THE ROUGH SYRINX.

and I therefore have no data for comparison derived
from personal observation, Professor Forbes gives its
length as ranging from six to eight inches. My speci-
men, however, measured eleven inches in length,
though the posterior extremity was contracted and the
proboscis was but little everted, so tliat under other
circumstances its length would certainly have exceeded
a foot. The measurement was made, too, when the
animal was at perfect rest, and not elongated by
crawling. Its thickness was just f ths of an inch,
uniformly cylindrical, without any noticeable contrac-
tions or enlargements, except the swelling of the tail,
and the diminution to form the proboscis.

The surface of the body can scarcely be called
rough; for though it is reticulated, the skin is deli-
cately smooth, glossy, and iridescent. The reticula-
tions are produced by longitudinal and transverse
lines, the former about t2 A, the latter |th of an inch
apart, very regular. Both series are indented striae,
becoming evanescent by being pressed out, when the
body is swollen or bent. The hinder extremity, for
about an inch, is nearly smooth, forming a swollen
oval sac, the furrows of both series being lost on its
upper half in irregular coiTUgations. This part is
pearly white, but the whole body besides is of a dull
greyish buff, the skin reflecting opaline tints.

The anterior extremity is suddenly diminished into
a proboscis of about half the diameter of the body,
which is capable of being concealed within the body,
or protruded by being turned inside out like a stocking.
Prof. Forbes says its surface is minutely granulated,
but this expression does not convey a correct idea of

4

ITS STRUCTURE.

223

its structure. It is densely covered with very minute
triangular scaly spines, somewhat imbricate, the points
of which are blunt, and are recurved. The resem-
blance borne by this organ to the proboscis in the
parasitic Entozoa and Epizoa, is remarkable, and not
only shows the affinity of the Syrinx to the vermiform
classes, but suggests some analogy of purpose to
which the spines are subservient. What the nature
of the food is in the Syrinx, and what is the mode in
which it is procured, I have no knowledge. I believe
the subject is still in tenehris ; but tlie stomach is said
to be always filled with sand and minute fragments of
shells, between the swallowing of which, and an elabo-
rate prehensile array of recurved hooks, I certainly
can imagine no connexion. The whole spinous surface
of the proboscis is much more brilliantly iridescent
than the body. The termination of this organ is said
to be furnished with a circle of short digitate tentacles;
but as the animal did not evert the proboscis to the
full extent while I had it alive, I had no opportunity
of observing these.

At a little more than an inch below the commence-
ment of the proboscis there is a small tubercle, which
I at first took for a wound, through which the intestine
was protruding ; but I believe it is the natural orifice
of the digestive canal, which is said to be of great
length, extending to the extremity of the body, and
then turned on itself till it reaches this tubercle in its
reverted course.

The animal was inert, scarcely moving, except
when touched, and died after I had had it about a
week.

224 AN EXTEMPORE AQUARIUM.

THE TEREBELLA.

A rich fund of entertainment is very accessible to
any one who can procure a few bits of weed-covered
rock from the level of low- water. They need scarcely
be selected ; with a hammer knock off a few points of
the stones, of the size of a crown-piece ; the rougher,
more leprous, more discoloured, in short, more dirty^
the better. Put them into a globe of sea-water, an
uncut decanter, or a wide-mouthed bottle, or, best of
all, a confectioner's show glass, and let them remain,
for a few hours. At night examine the sides of the
bottle carefully with a pocket-lens, placing a candle
on the opposite side. The multitude of curious little
creatures that will have crawled out, and will be found
mounting the walls of their prison, is quite surprising.
Minute Mollusca, both bivalve and univalve, uncouth-
fomied Crustacea^ tiny Starfishes^ and especially
Annelida^ will pretty certainly reward the investigator.
The last-named Class occurs in remarkable abundance
and variety ; while if, after you have gone round the
glass, noticing particularly the very edge of the
surface- line, you pass your eye, assisted by the lens,
carefully over the surfaces of the bits of stone, you
will probably find many more creatures, such as tube-
dwelling AnneUdes, the smaller Zoophytes^ and several
species of the delicate PoJyzoa,

In a lot of sea-weeds sent up to me from the coast,
enclosed in refuse- weed, and tightly packed in a piece
of canvas, I found, among many such little things as
I have described, a small Terebella, which interested

THE MOST ANCIENT MASON.

225

me by a habit that I should not have suspected in the
genus. It is a worm closely allied to the Sabellce and
Serjyulce, but having the head adorned with a gi'eat
number of long thread-like tentacles, in place of the
beautiful fans and other apparatus that distinguish
those genera. In general tlie Terebella inhabits a
tube, not formed of solid shell like that of the Serpula^
nor of mud like that of the Sabella, but one most
ingeniously fabricated by its own tentacles, built up
of minute particles of sand or small fragments of shells,
which it lays with elegance and neatness in a cement
of its own construction. From the creation of the
world this little worm has been practising the ancient
and honourable craft of masonry, forming his vaulted
tunnels of unhewn stones, (for what are atoms of sand
but stones ?) and bedding them with Roman cement,
tliat sets" under water. And hence I would respect-
fully suggest to the worthy brotherhood of Free and
Accepted Masons, whether they do not injustice to
themselves in tracing their origin no farther than
Father Adam, since assuredly the Terehellce were not
only brethren but masters of the craft, before he began
existence, — by a half-day at least.

If any of my readers should wisli to see specimens
of this ancient mason's art, nothing is easier than to
gratify the desire. Go and turn over the loose stones
that lie on the sandy shore along the line of low water,
and you will find in sufficient abimdance sandy tubes
of the size of a goose-quill, and several inches in
length, so brittle as hardly to endure removal, im-
bedded in the earth. These are the habitations of
T. chrysodon^ most commonly empty and deserted;

Q

226

A CLIMBING TEREBELLA.

"but not infrequently the long slender tentacles of this
species, like orange-coloured animated threads, may
Tbe seen twining in all directions over the exposed
soil. If you carefully look at the larger end of the
tube, you will observe that it is irregularly fringed
with tlu'cads of exactly the same texture as the tube
itself ; they are, in fact, minute tubes of the same shelly
mosaic, though no thicker than stout sewing cotton,
and most admirably constructed to sheath the tentacles,
as they project from the main tube, and expand on
every side.

But it was not as a builder that I was going to
introduce to you my little Terehella^ that the candle
revealed in the vase of sea-weeds, when I examined
them the evening after their arrival. It was a little
creature, not quite an inch long in the body, and with
tentacles expanding about as much. Whether, finding
itself in new quarters, it had left its dwelling to explore
the neighbourhood, I know not, — possibly, by careful
search, I might have found the emptied tube among
the bases of the tufted weeds, or adhering to some of
the pieces of stone on which they were growing ; —
but the naked worm was deliberately mounting the
smooth side of the tall glass vessel. The body hung
down, and the tentacles, some fifty or sixty in number,
were spread out on each side and above, on the surface
of the glass, adhering to it evidently, and alternately
elongated and contracted, with an impatient, writhing,
twisting action, the result of which was to crawl, not
very slowly either, up the glass.

After a time, I went into the room again, and found
the Terehella in another situation, and performing a

THE GOLD-COMB.

227

new feat ; one even less to have been anticipated than
the perpendicular wall-climbing I have described. It
was now swimming on the surface of the water, or
rather creeping along the inferior surface of the in-
cumhent stratum of air (for that is the true expression
of the action), as every one has observed the Pond
Snails [Limn(sa) to do in summer, and as the Nudi-
branchs and many other Gasteropod Mollusca do
also. It was interesting to see how much at home
the little worm was at this perfonnance ; I doubt not
he had enjoyed the fresh air in the same manner
many a time; his body depended perpendicularly,
while the thread-like tentacles were spread over the
surface, wriggling and twining more suo, but advancing
along the halcyon sea so evenly, that in about an
hour after I saw that he had gained the opposite
side of the bounding glass, a distance of about five
inches.

THE GOLDEN-COMBED WORM.

These tube-forming Annelida are very interesting
creatures; and many of them possess gi'cat beauty,
from the exquisitely delicate and often highly-coloured
appendages with which they are furnished. Through
the kindness of the Rev. C. Kingsley, I possess a full-
gi'own specimen of the Golden-combed Worm [Amjjhi-
trite auricoma). When I at first had him he was
very shy and timid, but after a week or two he grew
more familiar, and would protrude his gilt combs, and
carry on his avocations, as if quite at home. At first
all that was to be seen was a tube formed like a
rounded obelisk, or a factory chimney ; being about

Q2

228

THE STRUCTURE AND

one-third of an inch in diameter at one end, and gra-
dually tapering to one-fifth of an inch at the other,
whence it abruptly terminated in a short cone, perfo-
rated in the centre. The whole length was an inch and
a half, and its texture was that of an elegant mosaic,
composed of grains of fine sand of various colours, and
excessively minute fragments of shell, agglutinated
together so as to be pretty strong, though not more
than one gi'ain thick. It was only with a lens that
this structure could be seen ; to the naked eye it
seemed an uniform substance, slightly rough, and of
a pale red hue, dotted with black.

On looking into the larger end of this tube, I could
see what looked like a stopper of white flesh, exactly
fitting the calibre, and moving up and down in the
tube like a piston. Occasionally it was protruded a
little beyond the edge, when its extremity was seen to
be truncate, or, as it were, cut straight off, so that it
was just like a cork that moves freely up and down in
the neck of a bottle. But from the summit of this
fleshy cork two organs were projecting, each of which
exactly resembled a lady's hack comb, the teeth being
curved in the same manner ; only we must suppose
them to be bevelled off" on each side, the central teeth
of each comb being much the longest ; their surface
is highly metallic, reflecting the light exactly like
burnished gold. These two combs are placed side by
side (or edge to edge), so that together they extend
nearly all across the flat end of the cork not, how-
ever, in a straight, but an angled line, so as to cut off
about 120^, or one-third of the circle.

When the creature had overcome in some degree

USE OF THE COMBS.

229

the timidity induced by its novel circumstances, such
as the increased light, the slight depth of water, the
heightened temperature, &c., it was interesting to
watch its proceedings, especially at night with a
candle ; as then it was more active. I had put it into
a vase of water with two inches of fine siliceous sand
for a bottom, on which the tube lay along. After a
few tentative essays, it grew bold enough to thrust
out its cork-like head, projecting the combs as it did
so, so as to show more of their bases. They thus
separated from each other, and each assumed the form
of a concave fan, or of a turkey's tail were the shafts
of the feathers stripped of the vanes.

Their use was now apparent. The animal is a
burrower in sand ; I repeatedly lost it dm'ing my
absence from the room, and found it plunged to the
very bottom. Its mode of burrowing is as follows : —
If the animal is not lying rightly, it turns on its axis
within the tube (which it can do with perfect facility,
as there is no organic connexion between its body
and its dwelling, as there is between the Mollusk and
its shell), until the third of the circle enclosed by the
angle of the combs is next the surface. These organs
arc now thrust outwards and downwards, so that their
points enter the soil like shovels ; then, by muscular
movements of the liead, they are lifted upwards and
backwards, carrying in their concavity their load of
sand, which they throw over the upper margin of the
tube, behind the head. The combs, or, as 1 may now
call them, digging-forks, immediately make another
plunge, and deliver their spadeful of sand in like
manner. A considerable hollow is presently formed,

230

STRUCTURE OF

which a number of thread-like filaments protmded
from the lower part of the head are engaged from
time to time in feeling, and apparently examining.
When this hollow is sufficiently wide and deep, the
animal tilts its tube into it, by protruding until the
weight of its body overbalances the supported part ;
it proceeds with its excavation, the tube becoming
more and more inclined, until at length it is brought
to the perpendicular, when it descends straight down
till it is completely bm'ied, the sand closing over its
disappearing extremity.

This burrowing habit, the mouth of the tube being
downward, makes it needful that there should be a
posterior orifice to the tube. All the tribe to which
this species belongs are nourished by those minute
organic atoms which are held in suspension by the
water, and which are brought by strong ciliary cur-
rents to the mouth. The currents thus produced are
subservient to the two functions of respiration and
digestion, the water thus hurled along giving off its
oxygen to the gills, and its organic atoms to the
stomach. The refuse water, kept in unflagging motion
by vigorous cilia, is poured from the terminal extremity
of the body, and discharged through the minute orifice
that I have described.

Dr. Williams, in his admirable " Report on the
British Annelida," has, I think, fallen into an error
with regard to this species ; or at least his statements
in this particular do not agree with my own observa-
tion. After describing the mode in which the pos-
terior extremity in A. alveolata is contracted into a
true cyhndrical tail, which, turning upwards, returns

THE TAIL.

231

along parallel to the body, in order to project the
faecal refuse to the anterior extremity of the tube, he
ascribes a similar structure to the present species.

In A, aurtcoma,^^ he observes, " the tail-like appen-
dage to the inferior extremity of the body, in all
respects but one, is formed on the model of that of
the former species. One labium of the terminal
orifice is here extended into a flap-like process, which,
by a sudden act of muscular contraction, imparts a
smart blow to the faeculent mass as it escapes from
the intestine, and thus effectually conveys it to the
upper outlet of the tube." (P. 208.) Again, in treat-
ing of the alimentary system of the genera Serpulay
Sahella, and AmpMtrite^ he remarks that " it is
through the agency of the water-current tliat tra-
verses the wliolc interior of the body, that the fiecu-
lent refuse is projected from the bottom to the upper
orifice of the tube, and that the liabitation of the worm
is maintained in a state of never-varying cleanliness
and purity." (P. 225.)

I am absolutely certain, however, that in my speci-
men of A. auricoma the discharge is terminal. As
the animal lies on the bottom, a stream of water
issues from the hinder end of the tube, not constant
but intermittent, by which the adjacent sand is driven
away with force, forming a furrow, a third of an inch
long, extending from the end of the tube. The ter-
minal portion of the tail itself is occasionally pro-
truded through the aperture, and moved roimd with
agility. When the tube with the contained animal is
removed from the water and again replaced, a bubble
of air escapes from the posterior orifice • and when the

232

THE GILLS AND SPEARS.

tube alone (the animal having deserted it) was held
up full of water, the fluid ran out rapidly at the same
aperture. Tlie animal, also, which voluntarily crawled
out of its habitation, displays no such reversion of
the tail as is described by Dr. Williams. Tliis organ
is a little leaf-shaped body, formed by the union of
several short segments, and slightly bent downward,
but not reverted.

The quitting of its tenement by the Worm enabled
me to see and admire some other points in its struc-
ture, and their subservience to its economy. On each
side of the neck, just below the edge of the flat, cork-
like head, are seen two little scarlet gills, resembling
in structure those of fishes. Each consists of a free
leaflet, formed of numerous thin plates set face to
face : in health these little pointed gills are thrown
about with agility in various directions, and their
points alternately coiled up and unfolded. Behind
these, along each side of the body, arc placed promi-
nent, fleshy warts, to the number of fifteen pairs ;
each of which consists of two portions, the hinder
part being dilated into a soft transverse mop, and the
fore part perforated to give exit to a brush of fine
spears of elaborate construction. They are about
twelve in each bundle, each formed of a long and
slender, highly elastic, glassy shaft, terminated by a
bent blade, the edge of which is of the most delicate
thinness, and the point of which is drawn out to great
length and tenuity. Some of the blades appear to be
simple and knife-like, but others have the edge cut
with oblique slits, parallel to each other, and pointing
from the base. They do not form saw-teeth, but are

SELF-ABOLITION.

233

merely straight slits. The bundle of lancets can be
protruded at will to a considerable length, or with-
drawn into the fleshy wart so as to be quite concealed,
as in a sheath. Their direction is backward, and their
main use is, doubtless, that of catching against the
internal walls of the tube, and pushing the animal
outwards. At the same time it is not improbable
that their cutting edges serve to cut and dress the
fragments of sand of which the tube is composed ; and
that the spongy cushions behind the bundles help to
bring the work to that state of polished smoothness,
which is needful to guard the soft and tender body of
the Annelide from annoyance.

SUICIDE.

Some time ago a humorous periodical favoured the
public with a portrait of a Prime Minister a-bolisliing
of his self." The marine naturalist is aware that the
process is occasionally exhibited by otlier animals
also ; the faculty may perhaps be the link, wliich in
a quinary arrangement connects the Prime l^Iinisters
with the Ecliinodcrms. Certainly the latter possess
this useful faculty in exti'aordinary perfection, as
witness the triumphant way in wliich Luidia fracji"
lissima laughed at Professor Forbes."^ A swell
gentleman in Regent Quadrant could not have done"
a police officer in more admirable style.

The Brittle-stars {Ophiocoma)^ as their name im-
ports, are considered peculiarly prone to this suicidal
work; but, for my own experience, though I have

* Brit, starfishes, p. 138.

234

BRITTLE-STARS.

dredged a tolerable quantity (I say " quantity " be-
cause Brittle-stars come up in pecks or bushels rather
than in scores or hundreds), and have had plenty of
examples of disjointed members, I have never found
it prevail to such an extent as to prevent my pre-
serving almost with certainty any specimen T wished,
without particular precautions. And certainly they
are charming occupants of an Aquarium : the ex-
treme variety of colouring displayed by them, — I
speak of the most abundant species, the Kosette ( 0.
rosula), — and the gorgeousness of the hues frequently
presented ; orange, yellow, crimson, purple, blue,
white ; often arranged in alternate angular bands ;
catch the eye of the most indifferent in a moment :
while the exquisitely sculptured spines that profusely
fringe each ray, and the many-sided and variously-
formed, but perfectly regular and symmetrical scales
and plates, that clothe the disk and the rays on both
surfaces, elicit our admiration when we examine them
more closely. {See Plate IV.)

Professor Forbes is doubtful, however, whether
Uraster (the common Starfish, Crossfish or Five-
finger) has the power of throwing off its rays volun-
tarily, as is the case with Luidia and the OpMurce.''''
I have had evidence that it has, and that not in the
case of Z7. glacialis^ in which species these organs
are acknowledged to be fragile, but in the Common
Crossfish {U. rubens).

A specimen of this latter, about five inches in dia-
meter, that had been dredged in Weymouth harbour,
was crawling tranquilly up the glass side of my large
tank. Several hours had elapsed since it was put in,

SELF-MUTILATION.

235

and it had appeared quite at home, and was as lively
as could be desired. It had three full-sized rays, and
two very small ones, doubtless reproducing. Sud-
denly, without any apparent provocation, it threw off
one of the large rays. I did not see the process, but
I had looked at it a moment before, and at the next
glance the patient was marching calmly on as before,
with one of his legs an inch behind him. The suckers
of the rejected ray were still as active as before, alter-
nately loosening their hold and adhering, just as
before ; hut there was no advance.

Seven hours afterwards, when I retired to bed, the
suckers of the ray were still moving, and the ray
maintained its adhesion to the perpendicular side of
the glass ; as it did also wlien I got up the next morn-
ing. But by this time three more rays were separated,
and were adhering by their suckers to the upright
glass just where they had been left : while the body
piKSued its solitary journey, solaced by the fidelity of
its sole remaining ray, — one of the large ones.

My curiosity had been excited by the fact that I
could not determine with certainty the point from
which the first rejected member had separated. I
examined the animal minutely, but so entire seemed
the whole skin, and so cqui-distant the remaining
rays, that I coukl not satisfy myself, thougli I returned
again and again to the scrutiny. I did not, however,
choose to handle the animal much. But now that so
many limbs were gone, the points of separation were
just visible ; yet the contraction of the surrounding
parts was so great that the wounds were exceedingly
small. The separation was in each case exactly the

236

SUICIDE OF HOLOTHURI-^.

same, by an oblique cut, as it were, upward and out-
ward, close to the body ; and perfectly clean, without
laceration, and withojiit any perceptible flow of liquid.

I carefully slit up with scissors one of the separated
rays, and found within it the bulbs of the numerous
suckers, of course, and the two ccpca of the intestine,
beautifully arborescent, and of a yellowish olive colour ;
so that, in the voluntary throwing off of a limb, these
digestive organs are not absorbed or contracted into
the body, but cast oflf also.

The Starfish continued to walk about, like a Chelsea
pensioner, on his one leg, till the afternoon of this
second day, when the remaining limb dropped off by
its own weight, on my lifting the animal from one
vessel to another. I took great care of the body,
hoping that it might reproduce the lost limbs while
in my possession. But I was disappointed. It never
moved after this last amputation, and putrefaction
soon made it too manifest that death had ensued.

The nolotliurice^ or Sea-Cucumbers — those members
of the Class Echinodermatay which, to the locomotive
suckers and other essential organs of the Starfishes
and Sea-Urchins, conjoin some peculiarities, such as
the elongate form, and a circle of oral tentacula, which
are considered to approximate them to the Worms
{Annelida)^ or, perhaps more truly, to the Actiniae, —
usually commit suicide in a different manner. Accord-
ing to the concurrent testimony of observers, they
fi'equently disgorge from the mouth, the stomach,
intestines, and ovary, leaving the body an empty
sac and occasionally throwing off even the tentacles,
the mouth, and the dental cylinder. But some species

THE CHIRODOTA.

237

of these are said to divide spontaneously through the
middle into two or more parts, all becoming ultimately
perfect by the development of new organs." *

This spontaneous division I lately had an opportunity
of witnessing in an Echinoderm of great rarity, so
rare that I know not whether any British zoologist has
seen it before, since its discovery on the South Devon
coast by Montagu. Professor Forbes says he had
never met with a living example. I allude to Chiro-
dota digitata.

Many living specimens of this species were for-
warded to me by the kindness of the Kev. C. Kingsley,
who obtained them in the vicinity of Torquay. He
says, "I got this dindi Actinia chnjsanthellnm'\ in two
contiguous coves, washed up after a heavy gale [in
J anuary] in company with Lutraria elliptica, and the
common red hag- worm, indicating life on a mud-sand
bottom."

This animal is a very worm-like Ilolothuria, nearly
cylindrical in form when in health. The largest of
my specimens extended to ten inches, with an average
diameter of one-fourth of an inch. The posterior
extremity is always plump and rounded, sometimes
swollen to an oval sac, half an inch in diameter and
two inches long. The body is covered with annular
striae, most distinct on the fore half.

Notwithstanding the cylindrical form, a dorsal and
a ventral side may be readily distinguished. The
former has, as its general colour, a hue approaching
to the Indian-red of artists, while the latter is of a
pale pellucid flesh-colour. The body is marked by
* Dalyell. t Peachia hastata (mihi).

238 ITS STRUCTURE AND HABITS.

five longitudinal colourless lines, of which the dorsal
ones are only half as broad as the ventral. Under
a lens the ground colour is resolved into a number of
minute red dots, thickly placed dorsally, and often
becoming confluent into longitudinal dashes, but
placed thinly on the belly.

The anterior extremity forms a disk surrounded by
a marginal circle of twelve short tentacula. These
organs are rather thick columns, with their bases in
contact^ tapering to the tip, where each branches into
four short diverging fingers, which are likewise taper
and pointed. The red speckling extends up the
tentacles. The mouth is a cup-shaped circular cavity,
whose edges reach to the bases of the tentacles.

The dental cylinder of the Holothurice is represented
by a slender ring of minute white calcareous pieces,
varying in size, and irregular in form. None of them
are larger than ^^th of an inch square. They are
united by cartilage into an elastic ring, running round
the base of the tentacular circle.

While in captivity the motions of these animals
were quite vermicular, slowly twisting the long body
into knots and contortions, and witliing about. The
tentacles were now and then bent inward to the
mouth, one or two at a time, and then unfolded. They
did not long retain the cylindrical form in which I
received them ; very soon one after another began to
constrict the body into knobs at irregular intervals,
occasionally so forcibly as to separate into two or
many pieces. Sometimes the division was incom-
plete ; so that the intestines, and especially the long
generative threads, were forced out abundantly from

THE OVARIAN THREADS.

239

the constriction. But these latter must be described
particulariy.

Each of the animals, as soon as it had arrived at
this stage of its suicidal process, was seen to be
wrapped up in a swathing-band of white threads,
which, issuing in a bundle from the rupture, soon
became involved in inextricable confusion by the
writhings and knottings of the animal. The threads
were of great length, and closely resembled in appear-
ance white sewing-cotton. The microscope revealed
their structure. They were not ciliated, and therefore
had no spontaneous motion ; in these respects differing
from the convoluted filaments of the Actinia?, to which
they bear great affinity. The common texture was
composed of a multitude of very minute round gi'anulcs
of hyaline and nearly colourless jelly, about 3-5^1^^^
of an inch in diameter, having no motion when
crushed down. In this granular substance were set
numerous ova, ranging from y^^th to -oi^th of an inch
in diameter. These consisted of a hyaline integument,
including an opaque brown granular yelk, sometimes
nearly filling the interior, at others occupying not
more than two-thirds of it. Within the yelk in each
there was a well-defined, globular, hyaline nucleus.
On continued pressure, the integument burst with a
start and a loud crepitation ; the yelk oozed through
the rupture, retaining its integrity, though its elastic
form changed as it passed through the narrow aper-
ture : the nucleus was also compressible and clastic,
escaping entire, a clear globular vesicle.

I was in hopes that this spontaneous protrusion of
the egg-tubes was a normal process, and that by

240

EFFUSION OF COLOUR.

keeping the animals I might witness the development
of the eggs and young, especially after what Sir John
Dalyell and others have observed in the Holothurioi.
But I found that the self-divided animals very soon
became offensive and evidently putrescent, an infal-
lible evidence that death had ensued ; and that not
only was this the case with the posterior portions
separated from the main body, but with the latter
also, or that to which the head was attached. It is
possible that the whole process was caused by morbid
muscular contraction, arising from the stimulus of
unnatural circumstances. Mr. Kingsley suggests to
me that " the animal breaks itself up from the irrita-
tion of liglit^'' a suggestion highly probable ; and
that we must keep it in the shade if we obtain it
again."

One which I put into fresh water, in order to kill
it for preservation, immediately began to contract,
and continued the process (not rapidly) to rigidity.
It then lengthened again, distended the posterior
extremity, and then divided by constriction near the
middle, protruding the intestine, but no ovigerous
threads. The body, after lying a while, discharged
a stain, which diffused itself to some distance through
the water, and precipitated a subtle sediment of a
brilliant gamboge hue, which increased to saffron. The
whole water in the saucer was, besides^ slightly tinged
with pink. The specimen, on being immersed in a
preservative fluid — a solution of acetate of alumina and
sulphate of potash — tinged the lower part of it with a
rich transparent crimson, a little inclined to purple,
the hue of which was deepest near the bottom.

THE LEAF-WORMS.

241

The vermiform figure of this animal, its swollen
posterior extremity, and its tendency to irregular
constriction, combine with the absence of suckers, and
the deterioration of the oral tentacles, to mark its
affinity with the Sipunculidce, in which family I think
it should be placed. I know the characters of the
genus Chirodota of Eschscholtz, only from their cita-
tion in Professor Forbes' " Star-fishes," but cannot
help thinking, with Montagu, that our Torquay speci-
mens come very close to Muller's Holothiiria inhcerens^
judging from the figure and Latin diagnosis of the
latter; for unfortunately I cannot read the Danish
language. The only difference 1 notice is in the form
of the tentacles, Miiller's species having each sixteen
terminal digitations, while ours has but four.

THE PHYLLODOCE.

Many of the Marine Worms, as I have before said,
are very elegant creatures, and not a few present us
with great variety and brilliance of colours. Pre-
eminent among them are the Leaf-worms, according
to the verdict of most who have studied this Class of
beings, from Fabricius downward, who styled them

Virgines pulchcrrima3 inter Nereides." In tlic little
shallow hollows that are to be found on the surface
of the rocks covered at high tide, green with the
puckered leaves of the lettuce-like Ulva, and affording
a happy home to multitudes of Purples, Periwinks,
Tops and Mussels, we may often see, gliding in and
out, the worms of this genus, which the indefatigable
Savigny named after the sea-nymph Pliyllodocc : —

" Phyllodoceque

C«?sariem effusse nitidam per Candida coUa." — Virgil.
R

242

EVOLUTION OF

These Worms bear a general resemblance to the
Centipedes of the land, and some may behold them
with aversion on that account ; but, prejudice being-
laid aside, we must confess that their forms are ele-
gant, their motions lithe, easy, and full of grace, and
their general appearance attractive. They are distin-
guished by their long, slender, and flattened bodies,
composed of very numerous segments, sometimes
amounting to several hundred (as in the case oiPliyU
lodoce laminosa^ Sav., found on the French side of the
Channel, which reaches to two feet in length, and is
divided into more than 500 segments *) ; but they
may be more readily recognised by the series of over-
lapping leaflets which run along each side, one pair
to each segment.

It is a very curious spectacle to see these Worms
turn the stomach inside out. In common with most
other genera of this Class, the head is minute, and
what seems to be the mouth is but the orifice from
which the proboscis is protruded. In the genus
Phyllodoce, this organ is a great muscular sac, some-
times as much as one-fourth of the whole length of
the body. The beholder is astonished to see a chasm
in the under side of the head begin to yawn, and the
interior rapidly protrude, turning inside out as it
comes forth, like a living stocking, until it assumes
the form of an enormous pear-shaped bag, the surface
of which is beset with a multitude of secreting warts
or glands, like those which stud the tongue in higher
animals. In many genera the extremity of this

* Aud. et M.-Edw. ; Litt. de la Fr. ii. 223.

THE PROBOSCIS.

243

stomach, throaty or proboscis, is furnished with a
formidable apparatus of horny grasping jaws, variously
modified into teeth, hooks and knife-blades, for seiz-
ing, tearing, and cutting prey ; but in Phyllodoce^
there are none of these, the elegant animals feeding
probably on the fluid juices of dead animals, or on
their soft parts, which need no violence. The very
tip, however, which of course is perforated, is sur-
rounded by a muscle, by means of which it contracts
forcibly on whatever it is applied to, and thus holds
it firmly while the inversion of the sac drags it into
the body to be digested. Tlie disappearance of the
organ is as astonishing as its extrusion ; beginning at
the tip, which is quickly turned in, the whole rapidly
returns to its cavity in the same order as it came out,
and then we wonder how so enormous a proboscis can
be enclosed in so slender a body.

There is a species of this genus, very common in
the situations I have mentioned, named Fh. lameU
Ugera ; which is of a yellowish-green, sometimes
verging to an olive hue. But a much more beautiful
kind has been sent me alive from Torquay, by the
courtesy of Mr. Kingsley, who found it beneath a
stone, at the edge of the laminarian level. I can
find nothing corresponding to it either in Audouin
and M. -Edwards, or in Dr. Jolmston's papers on the
British Annelida, and shall therefore describe it under
the appellation of P. marginata.

Its length varies from five to three inches, according
as it is elongated or contracted ; the body is composed
of about 170 segments, nearly of equal diameter
throughout, and abruptly rounded at both extremities.

R 2

244

THE SPEAR-HEADED

The segments are bordered by oval, puckered leaf-
lets, the colour of which, being almost black, with an
edging of light yellow-green, gives the animal a most
beautiful appearance, somewhat resembling that of
a number of black velvet palls with their light
fringes. The central part of the back is of a steel-
blue, changing under the play of light to purple, with
a highly metallic reflection. The under surface is of
an opalescent grey.*

The beauty in a great measure disappears on im-
mersion in a preservative fluid. On the first touch of
the solution I employ, Acetate of Alumina, a fluid
was poured out copiously from all parts of the animal,
which diff'used itself, first as a lively green tint, then
becoming yellow, which in about an hour became a
warm orange-brown, quite transparent, and without
precipitation.

The various kinds of spears which are grouped
into pencils, and placed along the sides of most of the
animals of this Class, are among tlie most exquisite
productions with whicli the naturalist is conversant,
and show forth, in a more than ordinary degree, the
delicate and inimitable skill of the Divine handiwork.
In this animal tliey are less complicate than in some
of whicli I have had occasion to speak ; still, under
a high microscopic power, they are well worthy of
admiration. In order to understand their arrange-
ment, let me say, that each segment of the body is

* From one or two specimens that have since fallen under my
notice, I have reason to conclude that this species is identical with
Phyllodoce Paretti, of which a fine figure is given in the commemo-
rative edition of Cuvier's " Regne Animal.'' {Second Edition.)

BRISTLES.

245

produced on each side into a little conical wart-like
foot, on the upper side of which is attached, bj a
short footstalk, the beautiful pall-like leaflet, and on
the under side a similar smaller one, the tip of the
foot projecting between them. This point is perforated
to give emission to the pencil of bristle-spears, which
are arranged like a fan, and are, at the will of the
animal, projected to a considerable length from the
foot, or withdrawn completely into its interior, as into
a sheath. Each individual bristle is composed of a
very slender, long, straight shaft, terminating in a
knob, somewhat resembling the end of a limb-bone.
This is slit in one direction to receive the terminal
lance-head, which is fitted into it exactly as a knife-
blade is fixed into its handle. It is in fact a knife-
blade, having a thickened back, and a very thin edge,
which is notched with teeth of the most delicate
subtilty. The blade is slightly curved, and drawn
out to a long acute point ; and the whole space
is formed out of a substance that rivals the purest
glass.

The full use of these most exquisitely contrived
and finished organs is, I think, yet to be discovered.
They are doubtless instruments of locomotion, being
evidently used to push the animal along, as a ferry-
man propels a boat with his pole ; and the saw-like
teeth may serve to catch the roughnesses of the sur-
faces along which it is moving. It is possible also
that they may be weapons of defence ; for, being
thrust out at every lateral undulation of the segments,
they present formidable chcvaux de frise to any small
enemy who may entertain malice prepense against the

246 VARIOUS FUNCTIONS OF ORGANS.

Annelid. Still the situation of these arms is hardly
such as we should expect, if this were their primary
object; and the elaborate construction of their jointed
blades seems contrived for some use more delicate
than that of a shoving-pole. Perhaps my readers may
expect that I have some suggestion to make, but I am
sorry to say I have not. I have not been able to dis-
cover any function that these elegant and exquisite
implements possess in addition to those just mentioned,
though I have little doubt that such function is to be
discovered. It is a common phenomenon for the same
organ to have two or more distinct and separate uses.
The human tongue and palate play an important part
in tasting food, and preparing it for swallowing, and
also in the utterance of speech ; and in the worm
before us, the beautifully-painted leaflets are organs
of respiration, the blood (or rather, according to Dr.
"Williams, the peritoneal fluid) circulating through
them in spacious radiating canals, and receiving
oxygen from the currents which the marginal cilia
perpetually impel across their surface ; but they are
also organs of locomotion ; waved through the water,
and half-turned when the stroke is made, — as the
waterman ^\featliers'''' his oar — it is easy to see that
the animal is actually rowed along, like one of the
galleys of the ancients, with a bank of three hundred
oars. " Natare valet lamellis suis retroversis, oblique
sursum erectis," — observes Fabricius of these elegant
animals.

The following observations, whose beauty and truth
necessitate no apology for their quotation, are made
by one who is perhaps better qualified than any one

ECONOMY OF THE ANNELIDES.

247

else to express a judgment on these creatures, from
the care and labour which he has bestowed on the
study of them.

" It is not easy to express the pleasure which is
excited in the mind of the observer of nature, while
contemplating the habit and manners of the Annelida.
Every movement exemplifies the curve of beauty;
every tentacle winds ceaselessly and rapidly tlirough
a thousand forms of matchless grace. Whether coil-
ing round a visible object, or picking up a micro-
scopic molecule for the construction of the cell, it
exhibits a delicacy and precision of aim, which the
erudite finger of the most skilful artisan never equalled.
The refined precision of its muscular performances, is
matched only by its exquisite sensibility. Like the
human hand, of which the manifold endowments have
exhausted the admiring eloquence of philosophers
and theologians, it unites in its little self the most
varied capacities. It is at once an eye, an ear, a nose,
and a finger : it sees, it hears, it smells, it touches.
Leading for the most part a subaqueous or subter-
ranean life, the sense of sight in the Annelid is little
required : and gifted in every part of the body with
a superlative tenderness of touch, the sense of hearing
is rendered unnecessary. Anatomy accordingly demon-
strates only the obscurest rudiments of an organ of
vision, while that of hearing has eluded the scrutiny
of the minutest examination. Is it not to be marvelled
at, that these humble beings should see without eyes,
and smell without a nose? It is not affirmed that
this is literally and entirely true ; but it is exact to
a degree enough to prove the wondrous manner in

248

THE ANNELIDES*

which the sense of touch is made to supersede all the
other senses.

" Whether progressing on the solid surface, or
moving through water, or tunneling the sand, ad-
vancing or retreating in its tube, the Annelid performs
muscular feats, distinguished at once for their com-
plexity and harmony. In grace of coil the little
Worm excels the Serpent. In regularity of march
the thousand-footed Nereid out-rivals the Centipede.
The leaf-armed Phyllodoce swims with greater beauty
of mechanism than the Fish, and the vulgar Earth-
worm shames the Mole in the exactitude and skill of
its subterranean operations. Why, then, should * the
humble worm ' have remained so long without an
historian? Is the care, the wisdom, the love, the
paternal solicitude of the Almighty not legible in the
surpassing organism, the ingenious architectures, the
individual and social habits, the adaptation of struc-
ture to the physical conditions of existence, of these
degraded beings ? Do not their habitations display
His care, their instincts His wisdom, their merriment
His love, their vast specific diversities His solicitous
and inscrutable Providence ? " *

♦ Dr. WiUiams's " Report on the British Annelida," p. 271.

CHAPTER XI.

Let us visit the caves of a miniature ocean,

The gorgeous sea-flowers and worms to behold ! —

Actinia, rose-finger'd, ever in motion ;
Phyllodoce, liveried in emerald and gold.

No music is heard in these silent recesses.
Save such gentle notes as the Eolids utter ;

But fair Aphrodite waves gem-spangled tresses,
And Scallops, like butterflies, merrily flutter.

Here a Sun up the crystalline pathway is clambering,
Blood-hued as his rival who sinks in the west ;

Bright Stars in their devious courses are wandering.

Where the Blenny peeps forth from her well-woven nest.

These forms from the sunny South surely have wander'd ;

Anomia the pearl of the orient mocks ;
Bold Dragonet, jewel-mail' d, hoists his tall standard.

And crimson-clad Labrus darts under the rocks.

How softly the feathery sea-groves are waving !

Their plume-tufts of i)urple, and scarlet, and green,
The pure and clear element gently is laving ; —

While tiny swarms merrily sport them between.

How glorious, 0 Lord, are thy works of creation !

How fit to abase us, and humble our pride !
Not alone would we gaze with devout admiration,

But adore thee, obey thee, and love thee beside 1

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONjS.

This Chapter is like the postscript of a lady's letter ;
though placed last, it contains the most important
part of the volume. I intend it to afford such assist-

250

VALUE OF A GOOD NAME.

ance to those who intend to keep marine animals and
plants, as my experience and inquiries enable me to
furnish : and therefore I shall arrange the details in
such an order as shall he most easy of reference.

THE NAME.

A neat, easily pronounced and easily remembered,
significant, and expressive term is so advantageous,
that it is worth taking some trouble to select the best.
For the subject of this volume some have chosen the
word Vivarium, and I have myself occasionally used
it. The only objection to it is that it lacks distinct-
ness of signification. It literally means any enclosure
in which living animals are kept ; and the ancients
used it to signify a park, a rabbit-warren, and a fish-
pond ; indeed, I am not sure whether our word war-
ren," is not Vivarium'' Saxonised. Thus it is quite
as applicable to the whole Zoolo2:ical Garden as to
any particular house, yard, or tank in it.

To avoid this indefiniteness, others have used the
term Aqua- vivarium. The objection to this is its
awkward length and uncouthness, which render it
unsuitable for a popular exhibition or domestic
amenity.

I have adopted the word Aquarium, as being free
from the objections which lie against the other two,
while it possesses the neatness of the former, and the
definiteness of the latter. The term had already been
in use among the botanists, to designate the tanks in
which aquatic plants were reared ; and the employ-
ment of the same term for our tanks is not forbidden

THE TANK,

251

"by the character of the service to which they are put,
since this is not an alteration, but only an extension.
The growth of aquatic plants is still a most important
and pleasing feature of our pursuit, and the addition
of aquatic animals does not at all detract from the
appropriateness of the appellation. Let the word
Aquarium then be the one selected to indicate these
interesting collections of aquatic animals and plants,
distinguishing it as a Freshwater Aquarium, if its
contents be fluviatile, or a Marine Aquarium, if
it be such as I have made the subject of the present
volume.

THE TANK.

Form, Size, and Materials. — So much depends
on individual taste and means in tliis respect, as well
as on the situation which the Aquarium is intended
to occupy, that no rule can be laid down for dimen-
sions. My largest tank (now in use as a fresh water
Aquarium) is a parallel-sided vessel, two feet long,
one-and-a-half foot wide, one-and-a-half foot deep;
the sides and ends of plate-glass, three-sixteenths
thick ; the bottom, a slab of skate one inch thick ; the
corners of birch-wood, turned into pillars, each sur-
mounted by a knob, and united by a frame-top or bar,
going all round. The glass is set in grooves in the
slate and wood, and fastened with white-lead putty.
I have two others, agreeing with this in all respects,
except in dimensions, the smallest being (in the clear)
fifteen inches long, twelve inches wide, and twelve
inches deep. This is a very neat and pretty object
for a parlour table, and will hold at least fifty

252

THE TANK.

animals appreciable to the senses, provided they
be well selected, and a sufficient growth of plants
established.

I have also another tank with a sloping back,
made on Mr. Warington's plan. It is of zinc, with
the back and two sides of slate, the front and two
front-sides alone being of glass. Its form is six-
sided, the front resembling a bow window; it is
three feet long by one foot ten inches in greatest
width, and the same in depth ; the peculiarity is that
the back slopes inward, so that the bottom is but
eight inches wide. I cannot commend this form ; its
appearance is lumbering and inelegant ; the opacity
of the back and sides throws the interior into a degree
of darkness, (even though placed in a south window,)
which greatly impedes observation ; and I cannot see,
by comparison with my others, which are of glass all
romid, that the advantage anticipated, of admitting
the light only from above, is real, or at least of
sufficient importance to compensate the uninviting
gloominess alluded to. Its depth also is too great ;
a foot of water is as much as is needful for a parlour
Aquarium.

The tanks at the Zoological Society's Gardens are
constructed by Messrs. Sanders and Woolcott, of
Guilford Street. They make Aquaria from eight feet
in length to sixteen inches, and eitlier with all the
sides of glass, or with slate ends. The bottom is of
slate, and the frame-work of iron. Their tanks are
excellently made, and their prices reasonable. The
engravings on the opposite page represent some of
their forms.

KKCTANGltLAK TANK.

FORM, SIZE, AND MATERIALS.

253

A novel mode of constructing tanks has been sug-
gested to me by Mr. W. Dodgson, of Wigton, Cum-
berland, which, as I have not tried it, I will describe
in his own words : —

I have lately been constructing two Aquariums;
and as the way in which they are made may be new
and perhaps useful to you, I take the liberty of com-
municating it. Slate we have no opportunity of pro-
curing in suitable pieces for joining, and our stone is
too porous for the purpose. I therefore got the bottom
and two ends made in one piece out of tlie yellow clay
used for garden vases, chimney-tops, and other coarse
pottery, and found it answered exceedingly well and
has several advantages.

Partly as a means of supporting the ends, but
principally to form artificial rockwork and shelter for
the animals, the two ends are buttressed inside with
very rough pieces of clay, put on so as to leave plenty
of holes and fissures ; the fire fastens these firmly
together and makes them as hard as stone. Grooves
are left along the bottom, and up the two ends, for
the glass to fit into. The outside is relieved with
ornamental work. Cheapness is a great recommen-
dation ; the pot being charged IJ. or 2c?. per hundred
cubical inches, according to the amount of ornament.
I should think your London potters would make
something very neat, and the mould once made, they
could be supplied very cheaply ; and considering their
freedom from leakage and their strength, I think they
w^ould prove as satisfactory as any kind of cistern.
Mine are about three feet long, and thirty inches high
and broad, holding thirty gallons each. I bed the

254

THE TANK.

glass with white lead, leaving about a quarter inch in
depth of the groove unfilled. When the putty is set,
I fill it up with shell-lac dissolved in naphtha and
made into a paste with whiting. This sets very
quickly ; and, hard as stone, is quite insoluble, and
prevents tlie water from coming in contact with the
lead, which I think must constantly be giving off
small quantities of oxide."

In reply to some inquiries of mine, the same
gentleman writes me further as follows : —

I have delayed replying to you respecting the
price of pottery for Aquariums till I had an oppor-
tunity of seeing the party who made mine. The
price of one such as you name would be Gs, or 8s. y
but, as it would weigh four hundredweight, the
carriage to London would be quite as much. He was
rather doubtful whether with his coarse clay he could
make one the length you name to hold together ; as
two or tliree of mine, which were sliorter, separated in
tlie middle when being burnt, from the great weight
of the ends preventing the centre contracting regu-
larly. He thinks your best plan would be to get one of
the teiTa-cotta workers to make one, which he thinks
he would do more cheaply than it could be sent from
here ; and their clay being finer, a much neater article
could be made. It would be well to be on the spot,
and see the rough clay put on the ends, as workmen
in general have not much idea of what is required.

To prevent the water filtering through the pots,
mine were well glazed inside with flint-glaze, free
from lead. Probably it would be better to glaze the
outside, and leave the inside porous."

FORM, SIZE, AND MATERIALS.

255

If a cylindrical form of vessel be preferred, it can
Le obtained without any material but glass in the
construction. A very pleasing aquarium, which has
the advantage of cheapness, is greatly in request,
formed of a propagating glass turned upside doAvn,
and set on a stand of polished mahogany or rosewood.
This form has cylindrical sides, and a rounded bottom,
terminating in a knob, which, being inserted into a
cavity in the stand, gives security to the whole. The
bottom should be covered with sand or earth to a
height sufficient to bring it up to the level of tlie
cylindrical sides, for the convenience of observation.
Vessels of this shape are now made up to twenty
inches in diameter.

Messrs. Lloyd and Summerfield, of Birmingham,
have recently published some very elegant designs for
Aquaria. They construct rcctangiUar tanks wholly of
glass, the bottom, the corner-pillars, and the bars which
connect them above, being all of that material. Their
scale of prices, however, seems very high. Speci-
mens of their productions may bo seen at the Crystal
Palace, and at 35 and 36, Aldermanbury, London.

Confectioners' show-glasses are very suitable for
small specimens; they are usually about twice as
high as broad, and are therefore the more graceful.
These afford peculiar facilities for the examination
of their contents with a lens, as they can be easily
moved round, and may be placed before a candle or
lamp for nocturnal investigations. They may be had
of various sizes, from three to eight inches in diameter;
six inches is a very convenient size. I have made
very pretty vases for minute objects by taking the

256

THE TANK.

glass chimney of an Argand lamp, and fastening a
well-fitted cork into one end for a bottom, on which
I then poured black sealing-wax varnish until a
smooth water-tight surface was formed. These are
more convenient than wide-mouthed phials, as the
sides are more truly perpendicular, and we avoid the
unequal refraction produced by the thickened bottom
of a phial.

For a conservatory, to wliich an Aquarium would
form an appropriate accessory, a vase-like form might
be given to a large tank. If the outline were octa-
gonal, the objects in the interior would be visible
through the plate-glass without the distortion caused
by unequal refraction, which is a great objection to
vessels with curvilinear sides. But in such a situa-
tion, the chief point of view would be from above the
surface of the water; lience the depth should be
comparatively small, and the sides might recede, so
as to increase the width upwards.

A good many animals, especially Anemones,
Madrepores, Crabs and Annelides, may be kept in
broad and shallow pans, in which the water does not
exceed three or four inches in depth. The glass
pans used for milk are good for this purpose. I have
an earthenware pan with upright sides, about five
inches deep, in which I have imitated the broken
interior of a rock-pool, with irregular projections and
promontories of cement. One advantage of such a
vessel is that sea-weeds may almost be dispensed
with, the extensive surface of water absorbing a large
quantity of oxygen from the air. An oval foot-bath
of whiteware makes a capital Aquarium.

COVERING— ASPECT.

257

Covering. — Within an inhabited room, or wherever
there is much liability to dust or soot, as there is
necessarily everywhere in cities and large towns, the
Aquarium may be protected by a cover. This may
be made of fine muslin, or, which is better, of plate- or
sheet-glass, according to the dimensions required.
The latter may simply be laid over the top of the
vessel, allowing the escape of gases under the edge.
It should be occasionally lifted for a moment, to
allow of a change of the superincumbent air : — the
necessity of this will be manifest, from the close
smell which is perceived on lifting the cover, espe-
cially if there be many sea-weeds in the tank.

In ordinary circumstances, however, there is no
necessity for a covering of any kind. My own tanks,
though placed in an inhabited room, remain for
months together uncovered, in winter and summer,
without the least loss of transparency. The dust
speedily sinks, and is harmless.

Aspect. — The free access of light to the plants is
indispensable ; and therefore that situation is the best
where the sun's rays fall most freely on their leaves.
It is beautiful to see the thousands of tiny globules
forming on every plant, and even all over the stones,
where the infant vegetation is beginning to gi'ow ; to
see these globules presently rising in rapid succession
to the surfiice all over the vessel, and to see this
process going on uninterruptedly as long as the rays
of the sun are uninterrupted.

Now these globules consist of pure oxygen^ elimi-
nated by the vegetation under the stimulus of liglit ;
and as this is the vivifying principle of animal life,

S

•258

THE TANK.

the importance of the process will be readily acknow-
ledged. The difference between the profusion of
oxygen-bubbles produced on a sunny day, and the
paucity of those seen in a dark, cloudy day, or in a
northern aspect, is very marked.

Yet there is one caution required. In summer the
heat of the solar rays is very great, as well as their
light ; and if the vessel be small, and the volume of
water very limited, it will become tepid in the mid-
day sun, and the animals will be killed. Hence, in a
fierce summer day, it will be desirable to draw down
the window-blind, or to interpose a curtain of muslin,
oiled-paper, or ground glass, which will break the
full power of the rays, without greatly interfering
with their illumination.

On this subject, a suggestion made by Mr. George
Guyon in the ''Zoologist" for March, 1856, is
worthy of attention. '' Since photography has become
a popular science, it is pretty generally known that
the three principles existing in common light — lumi-
nosity, heat, and chemical action — are to a great
extent separable, and reside respectively in the yellow,
^ed, and blue rays of the spectrum. It is, moreover,
I believe, considered that growing plants decompose
carbonic acid, and liberate the oxygen under the
influence of the luminous or yellow rays : if this latter
opinion is correct, would not the interposition of a
screen oi yellow glass, while giving free admittance to
the purifying influence, eflectually prevent the water
from getting over-heated, by arresting the progress of
the red or heat-giving rays ? "

ROCKS AND CORALS.

259

THE PREPARATION.

Your Aquarium being brought home, fixed in its
intended situation, and properly seasoned, the next
thing is to fit it up as a dwelling for its living inha-
bitants. Two or three points may be noticed here.

Artificial Eocks, Corals, &c. — When the two
longer sides only of the Tank are of glass, the two
ends being made of slate, the latter should be veiled,
by being made to imitate the irregular projections and
ledges of rock, which may be done in a very pic-
turesque maner. For this purpose, Roman, Portland,
or other cement which hardens under water, sliould
be employed; the slate must be faced witli this, wliich
while plastic may be fashioned into the semblance of
rock. Pieces of branching corals may be set in it, if
the effect of such accessories be thought desirable,
and cavities may be fonned here and there, into
which the fragments of stone that support growing
sea-weeds may afterwards be dropped, so that the
tufts may droop elegantly from the mimic cliff. A
more elegant way of appropriating branching corals,
is to make a broad foot of cement to them, plunging
the base of the branch in it while soft ; these, when
the cement has hardened, will stand on the floor of
the tank like trees, and imitate more perfectly the
mode of growth of the arborescent madrepores.

Whenever cement is used, it will be absolutely
necessary to allow it to remain in water for at least a
month, in order to soak out the free lime, before it be

s2

260

THE BOTTOM,

introduced into the water which contains animals.
The water in which it is soaked should be frequently
changed ; and as long as any prismatic scum appears
on the surface, the cement is unfit for use. I have
known a whole consignment of animals killed in one
night from a neglect of this precaution.

The Bottom. — As very many marine animals
burrow, and as the observation of their proceedings is
very interesting, they should be provided with the
means of gratifying their inclinations. For this pur-
pose a layer of sand should be put on the bottom of
the tank, which may vary in depth from one to three
inches. If sand from a sea-beach can be readily
obtained, it is the most suitable : but the next best is
coarse river-sand, such as the Thames sand com-
monly sold at the stone-wharves of London for
building purposes. It should be well washed, until
the water runs away clean : fresh water will do very
well for this, but it must be drained off before the
sand is put in. What is called silver-sand, and the
common yellow earthy sand, sold in the shops for
scouring, are not at all suitable, as they will tinge the
water after any amount of washing, the former with
lime, the latter with ochre.

Small pebbles or fine gi'avel, likewise well washed,
may be used to vary the bottom with the sand.

Masses of rock, of dimensions suitable to the Aqua-
rium, should be put in, to afford shelter and conceal-
ment to such animals as like the gloom. To afford
this in the highest degree, a flat piece may be set,
like a table, or cromlech, upon two or three upright
blocks; or two tall pieces may lean against each

WATER.

261

other, forming a rude arcli ; — care being taken, what-
ever arrangement be chosen, that the masses stand
with stability. It is of little consequence what sort
of rock is selected, — limestone, sandstone, granite,
conglomerate, — but the rougher, and the more full of
cavities and angles, the blocks are, the better will be
the effect.

Water. — The purity of the water is of great import-
ance. In London, sea-water may be easily obtained
by giving a trifling fee to the master or steward of any
of the steamers that ply beyond the mouth of the
Thames, charging him to dip it in the clear open sea,
beyond the reach of rivers. I have been in the habit
of having a twenty gallon cask filled for mc, for which
I give a couple of shillings.

The vessel in which it is conveyed requires atten-
tion. A cask is the best, if a considerable quantity of
water is required ; but it is absolutely indispensable
either that it should be new, or at least that nothing
injurious should have been previously contained in it,
such as spirits, wines, chemicals, acids, &c. ; since no
soaking will prevent hurtful qualities from being com-
municated to the water. Even the bungs ought to
be new ; I knew an instance in which a consignment
of animals was lost, from no traceable cause, except
that the water-cask, which was quite new, had been
stopped with a bung which had been previously used
in a jar of some chemical solution ; yet the bung had
been, as was supposed, thoroughly soaked and cleansed.
If a cask of fir- wood can be procured, it is preferable :
the wood of oak, of which w^ine-casks are usually
toade, gives out tannin or gallic acid, to the contained

262

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

water, which by its astringency converts the animal
integuments into leather ; if the water on coming out
of the cask has a brown tinge, without interfering
with its transparency, this is suspicious. If you
cannot get any other than an oak cask, let it be well
seasoned for two or three weeks before it is used, by
filling it with water (fresh or salt), changed everyday.

For smaller quantities of water, large jars of stone-
ware are the best, being free from every objection
arising from liability to taint or tinge. Both casks
and jars can be easily sent by railway to any part of
the kingdom ; and pui'e water will not spoil by delay.

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

In July, 1854, I published the following communi-
cation in the " Annals and Magazine of Natm-al
History."

" On manufactured Sea-water for the Aquarium,

" The inconvenience, delay, and expense attendant
upon the procming of sea-water, from the coast or
from the ocean, I had long ago felt to be a great
difficulty in the way of a general adoption of the
Marine Aquarium. Even in London it is an awkward
and precarious matter ; how much more in inland
towns and country places, where it must always prove
not only an hindrance, but to the many an insuperable
objection. The thought had occurred to me, that, as
the constituents of sea-water are known, it might be
practicable to manufacture it ; since all that seemed

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

263

necessary was to bring together the salts in proper
proportion, and add pure water till the solution was
of the proper specific gravity. . . .

" I took Schweitzer's analysis ; hut as I found that
there was some slight difference between his and
Laurent's, I concluded that a very minute accuracy
was not indispensable. Schweitzer gives the following
analysis of 1^000 grains of sea-water taken off
Brighton : —

Water 964*744

Chloride of sodium 27 059

Chloride of magnesium .... 3*666

Chloride of potassium .... 0765

Bromide of magnesium .... 0"029

Sulphate of magnesia 2*295

Sulphate of lime 1*407

Carbonate of lime 0*033

999-998

" The bromide of magnesium and the carbonate of
lime I thought I might neglect, from the minuteness
of their quantities ; as also because the former was
not found at all by M. Laurent in the water of the
Mediterranean ; and the latter might be found in suf-
ficient abundance in the fragments of shell, coral, and
calcareous algfc, thrown in to make the bottom of the
Aquarium. The sulphate of lime (plaster of Paris)
also I ventured to eliminate, on account of its extreme
insolubility, and because M. Laurent finds it in
excessively minute quantity. The component salts
were then reduced to four, which I used in the fol-
lowing quantities : —

264

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

Common table salt 3| ounces.

Epsom salts i

Chloride of magnesium , . , 200 grains ^

Chloride of potassium ... 40 „ j ^^^J*

To these salts, thrown into a jar, a little less than
four quarts of water (New Kiver) were added, so that
the solution was of that density that a specific gravity-
bubble 1026 would just sink in it.

The cost of these substances was — sulph. mag.
Id. ; chloride mag. 3c?. ; chlor. pot. l^d, ; salt, nil ;
— total, 5ld, per gallon. Of course^ if a larger quantity
were made, the cost of the materials would be di-
minished, so that we may set down 5d. per gallon as
the maximum cost of sea-water thus niade.f The
trouble is nothing, and no professional skill is re-
quisite.

My manufacture was made on the 21st of April,
1854. The following day I poured off about half of the
quantity made (filtering it through a sponge in a glass
funnel) into a confectioner's show-glass. I put in a
bottom of small shore-pebbles, well washed in fresh
water, and one or two fragments of stone with fronds
of green sea- weed ( Ulva latissima) growing thereon.
I would not at once venture upon the admission of
animals, as I wished the water to be first somewhat
impregnated with the scattered spores of the Ulva;
and I thought that if any subtle elements were thrown
off from the growing vegetables, the water should

* The table salt and the Epsom salts I weighed by Avoirdupois;
it would have been more strictly accurate if I had reduced the
whole to Troy. Exact precision is not, however, at all essential.

+ This was considerably over-rated : the cost is probably about
Zid. per gallon.

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

265

have the advantage of it, "before the entrance of
animal life. This, too, is the order of nature ; plants
first, then animals.

^' A coating of the green spores was soon deposited
on the sides of the glass, and bubbles of oxygen were
copiously thrown off every day under the excitement
of the sun's light. After a week, therefore, I ven-
tured to put in animals as follows : —

2 Actinia mesemhryanthemum. Coryne ramosa,
7 Serpula triquetra. Crisia eburnea.

3 Balanus halanoides. ,, aculeata,

2 Sabella ? Cellepora pumicosa.

2 Sahellaria {alveolata ?) Cellular ia ciliata.

2 Spio vulgaris. Bowerhanhiaimhricata,

1 Cynthia [quadrangularis ?) Pedicellina Belgica.

" These throve and flourished from day to day,
manifesting the highest health and vigour ; the plants
(including one or two Eed Weeds that were intro-
duced with the animals) looked well, and the water
continued brilliantly crystalline. Within the suc-
ceeding month, specimens of Actinia mesemhryantlic-
muni^ A. anguicoma^ and A. clavata, a Troclius umhili"
catus, and a Littorina littorea were at different times
added.

" Six weeks have now elapsed since the introduc-
tion of the animals. I have just carefully searched
over the jar, as well as I could do it without disturbing
the contents. I find every one of the species and
specimens mentioned above, all in high health ; with
the exception of some of the Polyzoa, viz. Crisia
aculeata^ Cellepora pumicosa^ Cellularia ciliata, and

266

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER*

Pedicellina Belgica, These I cannot find, and I
therefore conclude that they have died out ; though,
if I chose to disturb the stones and weeds, I might
possibly detect them. These trifling defalcations do
in nowise interfere with the conclusion, that the ex-
periment of manufacturing sea- water for the Aquarium
has been perfectly successful.

" P. H. GossE.

" 58, Huntingdon Street, Bamsbury Park,
June 9, 1854."

The small quantity of water thus experimented
upon remains up to this time (June, 1856), having
supported animal and vegetable life ever since with-
out interruption, a period of two years and two months.
It is as transparent as the day it was put in, rivalling
the water of the clearest rock-pool, from which it
can in no respect be distinguished, either in its
sensible qualities, or in its fitness for plants and
animals. Since that time I have made other and
larger quantities, with the same success ; so that
I can confidently recommend the formula for general
adoption. The salts are sold in packets, with all
needful directions, by Mr. Bolton^ a chymist in
Holborn.

It is interesting to find that the more subtile
constituents of sea-water, as Lime^ Iron^ Silica, and
Iodine, which I neglect in my formula, are gradually
communicated to the artificial composition by use.
Dr. George Wilson, of Edinburgh, who has analysed
portions of each of my preparations, after several
months' use, finds traces therein of all these sub^
stances, according to a Report on the subject, read at

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

267

the Glasgow Meeting of the British Association in
1855.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that, if you can
conveniently procure water from the sea, you should
do so by preference ; si non, Ms utere mecumy

I am glad to fortify my own statements of the
perfect success of this Artificial Sea- water, by the ex-
perience of Mr. W. A. Lloyd, who, by his extensive
and rapidly-increasing business of supplying stocked
Aquaria to every part of England, is well qualified to
express a judgment. Mr, Lloyd for a long time never
used any other water than this composition^^ The
results of his observations were communicated to the
Microscopical Journal for July, 1855, in the following
paper, which, as it bears not only on the question of
water, but on the general subject of this volume, I
shall, with the permission of the author, quote entire.

Memoranda on the employment of Artificial Sea-
water in Marine Aquaria.

" Early in the summer of last year I commenced
some experiments on artificial sea-water, made ac-
cording to the formula proposed by Mr. P. II. Gosse ;
the ingredients, in the proper proportions, having
been prociu'cd from Mr. William Bolton, 146, Holbom
Bars, London. In it I have successfully maintained
alive the following marine productions : —

ANIMALS. 2 Hydractinia echinata.

Zoophytes. 3 Actiniamesemhryanthe"

1 Clava multicornis. nuim,

* He now supplies real sea-water, as well as artificial, according
to the wishes of his customers.

268

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

4 Actinia crassicornis.

5 5, helUs.

6 5, parasitica.

7 5, dianthus.

8 5, anguicoma,

9 5, clavata.

10 5, aurora.

11 Antliea cereus,

12 Caryophyllia Smithii.

13 Sertularia polyzonias.

14 „ Jilicula.

15 5, pumila,

16 Flustra membranacea.

17 Bowerhanhia imbricata.

18 Vesicularia spinosa,

Annelides.

19 Serpula contortuplicata.

20 5, triquetra.

21 SfaJeZZa ?

22 Terebella concliilega,

23 >S^20 vulgaris.

24 iV6r6i5 ?

25 Pontohdella muricata,

MoUusca.

26 Cynthia morus.

27 Pecten opercularis.

28 Doris pilosa.

29 5, tuherculata,

30 iJoZi^ coronata,

31 Ancula cristata,

32 Lamellar ia per-

spicua.

33 ?

34 Littorina littorea.

35 Rissoa ?

36 Troclius zizypliinus.

37 Purpura lapillus.

38 Chiton fascicularis^

and (7. Icevis,
Cirrliipedes.

39 Balanus halanoides.
40 ?

VEGETATION.

41 Z7foa latissima.

42 Enteromorpha com-'

pressa,

43 Cladophora ?

44 Phyllopliora ruhens,

45 Bryopsis plumosa.

The only accommodation provided for tlie whole
of the above is a series of glass jars and vases placed
on shelves in the windows of an ordinary London
dwelling-room ; the largest glass not exceeding three
gallons' capacity. It is not pretended, however, that
those animals, which are notoriously short-lived in

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER.

269

confinement (such, for instance, as Nos. 27 to 32),
even under the most advantageous circumstances of
space, had their existence more prolonged with me ; I
would merely state, that I have met with no more
difficulties with the artificial than with the actual sea-
water, under the same conditions. Nos. 1 (this is
now in the gravid state represented in 'Johnston's
Zoophytes,' plate 1), 2, and 16, made their appearance
spontaneously, as it were, on some empty shells and
other debris placed in the water six months before,
which had not been changed during the whole of that
period. Nos. 3 and 5 to 10 are very hardy with me;
but No. 4 is, in general, precarious. Nos. 13, 14, 15,
lived in a quart jar for three months ; at the end of
which time I disposed of them, after they had added
hundreds of new cells to the polypidoms. Nos. 19,
20, 21, added considerably to their tubes; the new
portion being indicated in No. 20 by its superior
whiteness, and the rate of increase being about a third
of an inch in six months. On the 1st of May, I
counted ten young of this species, the parents having
been in my possession since September 4. Colonies
of No. 23 are very vigorous and active; but I find that
they have a period of rest fi'om soon after midnight
to about 4 or 5 P.M.

Many of the Actinice, mentioned in the above list,
are the same individuals which I had at the com-
mencement of my experiments, and most of them
have brought forth young abundantly. Tlic deve-
lopment of Nos. 16 (this especially), 17, 18, have
afforded me many weeks of most interesting observa-
tion. In Nos. 39 and 40 I have noticed that

270

THE STOCK.

frequently the cirrlii have begun to play as quickly
as ever, even after a period of inaction so long that
I have supposed the animals to be dead.

" In the vegetation, I find that No. 42 is the most
effective in the evolution of oxygen. No. 41 stands
next. No. 44 is apt to decay, if not placed in a shaded
spot ; but it is always interesting, from the quantity
of parasitic animals usually found in it.

" I trust that these desultory observations, hastily
thrown together, but scrupulously containing nothing
that I have not personally witnessed in my own
collection, will have the effect of increasing the
domestication of the interesting productions of our
shores.

"William Alford Lloyd.

" 164, St. John Street Road, Isl'inrfton,
*'June 6, 1855."

THE STOCK.

As I shall presently give some instructions con-
cerning the modes of collecting both plants and
animals, a few preliminary observations are all that
will be needful here.

Plants. — What are the most suitable plants for
an Aquarium ? Not the Oar-weeds or Tangles
{Laminar ia)\ for though young specimens have an
attractive appearance, they will not live long in cap-
tivity; they presently begin to decay, and slough off
in slimy membranous shreds, filthy to look at, and
hurtful to the living creatures. The Fuci live pretty
well, but their sliminess and ugliness are fatal to their
pretensions ; and they are, moreover, apt to tinge the

THE STOCK.

271

water of a brown hue. From the Red and the Green
orders we must make our selection.

Of the former these will be found good : Rhjtiphlcea
pinastroides^ the Polysiphoiiice, Corallina officinalis^
Delesseria alata^ Gracilaria confervoides, Gelidium
corneum^ Polyides rotundus^ Ghondrus crispus^ PJiyllo-
jpliora ruhens (this, especially when dredged from deep
water, is one of the very best), the Griffitlisice^ and
some of the CalUthamnia.

Of the Green weeds, Codium tomentosum does pretty
well, and affords food for some Mollusca that will eat
nothing else. The Cladopliorce are good ; Bryopsis
plumosaj a most elegant little plant, flourishes in con-
finement ; but the EnteromorplKB and Ulvce are pro-
bably the best of all sea-weeds for our pui-pose, and
the most easily procured on every shore.

The pieces of rock to which the plants are attached
should be as clean as possible. All adhering Sponges,
in particular, should be carefully scraped off, unless
they are wanted for immediate examination ; as they
are almost sure to die, and corrupt the soil and water
with sulphuretted hydrogen, — a most nauseous and
noxious gas, which turns everything black with which
it comes into contact.

Animals. — Of the animals which thrive best in an
Aquarium (speaking, of course, only from my owti
limited experience and observation), the following may
be mentioned : —

Fishes. — The smaller Sticklebacks ; young speci-
mens of the Grey Mullet, which have lived for more
than three years in the Zoological Society's Aquarium;
the Blennies and Gobies ; the Spotted Gunnel ; the

272

THE STOCK.

smaller Wrasses ; the Rocklings ; the Flounder ; the
Dab ; the Eels.

Mollusca. — The Sea-hare; the Periwinkle; the com-
moner Tops ; the Purple ; the Murex ; the Chitons ;
the Bullas; the Scallops; the Mussel; the Modioles;
the Anomia ; the Oyster ; and some of the sand-bur-
rowing bivalves, as Venus^ Mactra, PuUastra, &c.
Gastrochcena and Saxicava, burrowers in stone, may
be readily kept, and are very interesting, especially
the former, which I have had in confinement for
many months, in more than a single instance, and
still possess.

Cirripedes. — The Acom-bamacles {Balamis and
Chthamalus) ^ and the interesting little Pyrgoma^
which is invariably found cemented to the plates of
our larger Madrepore.

Crustacea, — The StrawbeiTy Crab ; some of the
Swimming Crabs ; the Shore Crab ; the Eatable Crab;
the Hairy Crab; the Ehalia ; the Masked Crab ; the
Soldier Crabs ; the Broad-clawed Crab; the Shrimps ;
the true Prawns ; the Athana^ ; many of the Entomo-
straca,

Annelides, — The Gold-comb; the Sabellas; the
Serpulas ; the Sea Leech ; the Long Worm ; the
Terebellas.

Zoophytes. — Most species of Sea- Anemone (except
the Thick-hom, Bunodes crassicorms, which is preca-
rious) ; both species of Madrepore.

The following are interesting, and may be preserved
for a considerable time, but are rather more uncer-
tain. Among Fishes, the Sea-scorpion ( Coitus) ; the
Fifteen-spined Stickleback; the Butterfly Blenny ; the

PROCURING SPECIMENS.

273

Suckers ; the Pipe-fishes. Among MoLLUSCA, all the
Nudibranch, and most of the Tectibranch species; the
Naticce^ the Cowry, the Whelk; the little Rissoce; the
Phasianella ; the Cup-and- Saucer [Calyptrwa) ; the
lovely little Acmea ; many Bivalves ; the CyntM<B^
and Ascidics. Among Crustacea, the Pisce; the
Portuni; small specimens of the Common Lobster; the
Hippolytes ; Pandalus ; Oammarus ; Idotea, Among
Annelides, the Sea Mouse ; the Nereides ; and the
Planarice. Of Echinoderms, the Cribella, Palmipes,
Asterina, Asterms, JEchinus, and Cucumaria,

Procuring Specimens. — By f^ir the most interest-
ing mode of acquiring your stock, is the collection of
it by your own personal research. But as this is
not in every case practicable, we must have recourse
to the labours of otliers. In London, 3Ir. W. A.
Lloyd, 19 and 20, Portland Road, New Road, is a

Dealer in Living Marine Animals, Sea-weeds, Na-
tural and Artificial Sea-water, and Marine and Fresh-
water Aquaria he will undertake the whole labour
of supplying and stocking these interesting repositories
of ocean life.*

Transmission of Specimens. — Botli plants and
animals should be forwarded to their destination as
soon after they are collected as possible ; but, if they
are detained, they may be kept in pans of sea- water,
exposed to the light. The vessels, however, must be
protected from heavy rains, as the admixture of a

* Mr. Lloyd is constantly supplied with marine animals from the
Kent, Dorset, South Devon, Noi-th Devon, and Welsh coasts, and
occmionally from Cumberland, and the Channel Islands; so that his
stock in London possesses a variety not to be found in any single
locality on our shorejS.

T

274

TRANSMISSION

large quantity of fresh water would be fatal to both
plants and animals. Should much rain have fallen
on a vessel containing specimens, it should be care-
fully tilted, so as to allow the fresh water, which, from
its less specific gravity, will be lying on the surface,
to run off without mingling with the other. If this
be well done, most of the collection, at least that
portion of it which was nearest the bottom, may be
preserved.

Living sea-weeds may be transmitted to long dis-
tances without water. I used to employ a tin box,
enclosed by a basket. At the bottom I placed a layer
of refuse weed, the common Fucus serratus, freslily
gathered, and quite wet. On this bed I laid the
growing specimens (arranging the pieces of rock so as
not to shake about and injure the plants) until the
box was nearly full ; over all, refuse weed was again
laid, filling up all hollows, and so pressing the whole
when tlie box was shut, as to prevent any motion of
the stones. The specimens arrived in the best condi-
dion, even the delicate Delesserice being uninjured.

Many animals may be forwarded in the same way.
The MoUusca, many of the Echinodermata, several of
the Crustacea, and all the Actinia3 are transmitted
with more ease and less danger thus than in water.
A handful of loose weed, wet with sea-water, to keep
a moist atmospliere around them, may be thrown into
a canister or jar, and the animals placed in among it.
The vessel should not be Jilled, nor should any pres-
sure be allowed on the animals ; the weed too, though
fresh, must be phicked, as pieces of rock would be
injurious to the more tender animals.

OF SPECIMENS.

275

Fishes, however, many Crustacea, most of the
Annelida, all Medusae, and the more delicate Zoo-
phytes, require to be sent in sea-water. I sometimes
use wide-mouthed jars of stone- ware, with water-
tight screwed tops,* several of which may be packed
in a hamper; at other times a large 12-gallon zinc
pail, protected by a wicker case, with a screw lid, of
which the central part is perforated with minute holes ;
at others, four small zinc cans, of square form, with
perforate tops, fitted into an open box, like case-bottles
in a wine-hamper. All of these modes answer well ;
I know not to which I should give the preference ;
except that for Fishes the large pail is decidedly the
best. If heavy stones or oyster-shells, very rich in
Zoophytes and Annelidcs, be required, a common
cabbage-net may be suspended from the lid of the
pail in mid-water; the stones or sliells, being put
into this net, will be kept from injuring themselves or
their neighbours by banging about upon the bottom.

The more brief the period during which the speci-
mens are in transitu the better. Hence they should
be always forwarded mail train y and either be
received at the terminus by the owner, or else be
directed ^^To be forwarded immediately by special
messenger." The additional expense of this pre-
caution is very small, and it may preserve half the
collection from death through long confinement.

The packages should be opened immediately on
arrival; several bowls, pans, &c., being ready, each
half-filled with sea-water. The water in the vessels
just received should be carefully dipped or pom*ed off,
* These may be procured at 137, High Holborn.

t2

276

TRANSMISSION.

and the specimens placed one "by one in the bowls.
Thus you will not only see which are alive and
healthy, and which are sickly or dead; but the weeds,
shells, &c. will he rinsed from the sediment, which
has been abraded during the rattling of the specimens
in travelling. The specimens can afterwards be de-
posited in the Aquarium, their permanent home.

Should any of the more delicate animals appear
much exhausted, they may often be restored by a
prompt aeration of the water around them. This is
most readily effected by means of the Syringe, as
I shall presently describe.

If you can so aiTange matters, it will be a useful
caution to allow your plants exclusive possession of
the Tank for a week or two, not putting any animals
in, until you see bubbles begin to form all over the
sides, bottom, and rock-work, when the sun-light
shines on them. This appearance will indicate a
growth of incipient vegetation, which will greatly
lessen the chance of death when the animals are
introduced.

Finally, be moderate in your desire of dominion.
Do not overcrowd your Tank. It is far better to
have it but half occupied at first, and to add to its
population from time to time, than, by a too eager
desire to see it filled, make it a Black Hole of
Calcutta, and mourn over a host of corpses, the
wreck, perhaps, of a single night. Half-a-dozen
animals, averaging the bulk of a Periwinkle, or a
moderate-sized Sea- Anemone, to every gallon of water,
are quite enough to begin with.

Geowth of Alg^. — Since the first edition of this

GROWTH OF PLANTS.

277

work was published, cultivators of the Marine Aqua-
rium have succeeded in propagating both plants and
animals of many species. The lowest forms of the
green Algae, — the Confervadce^ — presented no diffi-
culty from the first, but the growth of large fronds
of Ulva^ and of dense tufts of Bryopsis plumosa^ did
not occur till after some experience. Both of these
now grow profusely in my older Tanks ; the young
fronds of the former, which is an annual plant,
appearing early in the winter, and increasing during
the summer, so as almost to fill the vessel, and re-
quiring to be freely thinned out by hand. The
Bryopsis is wayward. In some tanks it will grow
luxuriantly, and (as it seems) spontaneously, while
in others it refuses to shoot. It appears with me
especially to favour the artificial water.

In June 1854 I published, in the "Annals of
Natural History," my observations on the first growth
of the Eed Alga^ in confinement. This growtli was
confined to the increase of old specimens by the push-
ing forth of fresh shoots; but since then I have
had several specimens of Chondrus crispus spring-
ing from the surface of the glass sides of the Tank,
and also of Corallina officinalis in the same situation.
Both these were, of course, the produce of spores self-
sown. I have also, at the present time (June 1856),
plants of Chondrus crispns, P/iyUoj^Jiora ruhens, Ploca-
miuni coccineuni, a fine Ceraniium, and several other
Eliodospermece, in a growing state.

But all my specimens are insignificant compared
with those that liave appeared in one of the Zoolo-
gical Society's Tanks in the Ke^ent's Park. The

278

INCREASE OF ANIMALS.

water in the Tank to which I refer — one near the
centre of the house — has been untouched since June
1855. There are now to be seen in it, a beautiful
plant of Chylocladia haliformiSj consisting of several
fronds two inches and a half high, of the most lovely-
pellucid crimson ; a small tuft of Ptilota plumosa,
and several fine bushes of a slender straight-tipped
crimson Cerammm (probably G, hotryocarpum) ^ one
of which is fully five inches broad, and three inches
high. All these have sprung up spontaneously, and
are truly the ornament of the Tank, and the triumph
of the principle on which the Aquarium is formed.

Increase of Animals. — Among animals, the Ac-
tinicB readily produce their young in captivity : the
Foraminifera increase with me abundantly : Hydra
tuha propagates by gemmation, and in the Zoological
Gardens has, I believe, produced the Medusa. The
Campanulariad(B extend their threads, and form
numerous cells : a species of Lomhrinereis, a little
Worm apparently undescribed, is produced in my
Tanks by thousands : Sabella, Serpula and Spirorhes
appear unexpectedly : the microscopic Rotifera, as
Furcularia, Monura, and particularly the pretty
BracMonus Miilleri, breed freely, as do also several
species of Entomostraca. The Polyzoa spring
up spontaneously: in the Gardens some magnifi-
cent specimens of Ascidia, as well as Botryllus, have
appeared : the Periwinkle and the Mussel breed with
me ; and I have reared three successive generations of
a large mollusk, — Bidla hydatis, and have now the
spawn which is destined to produce the fourth.

No doubt these lists will soon be greatly increased.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

279

I scarcely know a more interesting occupation, —
certainly there is no more delightful part of aquarian
study, — than the detection of some unexpected, unre-
cognised form of animal or vegetable life in our
Tanks, and the watching of the little stranger as it
assumes, from day to day, new bulk, beauty, and
character.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

The Aquarium is, then, established. The water,
which at first is somewhat turbid, becomes in the
course of a day or two clear and crystalline ; the
plants expand their feathery tufts in beauty, and the
animals begin to take possession of their holes and
corners, and to find themselves at home. But you
must lay your account with the loss of some speci-
mens ; some will certainly die in the course of tlie
first twenty-four hours, others in the first week. But
those which survive the first ten days may be consi-
dered as pretty well established.

It is during this period that the grand trial of the
experiment usually occurs. There is generally a
large amount of animal matter attached to the sea-
weeds, shells, and stones, which are received from the
sea, such as minute Annelida, MoUusca, andZoopliytes:
very many of these creatm-es are already dead, or die
immediately; but being too minute to be detected
and removed in detail, they decay, and presently con-
taminate the water. The first symptom of this is a
slight dimming of the crystal transluccncy, which, if
unchecked, soon increases to a milky whiteness, ac-
companied by a fetid odour, and terminates in the
death of the whole animal collection.

280

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

Purification. — As soon as this begins to be per-
ceived, the whole water should be drawn off by means
of a siphon, without disturbing the sediment, into
pans, into which, for the present, the plants and
animals may be put. The Tank should be wiped
out and rinsed, and then the water should be filtered
back into it. This is a very simple process : a funnel
(if of glass, eartlienware, or gutta-percha, the better)
is placed over the Tank, with a bit of sponge pushed
lightly into the top of the tube, so as to allow the
water to run through in a narrow, thread-like stream.

Replace the plants and animals, reserving those
pieces of rock, or those shells, that look suspicious,
which may be kept in a bowl of water by themselves
for a few days, till their state appears more fully.

This process of bringing every drop of the water
into contact with the atmosphere, is an effectual
remedy for destroying the tendency to putrefaction ;
as the animal fluids and solids held in suspension
enter into combination with the oxygen of the air,
and form the pure innocuous gas called ozone. The
result will be that the milkiness will rapidly disappear;
the water will assume a transparent clearness, which
will in all probability be permanent ; the plants will
thrive, and the animals will be lively. This result
will be rendered still more secure by filtering the water
through pounded charcoal, and by allowing some
pieces of the same substance to float in the tank.

Should it happen that from oversight or ignorance,
or any other cause, putrefaction has thoroughly set
in, still you need not lose the water. Take out any
animals that are yet alive, as well as the weeds, and

OCCASIONAL DEATH — INSTRUMENTS. 28l

then put the water, in an open vessel^ in some shed or
out-house, where the fetor will be of no consequence.
Leave it there for the putrefactive process to run its
course, which it will do in two or three weeks, if the
weather be warm. The water will then gradually
resume its original clearness and purity ; the weeds
may now be replaced in it ; it should be well agitated
frequently, and soon you may put in, cautiously at
first, your animals, and everything will be right
again.

Occasional Death. — It will still be needful to
exercise a watchful supervision of the collection. It
must be remembered that both the animals and plants
are not in tlieir natural circumstances, and that a
certain amount of violence is done to their habits.
Death, which spares them not at the bottom of the
sea, will visit them in the Aquarium ; and hence the
vessel should be occasionally looked over, searched^
as it were, to see if there be any of the specimens
dead. If the plants show an orange hue in patches,
they must be taken up, and the diseased parts cut
clean away. Dead animals must be at once removed,
or contamination will soon result. The eye will
soon recognise the individuals, and will miss the
familiar forms ; but you must not too hastily conclude
that an animal, which you have been accustomed to
see playing about, is dead, because you have not
observed it for some days, and cannot find it. Pro-
bably it has secreted itself in some corner or crevice,
whence it will emerge in a day or two. Still, such a
circumstance should excite your vigilance.

Instruments. — For removing dead specimens or

282

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

the like, a pewter spoon bent up to a right angle,
with the shaft tied to a slender stick, is very useful.
You can, if you please, make a more elegant affair of
it. Two or three simple sticks or rods, some of them
widened, spade-like, at the end, are also useful for
pushing the specimens to any required point. And
one or two small nets, made by stretching a bit of
lace or muslin over a ring of wire, fastened to a rod,
will serve to catch and lift out such animals as you
wish to transfer, for examination, or any other pur-
pose, to another vessel. As a general rule, however,
they should be disturbed as little as possible, and
never handled.

Artificial Aeration. — Although living and
healthy plants will educe and throw off, under the
influence of light, oxygen, in sufficient quantity to
maintain in liealtli a given number of animals, yet
the artificial admixture of atmospheric air with the
water may be employed as a valuable auxiliary.
I have used it witli marked benefit; often having
revived animals thereby, which, from the exhaustion
of the water, were apparently in a dying state. Its
utility as a means of maintaining the purity of the
water is still more obvious ; since it is by the fre-
quent and successive presentation of the particles of
water to the air, that the animal excretions which
they hold in suspension become chemically changed,
and deprived of their putrescent qualities. This is
what takes place in nature. By the perpetual dashing
of the waves against the shore, and especially against
the ragged rocks, an immense quantity of air becomes
entangled, in the form of minute bubbles, which by

ARTIFICIAL AERATION.

283

the various currents are diffused through the sea, and
even carried to considerable depths, before they rise
to the surface and become dissipated. Thus the
violent agitation of the sea is a powerful agent in its
purification.

One of the simplest modes by which this object
can be effected, is the drip-glass. I have been accus-
tomed to suspend over the Aquarium, a perforated
bell-glass (I think it is called a bee-glass) of suitable
size, into the orifice of which a bit of sponge may be
pushed, or a cork drilled with small holes. The
cord which suspends the drip-glass passes over a
pulley at the top of the window, so as to be raised or
lowered at pleasure. Every morning sufficient water
from the Tank is drawn or dipped off, to fill tlic drip-
glass, which is then hoisted to its full lieight. The
contents run out in slender streams, or in a rapid
succession of drops, which, passing through some four
or five feet of air before they reach the Tank, become
effectually purified.

A convenient mode of aeration is that effected by
strongly syringing the water. The instrument should
be at least 1| incli in diameter, and should be raised
above the surface at every down-stroke. After a few
moments' work, the whole Tank will be quite white
with minute bubbles of air, resembling the sea when
the waves dash and boil among the rocks.

The same purpose may be more efficiently accom-
plished at a slight expense, in a manner which would
greatly augment the elegance of the Aquarium. In
the engraving placed at the commencement of tliis
chapter, I have represented a Fountain-Aquarium, a

284

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

form of the invention particularly suitable for a con-
servatory or hall. It needs but a vessel, fixed as a
reservoir, at some distance above the level of the
Tank, in a higher story, for example, whence a sup-
plying tube may descend, and passing beneath the
floor, ascend through the foot of the vase, to the sur-
face of the water. All the visible portion may be
easily concealed among the rock-work; while from
the extremity a jet would play, proportioned in force
to the weight of the supplying column, or, in other
words, to the height of the reservoir above the surface.
It would be needful to make the apparatus of some
incorrodible material ;—gutta percha, for instance, for
the tube, with a nozzle of glass ; — as metals would be
acted on by the sea-water, and form noxious oxides.
The water might either be can'ied up to the reser-
voir, or pumped up by an obvious extension of the
apparatus.

Such a modification would doubtless be as efficient
as it would be elegant. The constant, or at least
fi^"equent, dissemination of the water through the air
would keep the whole volume in agreeable coolness,
as well as maintain its sparkling clearness and purity.

In a well-regulated Tank, however, none of these
modes are necessary. My oldest reservoir, which has
been in constant occupation for two years and six
months, never has any artificial aeration, except an
occasional syringing, and that is often intermitted for
months together. The surface is now and then agi-
tated with a stick, and broken by the addition of fresh
water to supply the loss by evaporation, and this is
all the external aid it receives. Yet the water gene-

EVAPORATION — CLEANSING THE SIDES. 285

rally maintains the most crystalline transparency and
purity.

Evaporation. — If the Tank remain habitually
uncovered, or protected only by a coverlid of muslin,
daily evaporation will soon reduce the volume of the
water, and increase its specific gi'avity. The pure
water alone rises in vapour, the various salts held in
solution remaining the same in quantity, though the
water should be reduced to half its original bulk. It
is therefore needful that additions of pure fresh water
(not 56a-water) be made from time to time, to replace
the loss by evaporation. Distilled water is of course
the best, but, practically, river- water will answer per-
fectly well. The time and quantity of these additions
ought to be regulated by a hygrometer, the specific
gi^avity of the sea-water being maintained at about
1027, which is the average density of tlie waters of
the Atlantic. A tolerable approximation to accuracy,
however, may be made, by marking on the vessel the
surface-level at first, and always maintaining the same
level. A glass cover greatly prevents loss from eva-
poration, as will be manifested by the condensed
moisture on it, especially after a cold night.

Cleansing the Sides. — Though a few Peri-
winkles, as already observed, will keep down the
accumulation of green confervoid growtli on tlie sides
of the Aquarium, they will not do their work so
regularly but that a rough coating of greenness will
still dim the transparency of the glass. The unsiglitly
appearance thus left must be got rid of by mechanical
means. A stick with a bit of rag tied around its end,
or, what is better still, a brush made on purpose, like

286

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

a nail-brush with a very long handle proceeding from
the side — a sort of hearth-brush in miniature, fitted
with very close and stiff bristles — will rub off the
gTcenness. It may be used about once in a month,
or oftener in summer. On the stones of the bottom,
the cement and rock-work, and even on that side of
the Tank which, being next to the window, is not
used for observation, I would recommend that the
green growth be not interfered with, but that the
marine plants be allowed to grow undisturbed. A
crop of self-sown weeds in the Tank is far more
valuable than such as have been introduced on loose
stones. And even from very early age the green
growth is found to throw off a copious supply of
oxygen bubbles. Care, too, must be taken not to
molest or annoy the animals needlessly, as also to
leave undisturbed any masses of spawn that may have
been deposited on the glass.

Turbidity. — Occasionally the water in a tank,
which has hitherto been quite translucent, becomes
all on a sudden so tm'bid as completely to hide the
contents from view, except such as are close to the
glass. This turbidity may arise from either of two
causes. If it is of a grey or whitish hue, forming
clouds here and there, which disperse and form again
elsewhere, the microscope will show that it is com-
posed of an innumerable multitude of animalcules
belonging to the Class Infusoria. Their presence
is not an evil, but rather a means whereby an already
existing evil may be remedied. Their sudden in-
crease to such an extent as to be thus appreciable to
the senses, is symptomatic of organic matters in the

TURBIDITY.

287

Tank in a state of decomposition. If we allow a
minute worm that has died to lie at the bottom of
the Tank, we shall see in a day or two, if we watch
it with a powerful lens, that it is encompassed by a
little cloud of moving atoms, which are the animal-
cules in question, and which are busily engaged in
devouring not only the solid parts, but also the juices
and invisibly minute particles that float off ; and thus
in a very short time they effectually dispose of the
offensive substance. So, in the case of their increase
to the extent just supposed, of producing a general
turbidity, they will, if left to themselves, soon clear
away the decomposing matter, if it be not too great,
and then themselves gradually disappear, allowing
the water to resume its original clearness. As soon,
however, as we perceive such an appearance, we shoukl
carefully transfer the principal animals to another
vessel, and search for tlie decomposing bodies, on the
removal of which tlie water will presently be trans-
parent and sweet as before.

But the opacity of the water may be dependent on
a totally different cause. If it is of a green colour,
rapidly deepening in intensity, it is vegetable in its
origin, and arises from an infinite number of the spores
(or seeds) of green Algcc dispersed through the fluid,
and held in suspension there. Now, this appears to
have no deleterious influence either on the plants or
animals, which live and thrive as well as when the
water is clear ; but it is annoying because of its un-
sightliness, and because it eftectually interferes with
our observation of our cherished favourites. It is,
too, a most inveterate evil ; unlike the former, it is not

288

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

self-ciirative, at least not certainly so, and it cannot
be foreseen. I have had a large vessel that had been
in full occupation for a year and a half, — during the
whole of which time it had remained brilliantly
colourless, — suddenly, without any imaginable cause,
become green ; and in the course of two days be so
opaque that objects could not be discerned an inch
from the sides.

The lens will not detect anything in the fluid in
this case ; it requires a very high power of the com-
pound microscope to resolve the cause. With a mag-
nifying power of 560 diameters, we see an immense
number of oval atoms, apparently colourless (but,
doubtless, having a very slight tinge of green visible
only in the aggregate), and not more than 3-^\^th of
an inch in diameter. These I conceive to be the
spores of a green OsciUatoria, or some kindred plant ;
for there is a tendency to the accumulation of the films
of such plants in the vessels in Avhich the phenomenon
exists.

Sometimes this evil will continue imchanged for
many months, and then clear away as suddenly as
it came. At others, it will diminish and promise a
return of transparency, then suddenly return, and set
in as dark as before.

IMr. W. A. Lloyd has succeeded in overcoming this
difficulty. By drawing off the gi'een water, and put-
ting it into a dark closet, he finds that in two or three
weeks the turbidity quite disappears, the water re-
suming its pristine transparency. The explanation
is doubtless as follows : light is necessary to the life
of plants, or at least the green colouring principle in

FOOD.

289

them cannot be developed without light ; if, then, this
be denied, the plants must wane and die. Now the
opacity, as I have intimated, consists of the living
germs of green plants ; and these,, on being deprived
of light, gradually die away ; after which the water is
quite fit for use again. I have myself instituted
experiments on the subject, and, so far as I have
proceeded, my results agree with those of Mr. Lloyd ;
except that I have found a seclusion of several months
necessary. This was, however, in the winter.

Cloudiness may often be removed by the action of
living animals. The Bivalve Mollusca collect the
organic particles that float in the water, as the cur-
rents pass over their capacious gills, and cither feed
on them or consolidate them into cylindrical rolls,
which fall to the bottom, enveloped in mucus. Hence
they are of great service in making tui'bid water limpid
and bright. An Oyster or two, according to the size
of the vessel, will answer exceedingly well, as they
are very hardy, and can be procured alive anywhere,
and almost at all seasons.

Food. — I am continually asked, liow^ idtlt wliat^
and liow often I feed my animals. My invariable
reply is — Not at all." I do not find that they need
any supply but what they procure for themselves. In
a well-stocked and established Tank, the vegetable-
feeders find a sufficient pabulum in the ever-growing
weed ; and all the carnivorous species are maintained
in condition by the hosts of Infusoria and Ento-
MOSTRACA that are always swarming. The lens shows
these tiny creatures to be abundant in every collection
of water that has been kept for a short time ; and as

U

290

TIME.

they breed very fast, their increase is sufficient to meet
the demands of their superiors in organization. At
least, I find that my well-filled Tanks need no other
supply than this, and what the more predatory kinds
occasionally obtain by the death of their fellows. For
amusement, indeed, the Actinias, the Madrepores, the
Prawns, and the Crabs, may be fed; and then the
best diet is the lean of raw meat, cut into minute frag-
ments ; but it should be very sparingly done, and the
rejected atoms carefully removed, lest putrefaction set
in and spoil the whole.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING.

Time. — What is commonly called low-water — that
is, the time when the ebbing-tide recedes to the utmost
point — is the period to be chosen for shore-collecting,
as comparatively few marine animals or plants habi-
tually live in situations where they are long exposed
to the air and sun. But the lower the level, the
more rich becomes the harvest ; and hence the time
of spring-tide is the most productive, when the recess
of the tide is the greatest. Spring-tides occur twice
every month, viz. about the time of new and full
moon ; the very best tides of all are those of the
second day after the change of the moon ; but for
two days before and two days after that, they recede
very far ; so that we may consider those weeks which
commence two days before the change of the moon
and end five days after it, as good collecting periods,
while the alternate weeks are nearly useless. The

IMPLEMENTS.

291

full-moon tides are generally greater than those of
the new moon ; and those about the time of the equi-
noxes, or the spring-tides of March and April, and of
September and October, are the best of the whole
year. Prevailing winds, however, exercise some in-
fluence on the amount of recess of the tide.

The time of lowest water on any particular day
can be readily ascertained from local tide-tables ; and
the young collector, in choosing the locality of his
operations, will pay attention to this point before-
hand, that he may select a place where the time of
low-water on the days of spring-tides is the most con-
venient for his occupation. For instance, the time of
low-tide on the day of full-moon is about noon on
our western shores, but about six o'clock on the
Sussex coast.

Implements. — I use a wicker-basket with a flat
bottom and straight sides, divided into compartments.
In two of these fit wide-mouthed jars, sucli, forcxample,
as are used for preserves : if made of glass they are
the better, as admitting a more ready examination of
their contents ; but jars of white- ware or stone-ware
will do. The larger objects procured are put into
these ; and I commonly carry also a wide-mouthed
phial, such as the chemists keep quinine in, fitted into
a third compartment, to receive the minuter and more
delicate things. Then there is a fourth division
running the whole length of the basket, in which lie
a hammer and chisel, and which may receive large
shells, crabs, &c. that do not require constant immer-
sion. A geologist's hammer with a cutting edge, as
well as a striking face, is the most useful ; and the

u2

292

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

chisel must not be such as carpenters use, but one
made wholly of iron, tipped with steel, such as is
used by smiths, and technically called a cold cMsel.

Sometimes, especially if the shore we are about to
search be strewn with large stones or boulders, it will
be well to secure the attendance of a man with a
crow-bar, to turn over the stones ; as on their under
surface, and beneath their shadow, valuable specimens
are often found. With the same instrument, inserted
into the fissures, great pieces of loose slaty rock may
be wrenched off, which are very productive.

Collecting Sea-weeds. — Thus armed, we sally
forth, choosing for our explorations a spot where low
dark ledges of shelving rock run out into the sea, full
of clefts and fissures half concealed by Bladder-weed
and Tangle ; or where the solid rock shoots up in
irregular angular masses, scooped and hollowed into
numberless little pools and basins, with dark, slimy
caverns here and there, and rifts of shingly sand
between. An unpractised foot would find the walking
precarious and dangerous, for the rocks are rough and
sharp, and the densci matting of black Bladder-weed
with which they arc covered, conceals many abrupt and
deep clefts beneath its slimy drapery. These fissures,
however, are valuable to us. We lift up the hanging
mass of olive-wced (Fucus) from the edge, and find
the sides of the clefts often fringed with the most
delicate and lovely forms of sea-weed ; such, for
example, as the winged Delesseria {D, alata), which
grows in thin, much-cut leaves of the richest crimson
hue, and the feathery Ptilota {P.plumosa), of a duller
red. Beneath the shadow of the coarser weeds, as

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

293

well as in open pools, delights also to grow the
Chondrus^ in the form of little leafy bushes, each leaf
widening to a flattened tip. When viewed growing
in its native element, this plant is particularly beau-
tiful; for its numerous leaves glow with refulgent
reflections of azure, resembling the colour of tempered
steel. This weed when dried is used for making
jellies, and constitutes the Carrageen Moss of the
shops.

We may observe among the sea-weeds many tufts
of a small species, whose leaves are much and deeply
cut, with the divisions rounded, and the general out-
line of the leaf pointed. Some specimens are of a
dull purple, others of a rich yellow hue ; and I refer
to the species as an interesting example of tlie influ-
ence of light on the colour of marine plants. The
yellow specimens are exposed to the sun's rays ; the
purple ones are such as have grown in deep shadow.
The species is the Laurencia pinnatijida of botanists.

Turning from the hidden clefts, we explore the
deep pools that lie between the ledges. High wading-
boots are necessary for this purpose, as we have to
work in the water. The great Oar-weeds and Tangles
[Laminaria) arc growing here, large olive sea-weeds
that wave to and fro with the undulations of the sea ;
the former a long narrow puckered frond of brown
colour ; the latter, a broad smooth leathery expanse of
deeper colour on a slender stalk, splitting with age
into a number of lengthened Angers or ribbons, and
hence called the Finger Tangle [Laminaria dujitata).
Among these grow clusters of an elegantly frilled
species, of delicate thin texture, and yellow-brown

294

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

hue, bearing no slight resemblance to the tresses of
some fair lady : this also is a Laminar ia^ but I am
not quite sure whether it is the young state of the
former species, or entitled to a name of its own. In
the latter case, it is the L. phyllitis of botanists.

In these deep pools grow also many bunches of
broad dark-red leaves, generally about as large as
one's hand, smooth and glossy, of a dark crimson
hue, but apt to run off into a pale greenish tint
towards the tips ; their edges have often little leaves
growing on them. It is the Dulse or Dillis {Ehody-
menia pahnata)^ which is eaten by the poor of our
northern shores as a luxury.

This is a showy plant, very beautiful when its
tufts of large deep-red fronds are seen in the sea,
where the perpetual wash of the waves keeps their
sm'face clean and glossy, but not very suitable for an
Aquarium. Its leaves soon decay ; spots of orange-
colour begin speedily to appear, which increase fast,
and, uniting into large patches, slough off in slimy
shreds. The appearance of an orange-colom*, on
crimson or purple weeds, is always a sign of the
death of that part, and is the infallible precursor of
decay. As soon as it appears, or at least if it begins
to increase, the specimen should be ejected without
mercy ; as the diffusion of the gases from decaying
vegetable matter is speedily fatal to most animals.

In deep pools, and narrow clefts near the verge
of lowest water, where the overshadowing rock ex-
cludes the sun's rays, and imparts a genial obscurity,
grow several of our most delicate and beautiful Algce,
Foremost among them is the Oak-leaved Delesseria

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

295

[D, sangumea)^ with tufts of crimson leaves, exqui-
sitely thin, much puckered at the edge, and strongly
nerved. The Iridcea, whose leaves are smooth and
leathery, and of a dark brownish scarlet, is often the
companion of the former. Here, too, we find the
Phyllopliora^ another weed of brilliant red hue, with
unnerved leaves much divided, giving origin to other
leaves, and these again to others. It is usually much
covered with the cells and shrubs of various species
of Polyzoa, exquisitely beautiful objects for the
microscope. The Gelidium corneum is another fine
red weed, commonly of small size and slender, but
prettily fringed with processes all round the edges of
the leaves. This and the preceding are very liardy
in confinement, and form very suitable plants for an
Aquarium.

When we can no longer work at so low a level,
we recede to the slopes of the ledges yet uncovered,
and find other species in the quiet sheltered pools.
A weed is found here, growing in dense mossy
patches on the perpendicular and overshadowed edges
of the rock, which, when examined, looks like a
multitude of tiny oval bladders of red-wine, set end
to end in chains. This pretty sea-weed is called
Chylocladia articidata.

Here also grows the stony Coralline, a plant bearing
some resemblance to that just named, in the peculiar
jointed form of its growth. Low-lying pools are
often incrusted with a coat of stony or shelly sub-
stance of a dull purple hue, having an appearance
closely like that of some lichens ; the cnist investing
the sm'face of the rock, and adhering firmly to it, in

296

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

irregular patches, which continually increase from
the circumference, in concentric zones. This is the
young state of the Corallina officinalis^ which by and
by shoots up into little bushes of many jointed twigs,
diverging on every hand, or hanging in tufts over the
edges of the rock-pools. Young collectors are eager,
I perceive, to seize such specimens as are purely
white ; but this condition is that of death ; in life
and health the shoots are of the same pale purple hue
as the lichenous crust. This plant in both states (for
plant it undoubtedly is, though principally composed
of lime, and of stone-like hardness) is suitable for a
tank, as it survives and flourishes long; and your
pieces of rock-work you may select from such places
as are covered with the purple crust.

The most valuable plant of all for our purpose is
the Sea Lettuce [Ulva latissima) . Every one is
familiar with its broad leaves of the most brilliant
gi'cen, as thin as silver-paper, all puckered and folded
at the edge, and generally torn and fretted into holes.
It is abimdant in the hollows of the rocks between
tide-marks, extending and thriving even almost to
the level of high water, and bearing with impunity
the burning rays of the summer's sun, provided it be
actually covered with a stratum of water, even though
this be quite tepid. It therefore is more tolerant than
usual of the limited space and profuse light of an
Aquarium, where it will grow prosperously for years,
giving out abundantly its bubbles of oxygen gas all
day long. It is readily found; but owing to the
excessive slenderness of its attachment to the rock,
and its great fragility, it is not one of the easiest to

COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS.

297

he obtained in an available state. The grass-like
Enteromorphce have the same qualities and habits,
but their length and narrowness make them less ele-
gant. The Cladophorce^ however, are desirable ; they
are plants of very simple structure, consisting of
jointed threads, which gTOW in dense brushes or tufts
of various tints of green. Some of them are very
brilliant ; the commonest kind is G. rupestris^ which
is of a dark bluish-green ; it is abundant in most
localities.

These are a few of the sorts of sea-plants which
are met with in the situations I have described. In
order to transfer them to an Aquarium, a portion of
the rock on which they are growing must be removed.
These plants have no proper roots, and therefore
cannot be dug up and replanted like an orcliis or a
violet, but adhere by a minute disk to the surface of
the rock, and, if forcibly detached, die. I tliereforc
bring the hammer and chisel into requisition, and
split off a considerable fragment of the solid stone,
which then, with the plant adhering to it, is placed
in the Aquarium. This is often a difficult, always a
delicate, operation ; the rock is frequently so hard as
to resist the action of the chisel, or breaks at the
wrong place ; sometimes, on the other hand, it is so
soft and friable as to crumble away under the imple-
ment, leaving only the isolated plant deprived of its
attachment; and sometimes, at the first blow, the
sea-weed flics off with the vibration of the shock.
Often we have to work under water, where the force
of the blows is weakened and almost rendered power-
less by the density of the medium, and where it is

298

COLLECTING ANIMALS.

next to impossible to see with suflficient clearness to
direct the assault.

As the plants are detached, they are placed one by
one in security. The finer and more delicate ones^ as
the Delesseria for instance, are immediately dropped
into a jar of water ; for only a few minutes' exposure
of their lovely crimson fronds to the air, would turn
them to that dull orange colour already mentioned as
the sign of incipient decay. The hardier sorts are
laid in the basket, — a layer of damp refuse weed
being first put in to receive them, — and covered
lightly with damp weed. The degree of moisture
thus secured is sufficient to preserve many species
from injury for hours. Thus they are brought home.

Collecting Animals. — I have been speaking of
the haunts of the living Alc/ce, and of the manner of
procm'ing them ; because in sequence of idea these
come first into consideration. But, in point of fact,
the search for animals goes on simultaneously with
the process just described; the same haunts which
are affected by the marine plants conceal various
animals ; and it is one of the great charms of collect-
ing, that you never know what you may obtain at
any moment. The expectation is always kept on the
stretch : something new, or at least unthought of,
frequently strikes the eye, and keeps the attention on
the qui vive.

Close examination of the fissures of the pools, of
the rough and corroded stones that have been fished
up, and even of the sea-plants themselves, reveals
many curious creatures of various kinds and forms,
each of which, when found, is seized and consigned

COLLECTING ANIMALS.

299

to one or other of the jars. The plants often "bear
the more delicate Zoophytes, as Coryne^ Sertularia^
Campanulariaj &c., growing parasitically upon them ;
and some interesting Sponges, as Grantia compressa
and G. ciliata. But more generally the sponges are
found incrusting the surface of the rocks in the
darkest places, especially on the sides of caverns,
intermixed with many species of the Polyzoa.

The Sea- Anemones {Actinia, &c.) adhere to rocks ;
the common smooth species [A, mesemhryantlienmm)
often high up, exposed to the air; but the rarer kinds
generally in the sheltered crannies and basins, in
gravelly fissures, or on the under surface of stones.
They must be carefully dislodged by inserting the
finger-nail beneath the base, and gradually shoving
them off ; but those sorts that live in holes must be
chiselled out.

Many of the Star-fishes, Sea-Urchins, and Sea-
Cucumbers are to be procured by turning over loose
stones at the lowest tide-level; various species of
Annclides haunt the same places, and some of these
are of surpassing beauty. Many curious kinds of
Crabs and other Crustacea, too, and in spring the
elegant Nudibranch Mollusca, reward the labour of
stone-turning.

The univalve Mollusca crawl freely over the sur-
face of the rocks, or roam amid the umbrageous
foliage of the weeds that fringe the clear pools ;
whither also many of the lithe and slender worms,
and the swimming Crustacea, as the Prawns and
their allies, resort. Some of tlie Bivalve ]\Iollusca
burrow into the solid rock itself, and the Acorn Bar-

300

TRAWLlNa.

nacles are seated by thousands on its surface. Most
of the burrowing Bivalves, however, are to be dug
out of the sand or mud of the flat shore, and many
interesting animals are found on the beds of sea-grass
[Zostera) that grow on such a coast. These are col-
lected by means of a keer-drag, a form of net which
I have described, with the mode of using it, at
p. 49, ante.

Dredging. — In the previous pages I have also
given a full description of dredging and its prolific
results, whereby the bottom of the deep sea is scraped
and tlie varied contents brought to light. Multitudes
of animals of the highest interest are procured by
dredging that the shore-collector would never find ;
and yet shore-collecting must always be the main
resource, at least of the majority.

Trawling. — Though this is a mode of fishing too
cumbrous and expensive for the amateur generally,
the naturalist may occasionally benefit by its wide-
sweeping action. I have described it in my Tenby,"
pp. 185—198.

Mr. Dempster, of Edinburgh, has recently invented
an ingenious improvement on the old trawl, analogous
to that which distinguishes the naturalist's from the
common oyster-dredge.

The ground-rope is dispensed with ; a rod of cast-
iron passing across from the heads both above and
below the mouth of the net, so that the net is sure to
be right, however it fall. The beam is moveable,
rising to the edge that happens to be uppermost by
its own lightness, while a curtain that stretches
from it to another beam in front, to which the bridle

TOWING.

301

is fastened, prevents the fish from escaping as they
rise. Wings on each side, loaded at the bottom,
sweep every hole and depression. There are other
improvements, which appear to me (judging, how-
ever, only from a small model) to fit the trawl for
naturalists' use, no less than for that of fishermen.
For the former purpose, it might be made small, not
wider than a common dredge. The inventor estimates
that one made 30 or 36 inches in breadth of beam,
would not cost more than 11. 10s. or 21.

Towing. — One more means of obtaining animals
remains to be mentioned, — tlic surface-net. This
may be made of stout muslin, in the form of a bag,
two feet deep, sewed on a thick brass ring a foot
in diameter, which is screwed at the end of a staff
six feet long. The staff should be of tough wood,
such as hickory or lance-wood. The net is held at
the surface of the sea, the collector sitting in a boat
rowed gently along. The afternoon and evening of a
calm sunny day is most productive, especially in the
latter part of summer and autumn, when the lovely
Medusce, the little Beroe, and many forms of freely
swimming Annelida and Ckustacea occur in abun-
dance. At frequent intervals, the bag of the net
must be reversed and plunged into a glass jar of
clear water, when the captives will float off into the
vessel.

Again I bid fiirewell to my courteous reader.
Again we have had fellowship together in tracing
some of the wonders of an Almighty Hand, but how
much remains unexplored ! Lo ! these are parts of

302

CONCLUSION.

his ways, but how slight a whisper is heard of Him !
But the thunder of his power who can understand?"
(Job xxvi. 14.)

Yes ! as a drop of water in the sea, *

All this magnificence in Thee is lost : —
What are ten thousand worlds compared to Thee ?

And what am I then ? Heaven's unnumber'd host,
Though multiplied by myriads, and arra/d

In all the glory of sublimest thought,
Is but an atom in the balance weigh'd

Against thy greatness ; is a cypher brought

Against infinity ! What am I then ? Nought !

" Nought ! But the effluence of thy light divine,
Pervading worlds, hath reach'd my bosom too.

Yes ! in my spirit doth thy Spirit shine
As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew.

Nought ! But I live, and on hope's pinions fly
Eager towards thy presence ; for in Thee

I live, and breathe, and dweU ; aspiring high,
Even to the throne of thy divinity :
For Thou hast deign'd to link thyself with me ! '*

Russian Anthology.

INDEX.

Abergavenny, "Wreck of, 177.

j^Egires punctilucens, 180.

-^sop-prawns, 181.

Anemone, Smooth, 18.

Weymouth, 29, 114.

Cloak, 57, 132, 160.

Daisy, 74, 114.

Parasitic, 108, 137.

Plumose, 182.

Animals, collecting, 298.

. in a Tank, 96.

■ — associations of, 132.

Aquarium, description of, 94.

contents of, 95.

• directions for mak-
ing, 249.

name of, 250.

supply of, 270.

history of, 3.

Associations of animals, 132.

Bat's Corner, 147.
Beetle, Oil, 19.
Belmont Bay, 15, 85.
Birds-foot Star, 57.
Birds, songs of, 68, 71.
Blenny, Butterfly, 113.

— ■ Smooth, 35, 126.

■ Gattoruginous, 113.

Brittle-stars, 55, 233.
Bryant, quotation from, 17.
Burning Cliffs, 53.
Byng Cliff, 18.
Castle, Rufus, 122.

Sandsfoot, 198.

Chasm in Portland, 123.
Chesil Bank, 73, 77.

Village, 76.

Chirodota, 237.
Church Hope, 122.
Ctausi/ia, 71.
Cleanliness, Animal, 169.
Cockles, Spinous, 216.
Coralline, 296.

Coral, Honeycomb, 30, 114.
Crabs, Broad-claw, 37, 114.

Spider, 57, 180.

Strawberry, 130.

Hermit, 57, 132, 140,

156.

Zoea of, 150.

Ebalia, 154.

Fiddler, 156, 187.

Swimming, 188.

Shore, 188, 189.

Crustacea, minute, 96.

Cribella, 56.

Cf/stoseira, 92.

Daubeny, Researches of, 5.

Dragonet, 151.

Dredging, 46, 55, 151, 177.

Dulse, 294.

Durdle-door, 146.

Fear, effects of, 102, 104.

Flat-fishes, 74, 179.

Flowers, 35, 69.

George III., figure of, 178.

Goby, One-sjiotted, 74.

Black, 100.

Two-spotted, 100.

Gold-comb, 227.
Gulls, 148.
Ilolothinncp, 236.
Johnston, experiment of, 7.
Keer-drag, 49.
Keeve's Hole, 124.
Lamm-fishing, 192.
Launce. 74.
Laver, 92.

Ledges, 17,194,211.

Lettuce, Sea, 296.

Light, action of, on life, 5.

Reflected from eyes, 165.

Lobster-prawn, 31.
Loon, 20.

Lucernaria, Goblet, 85.
Trumpet, 210.

304

INDEX.

Lucemaria, Bell, 213. |
Lucky-stone, a Childish Super- \

stition, It).
Medusae : —

Sarsia, 79.

AureUttj 77.

BougainviUcEa, 79.

CydippCy 79, 149.
Memory, 16, 144.
Mixon, 90.
Mullet, 102.

Natural History, Scriptural use

of, 198.
Nature, renewal of, 17.

emotions produced by, i

72.

Nothe, 89.

Ledges of, 194, 211.

Peacock's Tail, 128.

Pearl-shells, 83.

Phyllodoce, 241.

Pipe-fishes, 109, 113.

Pogge, 191. ;

Portland Breakwater, 2.

Visits to, 34, 77, 120.

Prawns, 1()4.

Ray, Thornback, 179.

Painted, 179.

Bordered, 180.

Angel, 180.

Rancina IfancocJcij 186.
Sarjltta, 79.
Sea-grass, 15, 18, 213.
Sea-mouse, 152.
Sea-urchin, 162.

Sea weeds, collecting, 21, 202. ,

at Portland, 79, 126.

in Belmont Bay, 85. j

on the ^lixon, 90. |

in a Tank, 95. |

. Gardens of, 129. |

at B it's Corner, 148. j

on the Nothe ledges,

194. j

Sepiola, 58.

Serpulce, 171. 1

Shrimps, 180.
Smallmouth Sands, 177.
Snails at Portland, 36.
Soldier-Crab, 57, 132, 140, 156.
Star-fish, common, 234.
Stone-cutter, story of, 121.
Sucker, Two-spotted, 109, 113.

Echeneis, 111.

Suicide of Animals, 233.
Summer, advent of, 67.
Sun-star, 56.
Syrinx, 220.
Tangle, 293.
Tansy, 35, 126.
Tenlella, 224.
Thread-capsules, 141.
Tides, peculiarity in, 20.
Top-shells, 26, 34.

tongue of, 27.

Pearly, 83.

Trawl, improved, 300.
Two-lined Worm, 157.
Types of Heavenly things, 117.
Views : —

Portland, 19, 33, 70.

Weymouth Bay, 1, 215.
Vision, double, 113.
Ward, suggestions of, 6.
Warington, experiments of, 8.
Weaver, 113, 179.
Weymouth, Bay of, 1.

last look at, 215.

Whitenose, 54.
Winkle, Yellow, 22.

■ Periwink, 23.

use of, 24.

tongue of, 25.

Worms, marine, 157, 191, 224,

227, 241.
Wrasse, Ancient, 104.

Corkwing, 106.

Green, 107.

Wyke, 72, 121.

Zoological Gardens, Aquarium

at, 13.
Zostera, 15, 18, 213.

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET UILL.

MARINE
NATURAL HISTORY CLASS.

In the summer of 1855, I met at Ilfracombe, on the coast of North
Devon, a small party of ladies and gentlemen, who formed themselves
into a Class for the study of Marine Natural History. There was much
to be done in the way of collecting, much to be learned in the way of
study. Not a few species of interest, and some rarities, fell under
our notice, scattered as we were over the rocks, and peeping into the
pools, almost every day for a month. Then the prizes were to be
brought home, and kept in little Aquariums for the study of their
habits, their beauties to be investigated by the pocket-lens, and the
minuter kinds to be examined under the microscope. An hour or
two was spent on the shore every day on which the tide and the
weather were suitable ; and, when otherwise, the occupation was varied
by an indoors' lesson, on identifying and comparing the characters of
the animals obtained, the specimens themselves affording illustrations.
Thus tlie two great desiderata of young naturalists were attained
simultaneously ; they learned at the same time how to collect, and
how to determine the names and the zoological relations of the speci-
mens when found.

A little also was efifected in the way of dredging the sea-bottom, and
in surface-fishing for Medusa), &c. ; but our chief attention was directed
to shore-collecting. Altogether, the experiment was found so agreeable
that I propose to repeat it by forming a similar party every year, if
spared, at some suitable part of the coast.

Such ladies or gentlemen as may wish to join the Class should give
in their names to me, early in the summer; and any prehminary
inquiries about plans, terms, &c. shall meet the requisite attention.

P. H. GOSSE.

58, Huntingdon Street,

Islington, London.

X

PROPOSED WORK

ON THE

BRITISH SEA-ANEMONES.

Mr. Gosse has for some years been collecting materials for a
complete history of our native Sea-Anemones, with illustrations of
every species, drawn and coloured by himself from living specimens.

In order to further this project, he respectfully invites the. co-
operation of his kind scientific friends at various parts of the British
and Irish Coasts, who may materially assist him by transmitting to
him {free of expense) specimens of all species that are not common
everywhere.

An Anemone of medium size may be safely sent hy post, in a small
tin-canister, without icater, but with a small tuft of damp sea-weed to
maintain a moist atmosphere around the animal. A piece of paper
should be pasted round the canister, to secure it, and also to receive
the address ; and the whole would probably come within the weight
covered by a twopenny or fourpenny stamp.

68, Huntingdon Street, Islington.

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