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The Young People s Shelf of Science

Edited by Edwin E. Slosson

DWELLERS OF
THE SEA AND SHORE

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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
OF CANADA, Limited

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DWELLERS OF
THE SEA AND SHORE:

BY

WILLIAM CROWDLIC

DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
BY THE AUTHOR

Along the shore of the sounding sea "

Homer,

"In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings,

And coral reefs lie bare,

Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their

streaming hair."

O. W. Holmes

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1935

Copyright, 1923,
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY.

All rights reserved — no part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes
to quote brief passages in connection with a review
written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper.

Published September, 1923.
Reissued, February, 1935.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY

TO

MY WIFE

INTRODUCTION

The great naturalist Agasslz used to say that a
student did not know his subject until he could present
it successfully in four different forms : first as a tech-
nical monograph, second as a scientific lecture, third
as a popular lecture, and fourth as a simple child's
tale. Probably the scientific men of our day would
flinch or flunk the fourth of these tests. Yet it is
possible to put the fundamental fact of any science
into a form to be comprehended by the juvenile mind
if one knows the knack and takes the trouble to make
things plain and interesting.

And nothing is better worth while, for when the
attention of a boy or girl is once directed toward the
wonders of nature, and when once he gets the habit
of looking for the meaning of what he sees, he has
gained an aptitude of mind that will last through life
and bring continuously new ideas and inspiration.

The new views of science that sometimes seem dif-
ficult and disconcerting to us elders who have been
brought up on the old-fashioned theories, are often
clearer and simpler than the old when they are pre-
sented directly to the fresh anxi unbiased minds of the
younger generation. The modern gasoline motor is
easier to understand than the older steam engine, and
it is simpler to think of the electric current as a stream
of electrons flowing through a wire as water flows

V i

vili Introduction

through a pipe than to think of it as a transmitted
strain in a hypothetical ether. See how readily the
youngsters take to the mechanics of the automobile
and the workings of the radio.

It is the aim of the Young People's Shelf of
Science to present modern views of the several
sciences in a comprehensive and attractive form.
These books are intended to be read rather than to
be studied. They are not designed to be tasks, but
recreations. They do not follow the conventional
classification of the college, but treat of natural and
industrial processes from a novel and practical view-
point. They show that science is not a remote and
recondite study but a part of everyday life, the unseen
foundation of all we see and do.

Edwin E. Slosson.
Washington, D. C,
July, 1923.

CONTENTS
Part One. The Seashore

PAGE
CHAPTER

I. The Seashore Naturalist i

II. Social Life in the Salt-Water World ... 15

III. The Moon Snail 3i

IV. The Starfish and Its Kindred 50

V. The Comb Jellies and Others 70

VI. Some Friends in Armor 85

VII. Some Friends in Armor {Continued) ... 103

VIII. Marine Groves and Gardens ii7

IX. Feathers and Feelers Hi

Part Two. The Tide Pool

X. Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies . . . • 163

XL Camouflage 184

XII. Curious Creatures 198

XIII. A "Living Fossil" 220

XIV. More Friends in Armor 239

Part Three. The Open Sea

XV. Beyond the Horizon 257

XVI. Living Lights That Never Die 275

XVII. Into the Depths 293

XVIII. Life in the Ancient Seas 307

XIX. Our Salt-Water World 3i8

Index 33'

ix

58453

ILLUSTRATIONS
Ccelenterates Frontispiece

FACK

A promising spot for the naturalist 5

Colony of barnacles living on a rock G

Caprella; a small shore crustacean 9

Strongylocentrotus; a sea urchin lO

Ophiocoma; a brittle star lO

A whelk shell covered with seaweeds, hydroids and tube-
building worms (found in a tide pool) II

Pentaca; a sea cucumber I2

Sea squirt; attached to a fragment of a clam shell (photo-
graph taken in the water) 13

Seaweed debris left at the tide marks 22

Orchestia, the sand flea . 23

The white anemone 28

Hole drilled in the shell of a mussel by a moon snail ... 32

Moon snail (photograph taken in the water) 33

Moon snail withdrawn in its shell. The dark area in the
opening of the shell is the operculum, or "door," which

protects the animal from without 34

Mussel attached to a rock 35

Radula, or rasping organ of the moon snail (greatly en-
larged) 38

Egg case of the moon snail 40

Eggs of the moon snail (highly magnified). The individual
eggs can be seen as the small black bodies contained in the

larger cells 42

xi

xll Illustrations

PAGE

Free-swimminy; larvit' of the moon snail (greatly enlarged) . 43

Littorina ; a periwinkle shell 48

Asterias; the common starfish. This individual is growing a

new arm in the place of one that was lost 51

Starfish searching for food (photograph taken on the bot-
tom of a tide pool) 68

Bolina; a phosphorescent comb jelly (photograph taken in

the water) 73

Pleurobrachia ; the comet jelly 75

Pelagia ; a jellyfish 77

Disk of a dried jellyfish. A transparent film through which
type easily can be read is all that remains after exposure to

the sun and air 78

Strobila of Aurelia 83

Polynoe; the scale worm 88

Male hermit crab removed from his shell; showing the soft

unarmored hind body 91

Hermit crab in a broken shell. The disintegrating shells they
sometimes use leave portions of their bodies exposed to the

attack of enemies 94

Hermit crabs fighting (photograph taken in the water) . 99

Courtship of the hermit crab (photograph taken in the water) 105

Male and female hermit crabs. The female is the smaller

creature perched on the larger shell of the other . . . 107

Sargassum; the gulfweed 121

Lessonia; a laminarian seaweed 121

Egregia; a laminarian seaweed 122

Macrocystis; a laminarian seaweed 123

Enteromorpha ; a green seaweed 124

Ulva; the sea lettuce 126

Fucus, an olive-green seaw^eed, growing on a rock . . . 128

Corallina; a red seaweed which resembles coral .... 133

Illustrations xiii

PACE

Prickh- wort; a floweriivj; plant of the seashore .... 138

Salt wort; a flowering plant of the seashore I39

Footprints of a herring gull I44

A staphylinid, or scavenger beetle. This insect lives on the

decaying matter at the high-tide mark 147

Robber fly attacking its prey 148

Larva of the tiger beetle I55

Cicindela; the tiger beetle . . 158

Tube sponge. A non-calcareous sponge 167

Clava; a colony of tubularian hydroids (enlarged) . . . 179

Hydractinia; a colony of tubularian hydroids (photograph
made of the living animals growing on a shell occupied by

a hermit crab; greatly enlarged) 180

Rock crab concealing itself in the sand. The animal is in
the center of the picture. The fore part of its body and

the ends of its claws are the only portions exposed . . 188

Lady crab 196

Loligo ; a squid (photograph taken on the bottom of a tide

pool) 200

Eggs of the squid, attached to a clump of red seaweed. Each
of the cylindrical objects is composed of a group of eggs

numbering many hundreds 202

Baby squid; just hatched (greatly enlarged) 203

Octopus, or devilfish 204

Cuttlefish 207

Meckelia; the ribbon worm, wnth proboscis partly extruded 211

Eggs of a flatworm laid on the glass side of an aquarium

(enlarged) ^ 212

The mason w^orm 213

Serpula; a tube-building worm. This creature has built its

tube on the dead shell of a whelk 214

Polycirrus; the blood worm 215

xlv Illustrations

PAGE

Nereis, the sand worm, attacking; a smaller individual . . 218

Jaws of the sand worm 219

An ancient animal of the seashore (trilobite fossil) . . . 222

Sow bugs 223

Limulus ; the horseshoe crab 226

Trilobitelike larva of the horseshoe crab 236

Horseshoe crab molting 237

1^'iddler crabs. The male, who is readily distinguished hy his
large claw, is toward the left of the picture sitting in the
ovenlike entrance to his burrow. The other individual is
the female. Pellets of excavated sand can be seen in the

foreground 241

Female fiddler crab. The dark mass on her abdomen is a

brood of eggs and is known as the "sponge" .... 247

Zoea of the fiddler crab (greatly enlarged) 251

Greenland whale 260

Rorqual 263

Sperm whale 264

Man-eating shark 272

Basking shark 273

Noctiluca (greatly enlarged) 279

Globigerina; a protozoan. The shell of this minute animal is
in the center, and from it radiate stiff spines of lime. En-
closing the shell is a frothy mass of living substance from

which extend numerous fine threads 283

Shells of radiolarians (greatly enlarged) 285

Gorgonia; a sea fan 289

Spicules of Gorgonia (greatly enlarged) 290

Pennatula; a sea pen 291

The stone lily; a fossil crinoid which lived in an ancient sea 298

The sea lily; a living crinoid 299

Illustrations xv

PAGE

Ceratius, a fish which inhabits the deep sea 300

Nematocarcinus, a deep-sea crustacean 303

Nummulites 308

Pterichthys; an ancient fish 313

PART ONE
THE SEASHORE

Chapter I
THE SEASHORE NATURALIST

An ancient glacier in its northward retreat over our
continent left in the vicinity of Glen Cove a legacy in
the form of great masses of stone, gravel, and sand.
Centuries of wind and rain have done much to change
the general appearance of the original deposits, and
they are now resolved into green-clad hills and marshy
coves. Owing to the loose character of the soil, the
rains have washed out valleys of considerable size, and
where these depressions adjoin the waters of Long
Island Sound they compose the harbors and coves that
give these shores their characteristic aspect.

But the wind and the rain have not been the only
forces to determine the appearance of this region; the
sea also has been a mighty factor. Many massive
headlands have been slowly crumbling away under the
incessant pounding of the waves. And even to-day, the
comparatively quiet waters of Hempstead Harbor can
be seen Insidiously trying to level the land of the sur-
rounding shore.

Near the mouth of the cove rises a high prominence.
The gentle ebb and flow of the tides have laid it open
so deeply that it cannot much longer sustain itself in
the struggle against the sea; but with the debris thus
removed, the waters are building a barrier across the

I

1 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

cove; so, while the land is being destroyed in one place,
it is being formed anew in another. To a greater or
lesser extent similar changes are constantly taking place
in the shore lines of every seacoast in the world. If we
were to travel along either of our long coasts, we
should find that the sea seems to be wearing the hills
away more effectively in some places than it does in
others. This is due to several causes, chief of which
are the shape of the shore and exposure to the waves.
But the work of destruction is always going on; like-
wise, the work of replacement. In some regions, in
fact, the land is being replaced at a rate for which there
is not at present any explanation. Many of those great
stretches of wide, sandy shores bounded by "dunes"
are cases in point. Where all the material came from
for those vast quantities of sand, and which is ever in-
creasing, is one of the ocean's mysteries.

If we take up a pinch of sand from any beach and
examine it under a strong glass, it will be found that
the separate grains are not worn smooth and round, as
we might have expected, but that they retain to some
extent their original sharp, angular appearance. This
is because the grains, as they are washed about, lie
with their faces toward one another with a film of
water between them. The film acts as a protection,
preventing them from actually coming into contact and
so grinding off each other's angles. Now desert or
wind-blown sand grains show a quite different charac-
ter. Their unprotected edges are rounded, and many
of them are worn so small that they are in reality
nothing more than fine particles of dust.

Where new land is forming on a coast, the shore

The Seashore Naturalist 3

generally has an upward slope, and the low tide leaves
a wide expanse exposed to the action of the sun and
winds. As the sun-dried sand begins to drift here and
there, some of it is carried up the shore landward and
remains. These accumulations gradually grow larger
and become compacted by the rains; and eventually
plants take root in them, further binding the sand to-
gether. Such newly made land is extremely marshy,
and in certain areas vast tracts of it exist close to the
sea. At every high tide, the water floods these marshes,
but eventually their channels become choked up with
the gathering sands and the sea no longer covers them.
They are soon filled with vegetation, and their level is
raised and drained; in this way a swampy waste in-
habited only by fiddler crabs and snails becomes in time,
perhaps, the site of a thriving village. Thus, the sea
gives as it takes.

On rocky coasts at the base of the cliffs will generally
be found rocks which have fallen from above. They
are of all sizes, some of them weighing many tons.
These for the most part have been dislodged from the
parts of the cliff which are out of reach of the ordinary
action of the waves; in this case the agency for their
downfall has been the rain or frost or both. Rain, in
its descent from the clouds, absorbs certain gases from
the air which, when combined with water, have a dis-
solving chemical action on the rock. In time this causes
the face of the cliff to become pitted and cracked, often
loosening considerable masses of material. In latitudes
of frosts this weathering process is hastened by the
freezing of the water that fills the cracks. The con-
version of the water into ice is accompanied by an

4 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

expansion, and this acts as a wedge forcibly splitting
the rock apart. The fractured rock may not at once
fall, being held in its place by the binding action of the
solid ice, but when a thaw comes the weakened material
gives, way and is precipitated to the beach with a
mighty roar. Here the waves take up the work of
further disintegration; at every storm the rocks are
rolled around and jostled against each other until they
are broken into smaller fragments and ground down
into pebbles and sand.

No other region offers so pleasing a variety of pic-
turesque scenes as does the seashore. On the one side
is the colorful water, incessantly in motion, ever-chang-
ing in its aspect; on the other, the rugged cliffs or
maybe quiet coves or bays fringed with a beach of
glistening sand and backed by hills and fields bedecked
with verdure. The frequent changes in the character
of the land further increase the variety of these scenes.
Where it is composed of soft or loose material we find
the coast line transformed into graceful curves, and the
beach is an unbroken stretch of very fine sand; but
where rocky cliffs exist, the aspect is often wild, and
the shore is strewn with stones and bowlders of every
size. And with what delight do we watch the incoming
waves as they roll over the sand and pebbles or wash
around the rocks !

The picturesque in nature is attractive even to the
most passive observer, and many who see no beauty
in small things are constrained to pause with admira-
tion In the presence of natural spectacles. But the true
lover of nature will find many other attractions than
scenic beauty to allure him to the shore. He loves to

The Seashore Naturalist 5

read the history of the sands and rocks, to observe in
what way the general scenery of the coast Is deter-
mined by the character of the land, and to discover
from the beach what has been the action of the waves
In shaping the contours of the cliffs. He finds a unique
pleasure in observing which plants are peculiar to the

A PROMISING SPOT FOR THE NATURALIST.

shore, and how they differ from the flowering forms
away from the sea. He also finds a delight in watching
the sea birds, the insects, and other lower forms of
life, and in learning how these various creatures are
distinguished by structure and habits from those of
Inland regions.

Nor is he ever at a loss for opportunities to follow

6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

his favorite pursuits. Regardless of whether the tide
be high or low, or whether his locality Is one of sand
or rocks, or even mud, an endless variety of forms
await his Inquiring notice.

To the beginner — and to the experienced naturalist,
too — the character of the shore Is important, as It in-
dicates to a large extent the types of plants and animals
which are most likely to prevail. A sandy shore, al-
though appearing quite barren and uninteresting to the
ordinary observer, nevertheless teems with life. But
Its Inhabitants live mostly under the surface where their
presence often can be detected by the openings to their
burrows. Some of the burrowers, such as certain
clams, betray themselves by sending conspicuous jets
of water Into the air. However, the greater part of
the underground population gives no visible sign of
existence; and to one who was unaware of the fact. It
would seem Incredible that a turn of the spade will
reveal a numerous crowd, among which will ofttlmes
be found some of the most beautiful creatures In the
animal kingdom. Snails, crustaceans, and worms are
extremely abundant over the entire beach, and careful
scrutiny of drifted sea wrack will detect a host of other
forms. In the water, of course, the evidence of life Is
more obvious. When the tide comes creeping upward,
a numerous group begins to assemble. Almost at the
very edge of the water, nosing their way here and
there, can be seen the minnows. Some of the tribe
peculiar to our eastern coast will show a delightful
familiarity by nibbling harmlessly at the wader's toes or
ankles. These are the Mummlchogs ; and In brackish-
water regions they outnumber all other shore fishes.

The Seashore Naturalist 7

In a manner of speaking, many of the fishes may be
quite visible but yet unseen. This is because of their
shape or coloring, which makes them inconspicuous
against the bottom. Unless one had an unusually keen
eye for such things, it would be difficult to distinguish
some forms from inanimate objects. The slender pipe-
fish, for instance, resembles the stemlike fragments of
vegetation washed back and forth by tidal currents.
Visible forms are plentiful, nevertheless; among these
are the sea robin, that strange fish which crawls as well
as swims; the skate, an innocuous cousin of the shark,
and the shining silverside. Then perhaps on rarer oc-
casions one may obtain a glimpse of that quaintest of
creatures. Hippocampus, the little sea horse. Crus-
taceans, too, are common. Hermit crabs can be seen
carrying on their interminable brawls, sand crabs are
present, half buried and awaiting their prey, while
shoals of shrimps frequently go flashing by.

As I have hinted, muddy shores are not without
their interest. These are usually associated with
marshy regions of brackish water or with shallow bays
and estuaries. Burrowing in the muddy banks will be
found the fidciler crab, a grotesque creature with a
claw almost as large as the rest of his body.
In the groves of eelgrass, which are submerged at
every tide, many small animals are living which are
seldom seen elsewhere. The eelgrass is a flowering
plant and is one of the very few which will grow in
salt water. Among the animals which crawl over its
bladelike leaves is a little snail which attaches its egg
cases to the plant, and these look so like the seeds that
are formed in the grooves of the leaves that they cannot

8

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

easily be told apart. Other creatures have a body
resemblance to the shape and color of the leaves. At
the roots, in the mud, other small animals are abun-
dant. The pools and channels of mud flats contain
numerous varieties of mud crabs; if one is discerning
he will often be able to find in such places sluggish
types like the spider crab, which hides under decaying
weeds or covers itself with vegetation, and the mud

COLONY OF BARNACLES LIVING ON A ROCK.

crab, with a load of silt and debris tangled w^ith the
bristles on its back. Beauty is also present. Attached
to the submerged plants are silky sprays of the wonder-
ful hydroids, but a good glass is required to reveal the
delicate and exquisite structure of their plantlike bodies.
Indeed, there is no end to the charming revelations one
can make with a glass, and this holds equally true for
the waters of every character of shore.

Rocky shores with their clefts and crannies and

The Seashore Naturalist 9

numerous pools also have an Interest all their own.
The seaweeds which grow in great abundance and
variety harbor in their fronds many animal forms
which do not occur in localities of sand or mud. In
the struggle for existence among both the plants and
the animals v/hich inhabit the shores every possible
advantage is sought by the individuals. This is par-
ticularly plain among the rocks. Every bowlder bears
on its seaward side a colony of barnacles, and vigor-
ously disputing the space these creatures occupy are

CAPRELLAj A SMALL SHORE CRUSTACEAN.

mussels and other stationary moUusks. Even the sea-
weeds contest the right of the barnacles to dominate;
they grow so thickly in some places that the latter are
often crowded out. These rockweeds in turn support
a curious population. Crawling over the leathery
fronds or firmly fixed thereon are sea spiders, moss ani-
mals, snaillike worms which secrete spiral shells, and
in sundry places may be seen attached by its hind legs,
swaying its lengthened body to and fro, that oddest of
crustaceans, little Caprella. Among the other crea-
tures to be found on the fronds^are certain snails, which
simulate the color of the plant, or are striped to make
closer their resemblance.

When the tide is out there will be found secreted
under ledges and in sheltered places starfishes and sea

10

Dwellers of the Sea and Shove

urchins and different sorts of crustaceans who are
active only when submerged. But the less exposed
nooks shelter permanent residents as well. In these

STRONGYLOCENTRUTUS; A SEA URCHIN.

ophiocoma; a brittle star

places live many delicate seaweeds which are unable to
endure the force of the waves or the withering action
of the sun; animals, too, no less inclined to brave the
open, thrive in these little solitudes in considerable
numbers. Below the low-tide mark, pink, orange, or
scarlet incrustations of small sponges may be seen like

The Seashore Naturalist

II

luminous patches of color In the gloom of miniature
grottoes; while partly masked by the long pale-green
threads of vegetation are numerous creatures in hiding;
some are waiting to pounce upon their prey and others
are seeking seclusion from their enemies.

The numerous pools that occur on every type of

A whelk's shell covered with seaweeds, hvdroids and tube-building worms.

FOUND IN A TIDE POOL,

shore afford a refuge for some species of plants and
animals which ordinarily are found only below the tide
marks. In the clear, peaceful waters are usually con-
tained the corallines, tufts of pretty pink and white sea-
weeds which look like miniature branches of coral, and
the brittle stars, slender, active starfishes which climb
about the sea plants, and the attractive sea anemones,
variously colored creatures of prey which resemble

12 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

flowers. On the pebbles or sand that forms the floor
of the pool itself, may appear the transparent, phan-
tomlike prawn, gently waving its long filamentous
feelers, then darting suddenly backward so swiftly that
the eye cannot follow the movement; or, it may be,
that a chance view may be caught of the scallop, that
ornamental clamlike creature which swims by snapping
together the valves of its shell.

It so happens that on the piles of wharves many
kinds of sea creatures will find a lodging place. Some

pentaca; a sea cucumber.

of these are attached forms such as hydroids, anem-
ones, moss animals, and sea squirts; others, like the
shipworm and the gribble, are boring animals, and are
therefore less conspicuous.

Thus, there is much to find and admire among the
living forms which inhabit the seashore. It is perhaps
the most interesting of all the haunts of life. Although
certain types may occur invariably in those regions that
favor their development, life on the whole may in dif-

The Seashore Naturalist 13

ferent localities be surprisingly varied and even in one
place be very diverse. In fact, it changes from week to
week. Repeated visits throughout the year seldom fail
to mark the presence of numerous hitherto absent
forms. The finding of these forms, the discovery of
their marvelous beauties, the learning of their ways,
afford the lover of lower living things many delightful
and fascinating hours.

SEA squirt; attached to a fragment of a clam shell, vphotogkaph taken

IN the water.)

Harbor Beach and its environs is one of those
regions that in a degree comprise within a small com-
pass the several kinds of shore formation and the vari-
ous inhabitants which have just been reviewed.

Here, the sheltered cove, the. salty meadows, the
bowlders, the sandy reach, the nodding shore plants and
flights of sea birds represent to the stranger nothing
more, perhaps, than a quiet place in a peaceful coun-
try; yet it is the realm of great mysteries, the

14 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

scene of thrilling adventures, the gateway to a
strange world.

We all like to adventure. And who does not love a
mystery? It whets our curiosity and adds zest to our
lives. Surely, this would be a dull life if there was
nothing to learn, nothing to excite our imagination or
our wonder. Therefore, to resolve some of these mys-
teries, to recount an occasional adventure, and to follow
a few of the paths leading throughout this amazing
realm, shall be the purpose of the ensuing chapters.

Chapter II
SOCIAL LIFE IN THE SALT-WATER WORLD

Who has ever visited the seashore during a storm
without a feeling of great awe as the thundering waves
broke against the rocks or hurled themselves with
their foaming crests high upon the beach? With each
succeeding surge of the mighty masses of water the
impact causes the very earth to tremble. If one is
of a reflective nature, those truly are tremendous
moments. It is then that one is impressed with the
significance of the warfare which is being waged by the
sea upon the land.

Although one can well understand how the most
obdurate of coasts sooner or later must give way to the
incessant pounding, how is it that the continents of the
world have so long sustained themselves in the strife?
Does it not seem that ultimately dry land would com-
pletely disappear?

Well, it is true that shore lines are breaking down.
Indeed, it is quite certain that considerable bodies of
land have dwindled away for this very reason. But it
is equally true that notwithstanding the frittering away
of its coasts a continent occasionally actually increases
in size.

This apparent paradox Is easily explained. The
earth, as we all know, was once very hot; it is at

15

1 6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

present a cooling mass. Now a cooling body contracts,
and as it does so it has a tendency to warp. Particu-
larly does this become evident in the case of our globe.
Although its rock-ribbeci surface is seemingly solid,
nevertheless, it is endowed with great plasticity, and
consequently the shrinking shell results in rumpled
ridges and rugosities. Time and the elements have
done much in the past to obliterate these folds and
wrinkles, but they are still manifest in what is left of
the mountain ranges and in the abyssal valleys of
the sea.

In many regions in the world the contracting crust
is causing certain portions of continents slowly to rise
while at the same time, but in another place, it is
causing the land to lower. In the latter event the sea
hastens the disappearance. Where an elevation is
taking place, however, it sometimes progresses more
rapidly than the waves can work. Notwithstanding,
to some extent the sea is always cutting away our
shores.

There is enough water In the sea easily to cover the
entire earth, provided the earth were a perfectly
smooth sphere — that is, if all the mountains and valleys
of the land and sea were brought to a common level.
But that the earth was ever completely inundated at
one time seems unlikely, for it appears that the more
solid part has always been too unstable. Now a por-
tion is up, then it is down. This seesawing, this oscil-
lating of the land, has continued throughout so many
ages and in so many places that to-day there is no con-
tinent or part of a continent which has not at some time
been at the bottom of the ocean. What is more, it is

Social Life in the Salt-JJ^ater JJ'orld 17

very probable that some parts of the ocean floor form
the site of what ui some previous age were wind-
swept peaks or sun-kissed plains. Of our continents,
then, the ocean is, in truth, at once the cradle and
the grave.

It is plain that the mobility of the sea is no incon-
siderable factor in shaping the destiny of the land.
This mobility, however, is manifested in another way,
and in one which is very vitally concerned with the
destiny of all life peculiar to the seashore. I here refer
to the phenomenon of the tides.

Most of us know vaguely, perhaps, that the tides are
in some way influenced by the moon. This, in fact,
becomes evident to the most casual observer. For the
slightest acquaintance with the seashore soon reveals
the singularity that at the periods of new moon and
full moon occur the greatest variations in the rise and
fall of the water. In other words, at the time of these
two phases of the moon, w^hich Is to say, every fort-
night, the tides reach their highest point during the
flood and their lowest mark at the ebb. Thencefor-
ward until two weeks later, when the moon is in the
quarter phase, the variations daily grow less; after this
they gradually increase again until the time of new or
full moon. Novv^, if one is more than ordinarily ob-
servant he will have noticed further that the time of
high tide at any selected spot is always the same for
any given period of the cycle of the moon.

It will be inferred, therefore, that the tides move
In some mysterious manner in response to the attraction
of a magnetic moon. But here Is a curious thing. We
know that the sun has a far greater attractive influence

I 8 Divellers of the Sea and Shore

on the earth and Its oceans than has the moon. What
is It, then, that gives the latter its apparent precedence
over the sun in the regulation of the tides?

To conceive this clearly, we must take into account
the relative distances of these two bodies from the
earth. Our globe is about eight thousand miles in
diameter. Yet this is a very small fraction of the dis-
tance to the sun which, roughly speaking, is ninety-
three million miles away. Consequently the pull on the
earth is about the same throughout its entire mass; or,
to put it another way, the attraction for that side of the
earth nearest the sun is but slightly more than for the
side more remote. A quite different aspect presents
itself, however, when we consider the moon. The dis-
tance of our satellite from the earth being only a quar-
ter of a million miles, it will be seen that the diameter
of the earth at once becomes a very considerable frac-
tion. The result is that the side of the earth facing the
moon is subjected to a much stronger pull than the op-
posite side. Now the waters of the ocean respond
more readily to the attraction of the moon than does
the hard crust of the earth, and as a consequence they
are caused to bulge out on that side nearest the moon.
Again, since the attractive force of the moon is weakest
of all at the opposite side, and since the waters on that
side are attracted less than the solid earth — the latter
being pulled away, so to speak — they bulge outward on
the side away from the moon also.

From this it will be seen that we get a condition
wherein two high tides are produced simultaneously
on opposite sides of the earth. It must be borne in
mind, however, that the earth is continually turning on

^067'^/ Life in the Salt-JJ'ater World 19

its axis, a complete rotation occurring every twenty-
four hours; and as the tides necessarily follow the
moon which in itself revolves around the earth approxi-
mately every twenty-eight days the changes in the tides
occupy on the average six hours and a quarter each;
thus making high and low tides occur about an hour
later every day.

Now in all strictness the influence of the sun is not so
negligible a factor as it may appear from the fore-
going. Although its attraction is considerably less than
that of the moon, it is still an attraction. This we
find is evident in the fortnightly fluctuations of the
tides. As was pointed out, extreme high and low tides
are at the time of the new and the full moon, whereas
the least variation is during the quarter phases. The
former are known as "spring tides" ; the latter as
"neap tides." As we follow the moon in its various
phases, we find in starting with the new moon that it
is nearly on a straight line — sometimes exactly so —
between the earth and the sun; therefore, the attrac-
tion of the sun added to that of the moon, assists the
latter, as it were, in its pull, thus causing a spring tide.
About a week later when the moon is in its first quarter
it is in a position at right angles from the sun as viewed
from the earth. The tides are now more modified, for
the moon no longer has the help of the sun. The truth
is, each of these bodies is trying to produce a tide all
iis own, the moon on one meridian and the sun on
another, but a quarter of the way around the earth;
the consequence is that though the moon's pull is

stronger its efforts are minimized by the sun's power

in holding the water in check. A neap tide is the resuffi^((J^|^

[!±f (librar\

20 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

In another week we find the moon full and in a line
opposite from the earth to the sun. Although pulling
in opposite directions they produce a harmonious re-
sult. For as two tides are formed at the same time,
one on each side of the earth, it follows that the in-
fluence which is one body's loss is the other's gain. The
following, or third, week we see the moon in its last
quarter; it has by then completed three-fourths of its
cycle. Once again the moon is at right angles from the
sun; once again the tides are at their slightest range;
from this time onward they will increase daily until the
moon is full, the cycle then continuing as before.

If the earth were entirely covered with water, the
tidal swell would travel in a westerly direction and
keep its place regularly on the meridian of the moon;
but we know that actually the movements of the waves
are exceedingly complex. Observations along different
points of our seaboard show that there is sometimes a
great difference in the time of high tide between two
or more places situated close together. For example,
high water does not occur in Hempstead Harbor until
more than three hours after the time of high tide at
Governor's Island in New York Harbor, less than
thirty miles to the west. Now this lagging of the tides
is noticeable to a great extent on all continental shores,
and it is due partly to the retarding action of the latter,
partly to the inertia of the water itself, but mainly to
the irregular distribution of the land which breaks up
the tidal wave into innumerable wave crests, vastly
restraining their progress.

Let us note one more singularity. This is the dif-
ference in range, or vertical movements of the tide, in

Social Life in the Salt-JVater JJ'orld 21

different parts of the world. It Is well known that the
differences between the tide levels of continental seas
are greater than those to be observed on the shores of
oceanic islands. Now this is also due to the irregular
distribution of the land which has a tendency to deflect
the wave crests, causing them to pile higher than they
would do in the open sea. But it so happens that dif-
ferences occur on the same coast line. High tides are
especially noticeable where they break into gradually
narrowing estuaries and other channels; the incoming
water, being compressed laterally, is consequently in-
creased in height. Thus, in Hempstead Harbor, which
receives the retarded waters of the Sound, the mean
variation of the tides is about six feet, but in the Bay
of Fundy where the incoming tide piles up with great
force, it is said the water reaches the extreme height
of ninety feet.

Now, I have gone into this matter of the tides at
some length not alone because of its interest to those
making their first acquaintance with the sea, but also in
order better to visualize for the reader the funda-
mental nature of an element that has largely to do with
the interpretations we shall make of the strange habits
prevailing among many dwellers of the shore.

Undoubtedly, the greatest attraction of the sea-
shore for the collector and naturalist is at the time
of the ebbing of a spring tide. As the retreating
waters lay bare the land, a promiscuous multitude
makes its appearance. From all directions come crea-
tures of every description. Through the air, from out
of the earth, and over the land they arrive: birds, in-
sects, and crustaceans. Mollusks, too, and worms and

22

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

beasts with spines claim our attention as the tide leaves
these animals high and dry or stranded in some shallow
pool. The tidal zone is peculiar in that, while its upper
limit marks the frontier between two worlds whose
denizens are totally unlike in habits, the region between
this and the lowest limit of the spring tides is one that

SEAWEED DEBRIS LEFT AT THE TIDE MARKS.

lias an alternating condition which makes it periodically
favorable to land or marine animals. In brief, the
tidal area Is a sort of "no man's land" alternately
occupied by the animals of the land and those of the
sea. It so happens, though, that some can hold their
ground under either condition, whether this be marine
or terrestrial.

Social Life in the Salt-JVatcr ITorld 23

As the tide turns from high to low it leaves one un-
mistakable mark to indicate its highest level. This is
in the form of a long line of wilting seaweed and or-
ganic debris. Of this low-lying heap, by far the greater
portion consists of the common green seaweed, Ulva,
or sea lettuce, as it is popularly called. The sea lettuce,
having become detached from its anchorage on the
bottom, is carried ashore by wave action. Clumps ot
olivegreen and brown seaweeds sometimes are in the
mass, and often one will find those rarer and more

orchestia; the sand flea.

delicate forms, the brilliant red plants of the deeper
waters. Particularly are the latter in evidence after
a period of stormy weather. Often, too, a sponge is
torn from the outlying bottom and drifts about, finding
its way at last to the tangled tide mark on the shore.
As far as one can see, this telltale line extends itself
along the beach. At first sight it would appear that the
moist mass is destined shortly to become a heap of
rotting refuse. It is not, however, so destined. Barely
does it become stranded by the tide when it is beset by
a swarming population. Flies, beetles, and other in-
sects are engaged in its reduction. But the most active

24 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

and efficient agent is one that is properly from the sea-
shore itself. This is the sand flea, Orchestia. This
busy little scavenger is the purifier of our shores. With-
out him our beaches would tend to become places to be
avoided rather than regions of charm. His number is
legion; yet he works virtually unseen. If, however, we
turn over the debris about us we W\\\ find a surprise;
the ground underneath becomes alive with him. Our
intrusion on his privacy, however, causes a multitu-
dinous dispersal, for he immediately scampers away in
hundreds and buries himself in the sand or finds some
other hiding place.

No sooner does the receding tide expose a portion
of the beach than it takes on an animated aspect.
From a thatch-covered mud bank near at hand, fiddler
crabs emerge in droves. Like herds of grazing cattle,
they follow the creeping water and search among the
stones and pebbles for the minute plant food on v/hich
they live. The males are easily distinguished by the
enormous claw each individual carries. No other crab
but the fiddler is provided with a pincer of such prodi-
gious proportions.

A bird alights on the shore, and a panic ensues.
Pell-mell the fiddler crabs rush toward the thatch grass
and plunge indiscriminately into the burrows which
honeycomb the bank. Fear inspires them to make no
choice. It is every crab for itself. In the alarm each
dives sidewise into the most convenient retreat, and it
sometimes happens that a single burrow is completely
filled with the fugitives.

We recognize the newcomer as the green heron; it
is hunting for a meal. It settles down on the sand and

Social Life in the Salt-JVater JForld 25

stands motionless near the edge of the water. The
fiddler crabs, in common with the majority of wild
creatures, recognize only moving objects, and it Is not
long before they once more emerge from their hiding
places and wander toward the water.

But see what is happening around the bird. Rising
out of the smooth sand other fiddler crabs can be seen
stealthily and warily making their appearance. Unless
you are in the secret you would think that these are
members of the mud-bank colony which had, of neces-
sity, taken refuge in the sand. But they are, in fact,
entirely different Individuals. This region abounds
with two species of fiddler crabs whose habits are com-
pletely dissimilar. One {Uca pugilator), that which
first engaged our attention, lives only in the muddy soil
peculiar to the thatch-grass meadows. It is of a dark
slaty gray — somewhat like the soil In which It lives —
except In the case of the male whose great claw, oft-
times much larger than the rest of the body, is of a
bright yellow hue. The other species {Uca minax)
makes its home in the sand, where each crab occupies
a burrow of only a few inches in depth. This fiddler
crab Is nearly alike In shape with the mud dweller.
But In color, as well as in Its general habits. It is far
more attractive than its brethren of the muddy banks.
However, as a later chapter will be devoted to this
Interesting animal, we need not further consider It
here. Let it suffice by saying that it is this species
which we find making its appearance near the motion-
less heron.

Suddenly the bird plunges Its long beak Into the
water, pulls out a colling sandworm, and with a short

2 6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

run takes the air with lazily flapping wings. Another
panic; another rout in which all fiddlers of both species
take part; then, once more, not a crab is in sight.
Plainly, the fiddler crab is a shy creature. Notwith-
standing that these animals live together by the thou-
sands, and that they are of a conspicuous size (the
adults are more than two inches in breadth) their ex-
treme timidity makes them little known to the average
seaside rambler. The appearance of any stranger in
the neighborhood, whether it be bird, beast, or man,
is always the signal for their retreat. Still, one can
make the fiddler crabs' acquaintance if he but has the
patience to wait quietly near their burrows. And I
may add that by so doing he will be amply rewarded
for his pains.

By the time the ebbing tide is three hours old — that
is to say, when it is about halfway out — numerous
rocks studded with barnacles have already been left
high, if not quite dry. Nearly all of these irregular-
shaped bowlders have concealed in their depressions
and crevices clusters of starfishes. Here and there the
uneven ground has retained the water, and in these
transparent pools one catches a glint of gleaming sun-
light from the iridescent dead seashells strewn over
the bottom. Broad bright areas of rippled scurf sand
also have made an appearance, vying with the brilliance
of a summer sky in their lovely whiteness.

But the beauty of inanimate nature is not the only
beauty that the lowering tide reveals. Many animals
adorn the glistening beach. Wherever one may search,
in the tide pools, under the stones or in the sand, he is
sure to encounter creatures whose sightliness is seldom

Social Life in the Salt-JJ'atcr IT arid 27

matclied by the dwellers of dry land. Now, strange to
say, among the most beautiful are many of the worms.
Look at Nereis, the sea worm. 1 his aniinal usually
lives under stones and in the sand, but ofttimes fre-
quents the tide pools In search of prey. Seen in the
latter it is like a glittering chain of blue-green opals
flanked with precious coral. The sides of its colorful
body are lined with gills of pearly pink; from under
every gill projects a sheaf of bristles reflecting the
luster of pure gold. But the palm of beauty unques-
tionably should be awarded to Aphrodite, the sea
mouse, a worm whose appearance has excited the ad-
miration of every age. To the untrained eye It does
not look like a worm; and therein, perhaps, lies the
secret of its charm. This, In a way, is unfortunate.
Had earlier observers known Its Identity, It Is probable
that ere now many other members of the group would
have shone In popularity by reflected light; conse-
quently, their habits would be better known. Its every
motion Is productive of a play of prismatic tints, but
It Is vain to attempt an adequate description of the in-
effable nuances, the evanescent hues, that endow Aphro-
dite with Its strange beauty. Graphic representation
Itself Is unable to reproduce the charming colors caused
by the diffraction of light on the translucent texture of
its hairy covering.

It must be admitted, however, that beauty In some
instances Is merely a mask. It often hides an unlovely
trait. What could be more enchanting than the white
anemone {Sagartia leiicolena) as it stands no taller
than one's thumb, with Its translucent tendrlllike arms
undulating In the soft currents of a tide pool? Incom-

28

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

parably gracile, it sways Innocently, innocuously, the
verisimilitude of an alluring spectral flower. Yet one
would little suspect its lethal nature. But should a
young sea worm or other small wanderer chance to
glide against the ghostly petals, it is lost. For the
petals are murderous tentacles; and they can inflict a

THE WHITE ANEMONE.

paralyzing shock, overwhelming the luckless victim like
the surge of a hundred thousand volts.

Let us attend to the tide. When the water has
reached its lowest ebb it has at the same time reached
the point of its greatest productivity for the collector
or observer. Yet for that matter, in the five hours and
more which have elapsed during the tidal descent,
enough material will have been found to satisfy the
most ardent hunter. It is at low spring tide that all

Social Life in the SaJt-Water JVorld 29

manner of animals are to be found; for the tidal region
between the low-water neaps and the low-water springs
is inhabited by a far more numerous species than any
other part of the seashore. All sorts of fishes, crus-
taceans, mollusks, worms, etc., will be found In hiding
here waiting to be covered by the next tide. For the
most part these will be found beneath the stones, in the
ground, and, In the case of anemones and certain other
low forms, attached to the under surfaces of the stones
themselves. Living seaweeds are also in abundance,
and in their wet fronds are sheltered minute creatures
whose strange form and structure are to be revealed
only by the microscope.

There is, furthermore, a conspicuous abundance of
the larger animals of the shore. LImulus, the horse-
shoe crab, can be seen plowing his way through the
mud. Around about the molelike creature the soft
ground Is pitted with innumerable holes of about the
diameter of an earthworm's burrow. Geyserlike jets
of water ejected from various orifices indicate the
presence of the soft-shelled clam {Mya arenarea).
Periwinkles and other snails are here, there, and every-
where crawling over the surface of the mud, leaving In
their trails their familiar furrows. Cancer, too — the
rock crab, so miscalled — we will see; half buried, but
on the alert, it awaits with its dangerous-looking, bone-
crushing forceps in readiness to pounce upon some
smaller passer-by.

To enlarge upon the wealth of living forms found
here would be wearisome. Yet the most casual ref-
erence would be incomplete without mention of the
mussels. The extensive black beds of these mollusks

30 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

are exposed at every low spring tide. So great Is the
number of the individual units that they are to be esti-
mated only in millions. Excepting, perhaps, the bar-
nacles, they are the commonest animals in this region.

Now, although the mussels are peaceable creatures,
their life is not exactly a peaceful one. Living as they
do on the organic motes held in suspension in the water
and on live food of microscopic dimensions, they have
no need of weapons of offense; and as to defense, the
two-valved shells w^hich protect their soft bodies are
Inadequate to resist the attack of their enemies. And
these are many. Few flesh eaters there are that do not
take toll of their numbers. Incapable of locomotion —
as that term is ordinarily understood — the mussels are
easy prey to the starfish, sea urchin, and other slow-
moving animals; and these, together with crabs, fishes,
and birds, are continually engaged in their slaughter.

Indeed, it would sometimes appear that the mussels
are bent upon destroying each other. They exist In
such enormous numbers, layer on layer, that they fre-
quently actually poison one another by their waste
products. Many, moreover, are smothered by the ac-
cumulation of silt and other matter settling down from
the upper masses.

Nevertheless, their worst foe is not themselves.
Their deadliest enemy is, however, not far removed in
kind. It is, in short, another mollusk. This mollusk Is
the moon snail, a creature which is an outstanding
example of the amazing contrasts sometimes found in
this strange world.

Chapter III
THE MOON SNAIL

About the first thing to strike the attention of the
amateur naturalist on his initial acquaintance with the
sea is the countless number of dead shells that whiten
the beach at various places along the shore. Cast up
by the incessant action of the winds and waves, these
objects of sundry shapes and sizes are imbedded in the
sand and frequently are heaped in veritable windrows.
Indeed, the very sand that beautifies the beach is not
wholly of true sand, but to a large extent is composed
of the crumbling fragments of this selfsame shell ma-
terial. Everywhere in sight, littering the shore, is
monumental testimony of the millions of mollusks con-
stantly meeting their death in the adjacent waters. It
is as if some giant hand had swept the sea and left the
shells to bleach in the blighting light of the seasonal
suns.

Often the patterns of these fragile tenements are
varied and pretty. And there are some of exquisite
hues. But by far the greater part of these enormous
ossuaries consists of the remains x:)f those homeliest of
mollusks, the mussels.

Now few animals of the sea die directly from old
age. Their existence is generally terminated by attacks

31

32 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

from natural enemies or other accidents. These ene-
mies are sometimes large, sometimes small; they may
be microscopic. Surprising as it may appear, after
long resistance to the former, many animals reach a
ripe old age only to succumb to the insidious attacks of
the latter. Of course, the weaknesses due to old age
make them especially liable to the invasions of these
invisible hordes; nevertheless, sooner or later, the great
majority of marine animals meet a premature death.
Thus it has been with the occupants of the shells on

HOLE DRILLED IN THE SHELL OF A MUSSEL BY A MOON SNAIL.

the beach. In the case of the many, both the bivalves
and the univalves show one unmistakable clue to the
identity of the assassin who dispatched them. This is
a small round perforation in the shell through which a
wheat straw can be passed. It is the mark of the moon
snail or one of its carnivorous brethren.

The moon snail {Lunatia heros) is easily the largest
shell-bearing mollusk in these waters. When full grown
its rounded, w^hitish, spirally coiled shell is about four
inches long. But like the familiar pond snail, the ani-
mal crawls on a large fleshy foot. This foot with its

The Moon Snail

33

adhering mantle is of enormous proportions. So large,
when protruded, as to envelop completely the house
which was designed to shelter it. Indeed, to see this
creature retract its fleshy body is to witness a very
amazing feat. It is like that trick of the conjurer

MOON SNAIL. (PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE WATER.)

where he makes an almost incredible quantity of para-
phernalia disappear into his cornucopia.

The moon snail travels in search of its food either
under or over the surface of the sandy bottom. And
for a snail it moves with striking rapidity. The pro-
verbial slowness of the land snail is not reflected in the
actions of its marine relative. Although in these
waters it is the greatest enemy of the mussel, it is an

34 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

eater of all flesh, be this dead or alive. What is more,
it will with equal readiness devour one of its own
species.

MOON SNAIL WITHDRAWN IN ITS SHELL. THE DARK AREA IN THE OPENING OF THE
SHELL IS THE OPERCULUM, OR "DOOR," WHICH PROTECTS THE ANIMAL FROM
WITHOUT.

Curiously, this active creature is blind. Yet it is
unerring in the detection of its prey. This ability to
find its food, of course, is due to a sense organ, the
nature of which is not hard to guess. It is an ability
somewhat like that of a dog's on the scent of game;

The Moon Snail

35

but with this difference: the dog is guided by the sense
of smell; whereas the moon snail, from the very nature
of its surrounding element, is perforce restricted to the
sense of taste. In short, the effluvium of its food is
carried in the currents of the water, and this latter
medium is tasted rather than smelled.

MUSSEL ATTACHED TO A ROCK.

In turning to the common prey of the moon snail we
find that this bivalve differs as greatly in its habits as
in its appearance. It is possessed of two shells, or
valves, equal in shape and size. These shells are
hinged, and when viewed from the side are slightly tri-
angular, are rounded, and are about twice as long as
they are w^ide. Sometimes they attain to a length of
five or more inches, but more commonly they are three
inches long. In the living animal they are dark, almost
black, but exposure soon turns them to a pearl gray.
Now the mussel is usually content to remain rooted to
one spot the greater part of its life, which it does by
attaching itself, when young, to any solid object by
means of numerous tough silken threads, called byssii.

36 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

The manner of making and fixing these byssli Is not
greatly unlike the method of the garden spider in
spinning its web. Although it has acquired a stationary
habit it can shift its location when the spirit impels it.
When it wishes to move, it fastens a few byssii well out
in the direction it intends to travel; then, detaching
those in the rear, it hauls itself forward by pulling upon
the extended threads. But this is a slow, and seems to
be, certainly, a laborious process; far too slow, in fact,
to enable it to escape from its enemies, even though it
tried.

It is hard to conceive a more monotonous existence
than that led by the mussel. It would almost seem
that the excitement of a violent end would come as a
welcome in such an eventless life. Beyond gently open-
ing and closing its valves, it seldom displays any ac-
tivity; but even this movement has its limitations. The
valves never open very wide — no more than to make a
goodly sized slit in which can be seen the rich reddish
brown velvety fringe of its fleshy mantle.

From this it will be readily surmised that there is
nothing spectacular in the moon snail's attack on this
unresisting creature. The excitement and action which
mark the chase of most predatory marine animals are
utterly absent here. The aggressor simply approaches
its victim, folds its capacious foot and mantle around
it, completely hiding it from sight, and remains im-
mobile for the greater part of an hour. After which
it releases its hold and glides away to bury itself in
the sand.

Yet, notwithstanding the apparently easy manner in
which the moon snail captures its food, its method is

The Moon Suail 37

not without interest. Nor should it be assumed that
this peaceful process is devoid of effort. Although not
noticeable to the eye, when this animal has wrapped its
slimy mass about its prey it is actively engaged in a
frightful operation.

It may as well be said at once that this mollusk is
the most ruthless butcher on the floor of the sea. There
are other animals which dispatch their victims in far
greater numbers, but in point of refined cruelty and
deadly technique the moon snail is easily the master
executioner.

In separating the shells of a mussel recently released
by this carnivorous creature, we find the interior soft
parts to have been nearly eaten away. Nothing re-
mains but a few shreds of the fibrous attachment that
held the animal to its hinged cell. It could not have
been cleaner had the shells been scraped with a scalpel.
Near the hinge, on one of the valves, is the telltale
perforation whose white countersunk edge, contrasting
with the dark exterior, show how the moon snail had
reached its victim. Now the clean-cut bevel around
this hole denotes the use of an extraordinary tool.
This is in truth the case. The moon snail, in common
with others of its class, possesses a drilling apparatus
that is unique in the animal kingdom.

The drill is contained in the proboscis, an organ
ordinarily retracted within the mantle but capable of
considerable extension. It is a curious implement, this
drill. It is a transparent, ribbpnlike band of horny
texture, the surface of which is ornamented with rows
of tiny teeth. The band itself is less than a thirty-
second of an inch wide, and the teeth, or cusps, are not

38 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

visible without the aid of a good lens. This boring
apparatus is virtually a rasp armed with hundreds of
abrading points. It is located well up in the proboscis
and is brought into play through the peculiar ability of
this organ to turn itself partly inside out, much in the
fashion that the finger of a glove can be turned within
itself.

RADULA, OR RASPING ORGAN OF THE MOON SNAIL. (GREATLY ENLARGED.)

Attached to the under side of the proboscis, near the
end, is a soft circular pad. The presence of this at-
tachment at once gives the clue as to how the moon
snail penetrates the shell of its victim; for it seems to
serve as a sucking disk, and by means of its holding
power is the necessary purchase obtained to apply the
pressure of the drill.

But the most significant feature is the pair of cutting
jaws just within tlie tip of the eversible proboscis.
Each jaw is a thin platelike blade of irregular shape
and is fixed so that it presents a razor edge to its com-

The Moon Snail 39

panion, both working upon one another somewhat like
a pair of shears. This dreadful instrument is a most
efficient accessory. It is by introducing this into the
drilled aperture that the moon snail becomes a mon-
ster. It literally hacks the helpless mussel to pieces.
What really takes place is the deliberate fragmentation
of the other. To be brief, the moon snail picks its prey
out piecemeal.

And yet there are phases in the life of this creature
that have a saving element. Great as are its vices, it
is not entirely removed from virtue. Indeed, to depict
only the darker aspect of its instincts would be unfair.
Therefore, I shall try to bring into relief, also, that
element of grace to which it would, no doubt, wish to
lay claim. This is its foresight and consideration as
a parent. The mother, with a precision born of
patience, constructs a protective cradle for her young
that is a marvel of dexterity.

Except for a difference in size, the female Is In out-
ward appearance exactly like her smaller mate. The
mating season is in midsummer, and it is then that she
makes her singular egg case. It resembles nothing so
much as a thin, sand-encrusted, cracked saucer or bowl
minus a bottom. Now the egg cases of the moon snails
are familiar objects on many beaches; they are often
washed ashore in thousands. Yet It appears that very
few, except naturalists, are aware of their origin. But
this Ignorance on the part of the lay person is not with-
out good reason. There is little about the egg cases to
indicate their Identity. Naturalists themselves, for
that matter, have not been In the secret long. For, in
works written in the past, but in a period when their

40

Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

authors should have known better, we find unique de-
scriptions, assertions that these are low forms of life
belonging to various places In the animal kingdom.

An examination with a strong glass will reveal the
sandy surface to be a skillfully wrought protective shell,

EGG CASE OF THE MOON SNAIL.

underneath which is a single layer of transparent glob-
ular capsules. These are arranged compactly, but in
a roughly quincuncial manner. So small are they that
there are more than sixteen hundred in the area of a
square Inch. But, mind, these are not the eggs them-
selves. The eggs are bodies still more minute. There
are a dozen and more suspended freely In the humor of

The Moon Snail 4^

each capsule. By careful and repeated measurements
of the surfaces of sundry egg cases, I have computed
the total number of eggs produced by the female in a
single brood to be more than half a million.

The building of the egg case is a painstaking proc-
ess. More often than not, the greater part of a day
is given to this maternal task. The capsules are glued
together in the mantle cavity from whence they emerge
in a gelatinous sheet. As fast as it is formed, however,
the mother covers the agglutinant surface with selected
grains of the sand in which she is generally half buried.
As the case continues to grow, she holds it close to her
shell. Consequently, it travels completely around her,
being molded into its peculiar shape by its circuitous
excursion.

After the making of the case, the mother is no
longer concerned with her young. She has labored to
insure their protection during their incubation, but
with this her interest ends. When her task is com-
pleted she moves away, abandoning her brood at their
birthplace.

But she has done her work well, and the eggs have
little need for further maternal care. For nearly a
month the egg case is washed here and there over the
sand and stones, and remains intact. Then the eggs
are ready to hatch. And it is not until then that the
egg case begins to crumble. The action of the waves
assists in this disintegration; thus, at the same time,
assisting in the liberation of the. numerous progeny.

But what an extraordinary progeny! Here is no
graceful dome but a flattened spire. It is just the
merest fragment of a shell. Nor is there a muscular

42

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

foot to plow the sand. Instead of a crawler, it is a
swimmer, a little, indescribable, transparent speck of
jelly cavorting about in the water.

This is the larval stage. Thenceforward the young
gradually assume a more snaillike appearance. It is
well into the ensuing winter, however, before they can

EGGS or THE MOON SNAIL. (hK^HLY MAGNIFIED.) THE INDIVIDUAL EGGS CAN BE
SEEN AS THE SMALL BLACK BODIES CONTAINED IN THE LARGER CELLS.

easily be recognized for what they are. But by the
time their further development obliges them to pursue
their course on the ocean floor, many thousands will
have perished by the way.

What will happen to them, do you ask?

Well, some will become food for the barnacle, the
clam, the sea squirt, and a multifarious but hungry host

The Moon Snail

43

of smaller creatures. But in the case of the majority,
the finish will he In the stomachs of the selfsame
mussels which serve as prey for the full-grown moon
snail.

Now, to a certain extent, the two mollusks which I
have here reviewed, the mussel and the moon snail,
may be taken as representative of their classes. That
Is to say, the one Is largely typical of the bivalves, or

FREE-SWIMMING LARV^ OF THE MOON SNAIL. (gRE.\TLY ENLARGED.)

pelecypods ; the other Is an example of the univalves,
or gastropods. It Is to be noted, however, that the
habits of the various species within each class may
differ considerably. For Instance, not all pelecypods
lead a stationary life; neither do all gastropods live
by preying.

The pelecypod mollusks are. In fact, a very extensive
group of animals which vary widely even In their struc-
ture. It is to this group that also belong the clam, the

44 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

scallop, the oyster, and other well-known edible shell-
fish. Beside the name Pelecypoda, meaning "hatchet-
shaped" foot, and which, by the way, is in many
instances a misnomer, the term Acephala is used, indi-
cating "without a head." Another name, Lamellihran-
chiata, in reference to the type of gills peculiar to these
animals, has also been employed. But the terminology
of science contains no name more descriptive or correct
than the easily remembered, easily pronounced, and
easily understood popular name "bivalve." Fjr every
animal in this class has two valves (the word "valve"
meaning "shell").

Bivalve mollusks, unlike their univalve brethren, do
not build egg cases. They do, however, lay eggs.
These, as a rule, are not kept within the shell among the
fleshy folds, and when they hatch they give rise to free-
swimming young somewhat similar to those of the
moon snail. The fate of the majority is likewise sim-
ilar. It has been asserted by naturalists that probably
not more than one in a million reaches maturity.

On the whole, the bivalves have acquired a more
stationary habit of living than the univalves, but there
are individuals among the former which can travel with
remarkable rapidity. In speed and action the fastest
univalve cannot match them. The scallop [Pecten) is
one case in point. It adopts the singular method of
quickly opening and closing its valves; thus propelling
itself through the water in a jerky, butterfly sort of
flight. The extreme case, though, is to be seen in the
razor clam {Solen ensis). The characteristic "razor
shell" of this odd-looking mollusk is familiar to every
one who has visited a sandy beach. They are easily to

The Moon Snail 45

be collected by the hundreds. But to get specimens of
the living aninial is quite another matter. Burrowing
in the sand to the depth of two or more feet, where
they remain hidden most of the time, they are seldom
seen. Yet even where one can be observed incautionsly
projecting from its burrow, it is not so readily cap-
tured. At the slightest jarring of the sand in its neigh-
borhood, It takes alarm and Immediately disappears.
And it requires a rapid and skillful digger with a spade
to catch up with it. Its quick descent In the sand is
accomplished by means of Its remarkable foot. This it
extends downward Into a point; then expanding the tip,
the organ becomes wedged in the sand, enabling the
animal to draw close the shell; and by this perform-
ance, quickly repeated, the razor clam makes a speedy
retreat. Now sometimes the razor clam likes to take a
swim. Here, too, the efficiency of its foot is displayed.
With a flick of this organ the animal pulls itself spas-
modically but swiftly through the water.

Although all bivalves are pelecypods, not all uni-
valves are gastropods. (The word "gastropod" means
"stomach foot.") Only two mollusks, however, are
exceptions to this statement. These are the tooth
shells, or Dentalia, and Nautilus, which belongs to
those divisions known as the scaphopods and cephala-
pods, respectively. So In the strict sense of the word
the term "univalve" has its limitations, but as It has
come into such common use in reference to the gastro-
pods, its employment is now generally restricted to
these mollusks.

Now I have been so lavish with strange names and
scientific terms that the reader Is apt to have become

46 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

confused. Let me, therefore, hasten to set him right.
It will be easy to do this by summarizing.

The MoUiisea are divided into five classes. These
classes, taken in the order of their supposed relation-
ship, are respectively the Amphineiira, Gastropoda,
Scaphopoda, Pelecypoda, and the Cephalopoda. With
the exception of the Amphineura, a group that includes
the curious chitons and their allies, the modification of
the foot is the basis on which these classes have re-
ceived their various names. For it will be noticed that
the terminations of the remaining four names refer to
the foot. Thus, the Gastropoda, represented by the
common garden snail, the moon snail, the periwinkles,
and other mollusks bearing but one shell, usually
spirally coiled, crawl on the thickened under surface of
their bodies. That is to say, the foot. The Scapho-
poda, whose shells are like little elephant tusks open at
both ends, burrow in the sand or mud with a long
wormlike foot. The Pelecypoda, to which belong the
familiar oyster, clam, and mussel — bivalves all — are
variously endowed in respect to the shape of foot, but
the prevailing type is club- or hatchet-shaped. The
Cephalopoda are distinguished among molluscs by
having the foot modified into a number of so-called
"arms" which encircle the head or the mouth. It is
to this group that the squid, the octopus, and the pearly-
shelled, chambered nautilus belong.

It is the class Gastropoda, however, that is the
largest and most comprehensive of the five subdivisions.
It far outnumbers the others, both in species and indi-
viduals. Moreover, it is among these that are found
the only members of the entire group of mollusks which

The Moon Snail 47

have learned to breathe In the open air. The garden
snail and the slug are outstanding examples. Once
upon a time these quaint creatures were possessed of
gills and lived in the water, like their relatives in the
pond and sea. But now they breathe with lungs, and
they are no more able to live under water, contin-
uously, than any other air-breathing animal. Ihe
question, therefore, at once arises as to how this
transformation was brought about. How, in the evo-
lutionary progress of these creatures, came they so
completely to change in their habits?

The truth is, no one know^s. But men of learning
have given this question considerable thought. And
they have formed some very definite opinions. They
have, moreover, given us evidence that greatly supports
the apparent probability of their conclusions. One
aspect of this evidence is well worth pausing here to
ponder. At any rate, in so doing, it will enable us to
get an interesting viewpoint of this problem.

This brings us again to the tides. As we have seen,
the periodic rise and fall of the waters leave many ani-
mals exposed for a greater or lesser duration of time.
Now there Is much variation between the capacities of
different shore animals to resist drying when exposed
by the retreating tides, but these capacities are invar-
iably in direct relationship to the positions the animals
occupy on the shore. Thus, certain of the periwinkles
{Littor'mid^) are found only high above the low-tide
line. Some (L. neritoides) live, in shady nooks just
above high-tide mark. But there are some tropical
members of this family (L. varia, L. fasciata, L. pul-
chra) that actually live in trees entirely out of reach

48 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

of the salt water. It will be seen, therefore, that the
Littorinas are well on the road toward a land life.
They are, in fact, gradually substituting lungs for gills.
That the Littorinas first acquired the habit of living
out of the water through the influence of the tides is not
unreasonable to assume. And succeeding centuries
gave rise to individuals which were increasingly able to
withstand long exposure to the air. But, while this
may hold good in the case of this particular group
which is essentially marine, there would seem to be
some difficulty in accounting for those air-breathing

littorina; a periwinkles shell.

types which undoubtedly had their origin in fresh
water. And those types, by the way, have so far pro-
gressed that they must have been a long time on the
road; in fact, the first to start in the evolutionary pro-
cession.

But the answer to this is forthcoming. It is pre-
sumed that the age of the ocean since the earth
assumed its present form is somewhat less than 100,-
000,000 years. Now, as is well known, the sea re-
ceives from the land in addition to other elements more
than 60,000,000 tons of sodium every year. This sub-
stance, dissolved out of the rocks by rains and carried

Tlie Moon Snail 49

in solution to the ocean by rivers and unclergrouiul
streams, there unites witfi its proper proportion of
chlorine, the chemical union forming the salt of the sea.
It becomes obvious, then, that as we go farther and
farther back in point of time, the primordial waters
become rarer and rarer in those earth-derived elements
that make up the content of the present existing sea.
In other words, to put it conversely, the sea became
more salty with each succeeding age. Therefore, it
is extremely probable that the early mollusks had their
beginning in a fresh-water sea. And then, also, of
course, as well as now, the tides prevailed.

Chapter IV
THE STARFISH AND ITS KINDRED

It is a curious fact that of all the great groups, or
phyla, of animals which inhabit the sea, there is only
one which is purely marine, which has no relatives or
representatives on land. This singular instance is in
that division of animals known as the spiny skins, or
echinoderms: under which are classed the starfishes
{Asteroidea), brittle stars {Ophiuroidea) , sea urchins
(Echinoidea), sea cucumbers {Holothiiroidea) , and
feather stars and sea lilies (Crinoidea) . Where, for
instance, the lobster, the jellyfish, and the horseshoe
crab are related to the terrestrial crayfish, the fresh-
water hydra, and the garden spider, respectively, we
find the starfish and its kindred to have not the re-
motest connection with any living forms out of the sea.

The starfishes are common to nearly every seacoast
in the world. The most numerous species along the
Atlantic shores of this continent are Asterias vulgaris
and A. forhesii; the first named being found from the
Carolinas to Labrador, the second from Massachusetts
Bay to the Florida keys. They are nearly alike, except
that the rays of the former are more pointed and the
madreporic tubercle is of a uniform color with the rest
of the animal. In the latter this tubercle is orange-

50

The StiirfisJi and Its Kindred

51

colored. Traveling in droves, as starfishes sometimes
do, they range from low-water mark to depths of six
hundred fathoms or inore.

The brittle stars are so called because of their ex-
treme tendency to break off their limbs when captured.
They are much less abundant than the common star-
fishes, and their secretiveness makes them hard to find.

ASTERIAS; THE COMMON STARFISH. THIS INDIVIDUAL IS GROWING A NEW ARM IN

THE PLACE OF ONE THAT WAS LOST.

Although some specimens live near the shore, they are
for the most part inhabitants of deep water. Their
very slender rays and their active wriggling move-
ments give them the superficial appearance of a spider.
Their outstanding difference from the starfish, how-
ever, is in having their limbs more or less loosely at-
tached to the central disk, or body. In the starfish
the rays are solid extensions of the disk.

Sea urchins, although differing in shape, are alike in

5 2 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

having no rays. Moreover, all are characterized by
the great development of movable spines. They are
sometimes called ocean hedgehogs, on account of their
spiny covering. More sluggish than the starfishes,
they seldom wander far from their accustomed haunts.
Various species of these animals are found from high-
tide mark to very great depths.

Sea cucumbers are creatures whose general appear-
ance is wholly unlike the starfish and the sea urchin.
But there are certain characteristics (of too technical
a nature to be detailed here) they have in common with
those animals which places them undoubtedly in the
same company. They may roughly be described as
sausage-shaped with a rosette of tentacles at one end.
They are inhabitants of every variety of bottom; but
the majority are found in the sand and mud which, like
the earthworm, they eat for the organic particles there-
in contained.

Most feather stars and crinoids live only in deep
water and are seldom found near the shore. The cri-
noids are generally known as sea lilies because of their
general form. They have a long, jointed stalk, one end
of which is attached, while the other bears the disk and
featherlike arms of the animal. The sea lilies remain
permanently fixed where they grow, but the feather
stars, which at one stage of their life are stalked, de-
tach themselves from this part of the body and swim
about by means of their arms.

Thus I have given in the briefest form possible the
general characteristics of the five classes of animals
which make up the phylum Echinodermata. The com-
plete life histories of by far the greater part of this

The Starfish and Its K'nidrcd 53

Interesting and extensive group are as yet unknown.
Indeed, even the full details regarding the lives and
habits of our commonest forms are still unrecorded.
For the young naturalist who is fired with the ambition
to add his substance to the sum of scientific knowledge,
he can not do better than to apply himself to the study
of whatever type is at his convenience.

But this matter of convenience entails more than the
mere presence of the subject in one's locality, if one is
successfully to enlarge upon the knowledge of its ways.
It is often that chance brings discoveries which perse-
verance has failed to produce; and that physical con-
ditions for observation may also determine the
measure of achievement. As a case in point, let me
take the reader to a once favorite haunt of mine.

Formerly, in the vicinity of Harbor Beach, there
stood well out in Hempstead Harbor the partly sub-
merged framework of an old wreck. It had been a
coastwise boat that years ago, on catching afire in the
Sound, put into this harbor w^here she was beached and
left to burn to the water's edge. When I first made
its acquaintance, all that remained was the bulkhead,
which was headed toward the shore, and a score or
more of ribs still standing upright and trailing away
from this point, those outermost finally losing them-
selves in the deeper water. The superstructure, of
course, had entirely disappeared. Little remained but
the bare skeleton of what once was evidently a well-
built boat.

However, at that juncture where the keel and other
timbers form the framework of the bow, there was
yet in position a portion of the forecastle deck. This

54 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

was of a size just roomy enough to serve as a vantage
point from which to view the details of the interior of
the ancient wreck. The angle at which the hull settled
was such that the greater part of this shelving wood-
work was above the reach of the tides.

Between the tide marks — that is to say, in the space
of about seven feet — the framework was covered with
mussels. But their possession of the blackened timbers
was disputed by the barnacle and the shipworm; for the
fragmentary appearance of the hull showed clearly the
presence of this invisible but insidious last-named ani-
mal ceaselessly gnawing at the vitals of the woodwork.
In the higher levels of the transparent waters, every
stick and stanchion stood out distinctly. From every
part of the submerged structure there rose fronds of
seaweed and hairlike clusters of hydroids. In the dark-
green limpid depths could be seen dull-glowing patches
of red, like splashes of molten iron beginning to cool.
They were sponges; and their vivid hues invested the
homely old hull with an exotic charm. Many bizarre
forms were represented there. From the ascidians, or
sea squirts, which looked like warty growths, or excres-
cences, on the wood, to that delightful creature, the
starfish, which is an adornment to whatever surround-
ing it may be in, the profusion of forms seemed to be
as infinite as it was various.

Such is the general, and necessarily imperfect, pic-
ture of what, to me at least, was a marine paradise.
Whether or not this mass of rotten wreckage would
have excited in others the same emotions that filled me,
I do not know. But many were the splendid hours that
fell to my lot as I lay under the summer sun peering

The StarfisJi and Its Kindred 55

into those mystic depths. Majestic, rapturous hours!
Strange fishes slinking out of the shadowy maze, catch-
ing sight of my slightest movement, retreated ghost-
like into the deep blue. Others, less timorous,
dissolving into view would hover near, apparently un-
daunted by my presence. Often, however, I would
frighten them with a wild flourish of my arms to see
how far the silvery gleam of their scales could be fol-
lowed into the emerald depths beneath. And how al-
luring were those crystal waters ! Frequently I would
dive down into the inviting coolness of the limpid laby-
rinth to sit on some frond-wreathed beam as long as
the breath within me lasted.

But that delightful rendezvous no longer exists.
With the exception of some half dozen rotting timbers
which are exposed at low tide, the hull has since dis-
integrated and its water-logged fragments are being
fast silted over on the harbor floor. It was not the
force of wind and waves, however, that brought
about its reduction, for this is a well-protected in-
let; the factor was far more subtle, but none the less
puissant.

It is well known that the destruction of maritime
property by the shipworm {Teredo) is surpassed by
that of no other marine organism. Though com-
monly called the "shipworm," this creature is not a
worm; it is a moUusk; that is to say, a near relative of
the clam, the moon snail, and other shellfish. Its
wormlike form is due to its boring habit. Each female
is capable of spawning about a million young; and
these, unlike the adult which remains fixed in its bur-
row for life, are very active swimmers. When they

56 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

grow to the size of a pinhead they seek lodgment on
pilings and other submerged timber, and there start
their burrows. For a short distance from the entrance,
each burrow is perpendicular to the surface; it soon
turns, however, and aligns itself with the grain of the
wood, although with more or less of a twist. Regard-
less of how numerous these burrows may be, the occu-
pants never touch each other. Always there remains
a thin partition between the individuals infesting the
wood. The shipworm mines its tunnel to accom-
modate its growth. As the burrow increases in length
it increases somewhat in diameter, but the original
point of entrance always remains the same. This open-
ing is so minute that it easily escapes notice and the in-
festation is generally not detected until the destructive
work of the animal is well advanced. It is through this
orifice that the shipworm thrusts out its paired, siphon-
like tubes to strain the water for food.

Ever since man began to build ships and wharves
he has had to contend with this diminutive monster.
So effective are its ravages that it can ruin utterly
within the space of a few months that which takes
years of labor and millions in money to construct. In
the upper part of San Francisco Bay the damage dur-
ing the years 19 19 and 1920 resulting from the activi-
ties of the shipworm has been estimated to exceed
$15,000,000. This estimate was placed solely on the
damage to docks and piers; what the total losses to
shipping and harbor construction of all our ports dur-
ing every year may be Is not determined; it is agreed,
however, that the amount is so stupendous that Its
significance would be lost on the average mind. Here-

The Starfish and Its Kindred 57

tofore the greatest losses seem to have been sustained
on the Pacific coast. Whether this has been due to a
greater proportion of wood structures in those waters
which were subject to infestation, or whether it was
due to other natural conditions, is not clear; at any
rate, there has been a striking increase in the preva-
lence of this pest in the shore waters of the Atlantic
coast. It has, in fact, made its appearance in extraor-
dinary num.bers in all congested harbors along the
Eastern seaboard as far north as Long Island Sound.
Within the next few years, at its present rate of in-
crease, it will have established itself in every seaport
and harbor in the United States.

It threatens not merely man's property, however;
it is a real and constant menace to his life. Indeed, I
think it may be said without exaggeration that indi-
rectly the shipworm has sent more men and boats to
the bottom of the sea than have been wiped out of
existence by the direct violence of storms.

However, the destruction of the old hull was com-
pensated for by its picturesque appearance and the
fantastic beauty that the living forms lent to its
vanishing shape. But, although the beauty of the spot
was quite irresistible, other attractions also took me
there. From my station on the little platform, I could
study with the greatest ease the habits of my favorites
in their natural surroundings, and follow the growth
and succession of various types as these were mani-
fested throughout the different seasons. It was, in
truth, an ideal observatory.

Now, needless to say, the starfish, which in point of
numbers was second only to the mussel, engaged a

58 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

large share of my attention. If you know the starfish,
you will readily guess why it elected to make this place
its home. It was because of the ever-constant supply of
food covering the crumbling ribs. But as this history
is being written primarily for the reader who knows
little or nothing of our sea folk, I shall amplify the pre-
ceding statement; there is more of interest in it than
the bare assertion implies. And as I proceed toward
this end, we may find it of further interest occasionally
to linger by the way.

Once again I see myself installed in the spot beloved
of Asterias. The late September sun blazes through
a listless air that as yet gives no hint of the frigid days
which are soon to follow. But the heat, so oppressive
on shore, is here tempered, not by zephyrs from the
Sound, for there is not the slightest ripple in the harbor,
but by the colder expanse of surrounding water. The
tide is rising and has nearly reached its highest
level.

Starfishes awaiting the return of the tide can be seen
everywhere: some are crammed in crevices, others
have wedged themselves in companies of several into
nooks that would apparently limit the free move-
ment of a single individual, and not a few are sus-
pended motionless by the tip of a single ray from the
under side of the dripping bulwark. These stragglers,
slowly moving at best, while having been intent on their
various occupations near the high-water mark, were left
behind by the falling tide; and now, incapable of ef-
ficient locomotion out of their natural element, they
remain inactive until its return. In the water below,
seemingly scattered more numerously than the stars in

The Starfish and Its Kindred 59

the sky, starfishes In various stages of growth are cling-
ing to or crawling over the mussel-laden framework.
By the bright orange button, or madreporlte, near the
center of each animal's back, and which each individual
without exception carries, I recognize them all as be-
longing to the same species, Asterias forhesii.

Directly beneath, just within reach, I see one un-
usually large creature. It measures easily a foot across.
Although long familiar with the appearance of As-
terias, I cannot refrain from lifting this Interesting
specimen to examine for the thousandth time Its curious
details. For, be It known, the starfish Is in many re-
spects unique among animals. Simple as It Is con-
structed. It is a never-failing object of wonder to the
novice and to the experienced naturalist alike.

Perhaps Its most outstanding departure from other
animals Is In the method of Its locomotion. Laying this
creature upon its back, I observe its efforts to right
itself. It would seem that on account of Its rigid struc-
ture It would have some difficulty in accomplishing this
feat; but it can, in fact, perform some remarkable con-
tortions In spite of Its apparent inflexibility. For a few
moments It remains the picture of helplessness. Flank-
ing the deep groove that starts at the mouth and ex-
tends along the middle to the tip of each of Its five rays
Is a forest of little transparent tubular processes.
These slender processes are about three-fourths of an
Inch long, contractile, and very elastic; they are termi-
nated by a well-formed sucker, an expansion by means
of which they can be firmly fixed to any solid surface;
they are, in fact, the ambulacra, or so-called tube feet,
which are the actual organs wherewith the animal

6o Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

moves about. Now In turning over, it brings its tube
feet effectively into play. Twisting one or more of the
rays on one side until their tips are bent under the body,
so to speak, the tube feet at the extremities are thereby
enabled to get a hold of the wood of the platform.
Then by the successive attachment of the tube feet fol-
lowing farther inward on the rays, the starfish pulls its
bulk gradually but completely over. The whole move-
ment occupies a little less than a minute.

Beyond this effort, it makes no further attempt at
any extensive maneuvering. Seemingly unable to use
its sucking feet on a dry surface, it remains on the spot
now well wetted by its dripping body. Yet its pertur-
bation at being out of its natural element is quite mani-
fest. On the under side of the tip of each ray can be
seen a tube foot, noticeably delicate and without a suck-
ing pad, extending here and there and then retracting,
as though carefully exploring the region within its im-
mediate radius. This operation is strongly suggestive
of a blind person feeling around with a cane. Nor Is
the comparison incapable of further development. For,
although able to distinguish light from darkness, the
starfish is, in the usual meaning of the term, blind; but
the suckerless tube feet are In every sense of the word
its feelers. These latter, by the way. In spite of their
resemblance to the true tube feet, are never employed
as such ; they are used only as organs of touch. Strange
— is it not? — that this creature has five eyes — one at
the extremity of each ray, a minute crimson speck — but
cannot see; is equipped with multitudinous feet, but Is
unable to progress faster than three Inches in a minute.
Nevertheless, notwithstanding its limitations. It tra-

The Starfish and Its Kindred 6 1

verses considerable distances; and to one unaware of
the method of travel, its migrations are accomplished
in an incredibly short time. The truth is, it appears
rather poorly favored when compared with other
rovers; but it gets there just the same, as we shall pres-
ently have an opportunity to see.

Before replacing my pretty starfish in the water,
I do not neglect to examine its upper surface for
caprellas and sea spiders and other minute creatures
which are sometimes harbored there. Ofttimes this
proves to be a profitable hunting ground; but in this
instance it is barren of these guests. All that is re-
vealed under the searching scrutiny of my pocket lens
is the dark-purple exterior armed with short, blunt,
calcareous nodules, or spines. They are encircled at
the base, and not infrequently covered, by a cluster of
tiny pincerlike appendages. These are the pedicellarise ;
they are plainly adapted to seizing and holding, and
their principal use seems to be to rid the animal of
foreign substances such as certain seaweeds and other
growths that have a tendency to afl'ix themselves to
hard objects. Less conspicuous, because of their great
transparency, are numerous teatlike projections arising
between the spines, which form part of the breathing
system of the starfish. Except for their smaller size,
they somewhat resemble the tube feet minus their suck-
ers. Bending to and fro, they are constantly in motion,
seeking to extract the oxygen necessary for the animal's
support from the surrounding film of water. Thus it
will be seen that the starfish veritably carries its lungs
on its back.

But the most striking thing, in appearance at least,

62 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

is the brilliant orange tubercle called the madreporite.
Lying near the rim of the central disk, at the angle of
two of the rays, this rounded prominence is set out in
vivid contrast to the rest of the body. Its gaudy color
and exquisite conformation make it no mean adornment
to the otherwise rugged exterior. It is a miniature
replica of some exotic brain coral. In structure it is
porous. It is, in brief, a filter. Its purpose is to strain
the water which is taken in by the starfish and used to
distend the tube feet when it walks.

Lifting Asterias from the platform, I drop it into
the water and watch it sink slowly toward the bottom
where it becomes nearly lost in the dark haze that all
but obscures the verdant floor. Its position, however,
is marked for a few moments by an ascending shower
of bubbles, greenish-cast pearls arising in diminishing
numbers to break at the surface with sparkling bright-
ness. The soft, pleasing murmur of the bursting beads
finally dies out and my attention is directed to the more
visible parts of the hull. It immediately becomes evi-
dent that something of more than usual significance is
taking place. Several feet below the mussels I see a
number of starfishes clinging to the timber with their
backs humped in the characteristic manner they assume
when enveloping food.

What can they be eating? What is it that they have
found in that region where only fixed vegetation seems
to flourish? Certainly they cannot be vegetarians.
And as for the presence of anything else of an edible
nature, I am too familiar with this portion of the hull
to have allowed it to escape me if it exists. Further-
more, it is impossible that they are enjoying a meal

The Starfish and Its Kindred 63

which was obtained elsewhere; for starfishes are never
known to transport their food; they devour it on the
spot. Poising myself far over the edge of the platform
to get a better view, I peer intently at the spectacle.
No, nothing edible is to be seen in the vicinity. But
under several of the nearest animals can be detected
a filmy exudation appearing between the rays. It now
becomes plain what they are about. Their attitudes
are indicative of but one thing: they are spawning.
These are females and they are liberating their eggs in
the water to be fertilized by the male sperm cells, which
are no doubt swarming here in invisible millions. Al-
though the sexes are distinct it is next to impossible to
tell from outward appearance which is the male and
which is the female starfish. However, knowing it to
be the rule among most low orders of animals that
when an event like the preceding is taking place, the
males are generally not far away, I look around to see
if any unusual activities on the part of the others are to
be seen. But nothing noteworthy manifests the fact
that the males are busy.

Time passes. I am anxious to see what part the
males play, if any, in bringing this wholesale delivery
to a successful issue; for there is good reason to suspect
that they are not wholly indifferent to the travail of the
females. Although chance to a large extent determines
the actual meeting of the eggs and the sperms, it would
be a rare thing, indeed, if this chance were not lessened
by the mutual behavior of the parents. But it grows
dark; the tide is falling; I am reluctantly obliged to
give up my watch.

Nevertheless, the next day finds me ensconced in the

64 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

same place ready to unravel whatever threads may
present themselves. And I am compelled to add that
repeated observations day after day bring me nothing
new; each time I see the usual performance of the
females but nothing to denote that the occasion is sig-
nificant CO the males. Yet my perseverance is not en-
tirely without reward. I am soon to have more than
my pains for my laborious steadfastness. But let me
anticipate myself. Complete and successful observa-
tion of this affair is yet to be mine. However, in the
following occurrence there is more than enough to con-
vince me that if my suspicions are not altogether well-
founded, I hav^e come close to something so significant
that it dwarfs the interest of the present inquiry.

Late one day when getting ready to abandon my
post, I was arrested for a moment by something moving
deep down in the bottom of the hull. It did not hold
me for long, as it immediately lost itself in the gloom,
and in the imperfect light I took it for some drifting
clump of seaweed carried along by the incoming tide.
Gathering together my trappings I climbed down to my
little skiff which w^as moored to one of the stanchions
in the capacious hull. No sooner had I seated myself
than I perceived my mistake. The water was low, and
my position in the boat afforded a nearer view^ of what
was going on below. In the tenebrous depths moving
in the general direction of the current could be dis-
cerned light, irregular masses outlined against the
darker bottom like nimbus clouds in the moonlight.
One of these patches carried upward well within visible
range revealed its nature. It was a cluster of star-
fishes, each hanging on to the other. Then it was I

The Starfish and Its Kindred 65

saw that the wreckage was fast becoming covered with
them. They came singly and in groups; they came in
multitudes. From whence they came I do not know;
however, it is not improbable that the oyster beds near
the mouth of the harbor would show evidence of their
recent presence. Moreover all arrived by the same
means. They were swept along by the tidal movement.

But why this exodus? Why this visitation to a spot
which can give bare support in the way of food or foot-
hold to such enormous numbers? Well, my guess Is that
this gathering of the clan had not to do with food but
with fertility. It was one of those instances, not uncom-
mon In the watery world, wherein marrlageless females
are nevertheless accompanied on their travels by at-
tentive males.

Let us see. From the time the young starfish hatches
out of the egg until several weeks later when It settles
to the bottom, its appearance and its habits are totally
unlike those of the familiar adult. It Is a transparent
cluster of fingerlike processes, so minute as to be barely
visible; and it swims by means of short vibrating hairs,
or cilia, which cover Its body. During this period it is
carried about bv the tidal currents and waves or, as is
more frequently the case, it holds close to the shelter
of rocks, shells, seaweeds, and other nooks In the vicin-
ity of Its birthplace, thus lessening its chance of being
swept out to the open sea where it would ultimately
perish for want of proper food. But when the time for
the metamorphosis arrives, when it loses Its early, or
larval, form and becomes a perfect, though tiny, star-
fish, it Is no longer In danger of being carried out to
sea; it is enabled to cling fast to solid objects with Its

66 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

little tube feet. At this time, however, another and
perhaps more serious problem presents itself; it must
find food of such a nature as easily to be captured and
overcome by such an insignificant and slow-moving mite
as the starfish now is; for it starts out in the final stage
of its life no bigger than a lentil. Herein is the first
clue to the reason for the migrating of the sexes. No
region of the ocean is more prolific of life than the
shallower waters near the shore and in coves and inlets;
and no region is more diversified. In that zone, from
the high-water mark to a point several fathoms deep
the sun's rays help to produce the greater part of that
vegetation to which nearly all living marine animals
owe their existence either directly or indirectly. This
is to say the plants are eaten by certain animals which
are in turn devoured by other creatures and these again
may become food for others. Therefore it is not with-
out purpose that the gravid females leave the less favor-
able depths to assemble in the region of the sunken
wreck. In response to the maternalistic instinct they
seek to disperse their eggs in surroundings where food
will be plentiful for the forthcoming progeny. The
adult males, in response to an instinct no less powerful,
accompany the females in these migrations. For with-
out their presence, without the certainty that the spawn
is soon to receive that vital impetus which assures its
further development, it is clear that the precautions of
the prospective mothers will have been in vain.

Would you know what the young starfishes eat?
Well, to enumerate all the things that go to make up
their diet would be somewhat difficult; for, like the
adults, they are scavengers — although fastidious ones

The Starfish and Its Kindred 67

— and will hardly refuse anything which the taint of
putrefaction has not made offensive. Although I have
never observed them to touch marine plants even when
starving, I have had no trouble in feeding healthy in-
dividuals in various stages of growth pieces of apple,
pear, and other acid fruits; provisions strange and
foreign to their natural larder. But, also like the full-
grown animals, the little ones prefer living food. This
they find chiefly among the young barnacles and mussels
and other small shellfish.

Were it not for the gruesomeness of the operation,
the manner in which they open the shells of their vic-
tims would excite admiration; for their perseverance is
without parallel. Indeed, to one who knows the star-
fish only as an inactive, harmless, beach ornament, it
will come as a surprise to learn that it can pull apart
the valves of any shellfish its arms can encompass. The
method is always the same. Straddling a bivalve, it
humps itself high in the center, and fastens its hundreds
of suckerlike tube feet to both valves. Then com-
mences a steady pull. It is in reality a tug of war: the
victim in the one case exerting its strength to keep its
compartment tight-closed, and the starfish in the other
slowly straining to force it ooen; but the starfish always
wins. The luckless occupant cannot endure the con-
stant pull. The starfish seemingly is tireless and finally
the shell gapes open. Then an amazing act takes place.
From out of its mouth the starfish protrudes its
stomach, and envelops the animal within the shell.
Nor does it withdraw this remarkable organ until its
prey has been fully digested.

This concludes the essential part of my observations

68

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

STARFISH SEARCHING FOR FOOD. (PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BOTTOM OF A

TIDE POOL.)

of the common starfish as they were made In the old
hull. Subsequent experience gained In other places and
under other conditions has confirmed but not added to

The Starfish and Its Kindred 69

the substance of what I learned among Its wormy beams
and stanchions. Here also must end the reader's
acquaintance with that structure Itself. My purpose In
Introducing him to this haunt has been fulfilled. Be-
sides the background It has given us for the activities
of the starfish, It furnishes a very Important object
lesson. To the seashore naturalist, no object, whether
It be floating driftwood or submerged piling, Is un-
worthy of attention. Whatever the tides Inundate,
regardless of its character, becomes fertile ground for
him who deigns to dig.

Notwithstanding my obligation to proceed In the
business of presenting those others who properly and
justly claim a share in this history, It Is not without
regret that I leave this lovely scene. I fain would
linger over Its pleasing memory, over the Image of Its
thousand stars bespangling the moldering framework
or decorating the darkness of its receding depths, over
the recollection of those fruitful, rapturous hours, oft-
times extending far Into the night. To me this spot was
as alluring In the blackest midnight as under the noon-
day sun. For, w^ith the fading of the day, It had an
ethereal splendor all its own; yet not unearthly, or
unreal. The framework faintly glowing with a mellow
light of phosphorescence became softly outlined In the
watery void. And In the vastness of the silent night,
the ancient corse no longer was a thing of rotting
wood and wormy recesses; It was near and dear and
human !

Chapter V

THE COMB JELLIES AND OTHERS

If one would fully acquaint himself with the various
activities of the animals which frequent the shore, he
should not neglect to visit this region after nightfall.
Then it is, when the terrestrial world has settled to
rest, that the water becomes the scene of a singular ani-
mation. On lanci, the setting of the sun is for the
great majority of animals a silent signal for slumber.
It is quite different with the creatures of the sea. With
the exception of fishes and certain other higher forms,
it is extremely doubtful whether marine animals sleep;
and even in the case of those that are known to do
so, it is the period of daylight rather than of darkness
that they choose for this purpose. Throughout the
night many creatures come close to shore in search
of prey and retire before dawn. Observation at this
time is comparatively easy; for if one be provided with
a small electric flash lamp he can draw close to many
wary crawlers, or stand quietly watching others which
are utterly impossible of approach in the broad light of
day. They seem not to be disturbed by the presence of
the light; indeed, its rays are an attraction to not a few
fishes, which d'sport themselves in glittering shoals
within the luminous circle.

70

The Comb Jellies and Others 71

Although no season of the year is without its social
activities, it is on warm summer nights that these are at
their greatest height. During the dog days, the genial
temperature of the shore waters makes conditions par-
ticularly favorable for the growth of plant life; this
is reflected in the increasing abundance of animals, all
of whom are ultimately dependent on the vegetation of
the sea for sustenance. Moreover, the spawning of
most shore dwellers takes place at this time, and as a
consequence the water becomes extraordinarily popu-
lated. There is plenty to eat for all.

And how well they know it! Making their way in
droves from the outlying reaches, the spider crabs
[Libinia emarginata) approach the shore or swarm
over the mussel banks, sometimes so thickly that the
bottom seems literally covered with them. They live
mostly on vegetable matter. These crabs are well
named; they look like giant spiders, with their flask-
shaped bodies and remarkably long, slender legs. The
males are the larger, and often have a spread of over
a foot and a half. Not only are these creatures the
largest of all the true crabs to be found along our
coasts, but another one of the spider crabs {Macro-
cheira kcinipferi), found in Japanese waters, is easily
the largest living crustacean of the world, measuring
fully twelve feet over all. However, the spider crabs
are less remarkable for their size than for the curious
habit they have of masking themselves with plants and
other growths. Sluggish and apparently stupid in their
ordinary habits, in this one instance they surpass all
other crustaceans in the display of reason : they will
purposely select certain seaweeds, hydroids, and other

72 Dzvellcrs of the Sea and Shore

organisms and affix them to the hairy hooks on their
backs, ostensibly for the purpose of conceahnent. Their
show of intelHgence in choosing only those materials
that will bear transplanting and with reference to their
colors has long occupied the curiosity of the lay person
and the serious attention of the naturalist.

The spider crabs being vegetarian in their habits, it
Is quite evident that their presence among the mussels
is a peaceable one; they frequent the beds to feed on a
variety of small seaweed that grows on the shells. But
the mussels are, nevertheless, the victims of nocturnal
raiders not far removed in kind from the spider crabs.
These are the sand crabs {Cancer irroratiis) who with
their powerful claws crumble away the margins of the
valves, thus gaining an entrance to the occupants
within. In these marauding exploits they are well
attended by a tribe of smaller fry, the hermit crabs,
which warily await just out of reach of the dangerous
forceps until the owners have finished eating, when
they at once pounce upon the fragments which the saml
crabs have disdained to consume. Sometimes it hap-
pens that a hungry hermit crab in its eagerness or
impatience approaches too near the formidable diner.
Instantly it is seized and in spite of its attempt to
retract as far as possible into its borrowed shell, this
Is broken away and the unfortunate Inmate is plucked
out piecemeal and leisurely devoured.

It must not be assumed, however, that the shocking
exhibitions of ruthlessness are the sole reward for one's
pains to visit the beach in the night; there are other
compensations that go far to eliminate the unpleasant-
ness of these contacts. Outstanding among these, with-

The Comb Jellies and Others

73

out a doubt, Is the display of phosphorescent light by
the various animals of the sea and shore. Especially
striking Is this phenomenon on a clear summer night
before the rising of the moon. Here and there, among
the pebbles and swarming over the swaying seaweeds,
can be seen tiny points of bluish light; pale floating
clusters of liquid fire are carried to the shore by the

bolina; a phosphorescent comb jelly, (photograph taken in the water.)

waves to break upon the sand with a brilliant sheen;
even as one walks, one's footsteps mark a softly shim-
mering trail, in which the quivering glow lingers for a
while, hesitates, and then dies out.

These lights are variously ^ emitted by minute
crustaceans, comb jellies and worms. But by rea-
son of the larger volume of light given off by each
individual, and on account of their enormous numbers.

74 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

the comb jellies ar^ far more conspicuous than the
others.

The comb jellies, or Ctenophora, exist In every
ocean. They are nearly as abundant in the arctic as in
the temperate and the tropical waters. Of the several
hundred different species which make up this group,
perhaps less than a half dozen are known to other per-
sons than professed naturalists. Even these few
would doubtless have escaped common observation
were it not for the extraordinary play of prismatic
colors that is reflected horn their bodies in the sun-
light; for otherwise, because of their great transpar-
ency, they are practically invisible.

One particularly common comb jelly is the exquisitely
beautiful "rainbow jelly" (Mnemiopsis leidyi) which
makes its appearance on our Eastern coast during the
hottest season of the year. In general form it is pear-
shaped, somewhat flattened on two sides. Specimens
six inches in length are not uncommon, but the great
majority are more nearly four inches. Whenever one
of these delicate creatures is encountered, others are
almost certain to be in the immediate vicinity; they are
gregarious — that is, they collect together and wander
about by thousands. Although not a rapid swimmer
it is a graceful one. It progresses with an undulating
motion by means of eight rows of flat hairlike processes,
or cilia, arranged in meridianal lines over the surface.
The filmy gelatinous character of its body substance
makes it extremely difficult to handle, and it cannot be
lifted from the water without injury; yet, in spite of its
delicate structure, it captures small fishes and crus-
taceans for its food, and has been known to devour

The Comb Jellies and Others

IS

other comb jellies as large as Itself, l^xceedingly phos-
phorescent, its brilliant green light flashing intermit-
tently in the night time makes a spectacle in the waters
that is singularly entrancing.

Another ctenophore, less often seen, though common
enough at times along the shores of New England, is
the "comet jelly" {Pleurobraehia rhododaetyla) ^ an

pleurobrachia; the comet jelly.

Iridescent bubble of pink of about an inch or more in
diameter. This little living transparent sphere courses
its way here and there through the water, sometimes
with a revolving and sometimes with a rotating motion
effected by the paddling of Its eight rows of cilia. But,
more often than not, a curious exhibition accompanies
these active movements. From what appears to be two
nodes, the size of a pin's head, situated on opposite
sides of the sphere, there will be extended and retracted,
suddenly or gradually, as the case may be, a pair of
threadlike streamers fringed along one side for their
whole length with long waving cilia. As these slender

76 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

and gauzy plumes elongate, they trail behind the swim-
ming animal In graceful undulating curves until they
reach the amazing length of twenty or more times the
diameter of the body.

At one pole of Its body is the mouth, a narrow, slit-
like opening; at the other is a small area In the center
of which is the so-called "eyespot." This eye, however,
cannot see as the fullest meaning of the word would
imply, being sensitive only to light and darkness. Yet,
notwithstanding, it seems to be aware of the approach
of danger, for often the presence of a moving boat or
other commotion In its neighborhood will cause it to
disappear toward the bottom.

Now it will be noted that in the two forms just
reviewed, the motor appendages, or cilia, by means of
which they swim, are arranged in eight rows. In all
ctenophores these rows run in a direction with the longi-
tudinal axis of the body, and It is from their fancied
resemblance to combs that the early observers assigned
to the members of the entire class the term "comb
jellies"; hence, their systematic name Ctenophora, or
comb bearers. But, although the comb jellies are easily
recognizable by virtue of their swimming organs, this
distinction is, after all, a very superficial one. They
are classed apart from the true jellylishes, or Scyphozoa,
because of other very real and far more fundamental
differences. Besides the fact that both sexes are united
in one individual, the comb jellies may be said to differ
from the jellyfishes chiefly in their method of reproduc-
tion, which Is to say, their eggs hatch directly into free-
swimming young who in appearance or habits are in no
essential respect unlike the adults. That this Is not so

The Comb Jellies and Others 77

in the case of jellyfishes, will be made clear in what
follows.

The large jellyfishes, or medusae, as they are also
called because of their tentacles which are suggestive
of the Gorgon's locks, range from the size of a mere
speck to several feet in diameter. But however di-
verse may be their dimensions, they all agree in general

pelagia; a jellyfish.

outlines and plan of structure. They are umbrella-
shaped, or, rather, they are roughly comparable to a
mushroom in which the stalk is superseded by depend-
ent central organs, the mouth and stomach of the ani-
mal. As in the case of the comb jellies, many of the
jellyfishes are phosphorescent; sofne are luminous over
the entire body, others have light-producing organs of
a more restricted type; and, also, like the ctenophores,
they inhabit all seas.

78

Dwellers of the Sea

In Hempstead Harbor two striking and uncommonly
beautiful forms make their appearance regularly in the
middle of May in each year. These are Aiirella flavU
diila and Cyanea fiilva; and they sometimes occur in
such enormous shoals that one has difficulty in making
his way with a boat lest his oars strike them and muti-
late their beautiful bodies. Storms sweeping in from
the Sound with unwonted violence will occasionally

tlu 111 11.111 1)1 ' 'jijgS^Ct '^"^ t'^-^'S^ '1' I I'l' " 11 '~'i !
i! tint Ilk- nv\J^^t\{tii (ij DP. !i ^i^/'^A(|y ' < " "l'"l
i\> 1] J < nii ijlip^fill^u fiiSii tfS

il..

'?!.■> I 1 1 • 1

4^'^iH** ^ \

DISK OF A DRIED JELLYFISH. A TRAaSPARENT EILM THROUGH WHICH TYPE EASILY
CAN BE READ, IS ALL THAT REMAINS AITER EXPOSURE TO THE SUN AND AIR.

throw them up on the beaches in masses, where ex-
posure to the sun reduces them in a short time to an
almost invisible film. This almost total obliteration by
the sun is due to the relatively small actual body sub-
stance that constitutes the jellyfish; for despite their
large bulk, they are slightly less than one hundred per
cent water.

Aurelia, when full grown, is about ten inches in
diameter. Its broad, transnarent disk is somewhat like

The Comb Jellies and Others 79

a crystal dinner plate Indented at the margin with eight
notches. In each of these marginal notches, hidden by
a hood, Is a small tubercle containing the eyespot. A
very short cluster of tentacles fringes the circumference
of the animal. Four horseshoe-shaped sex organs ar-
ranged In a geometrical pattern around the center, well
within the body, are a conspicuous and ornamental fea-
ture. By their color, one can readily recognize the sex
of the Individual : In the male they are pink, and In the
female they are yellow. Aurella revels In the sunlight.
On cloudless days, when the water is smooth, It swims
near the surface, reflecting the most delicate hues Im-
aginable from Its purple-tinged tissues.

In common with other jellyfishes, Aurella swims in
a very characteristic manner. Not being possessed of
swimming paddles, or cilia, like the comb jellies, its
mode of progression, quite obviously, differs from
theirs. In short, it propels itself, not by the aid of
organs adapted to this purpose, but by alternately con-
tracting and expanding its disk. The action is like
nothing so much as the partial closing and opening of
an umbrella. This jellyfish never rests. The rhythmic
movement of its body continues without intermission
throughout its adult life like the beating of the human
heart.

No less remarkable for Its beauty is Cyanea fiilva.
This species may well be termed the "little brown
brother" of the more widely known C. arctica, or sea
blubber, the largest jellyfish in existence. Although
more local in its distribution than the latter, and dif-
fering from it In size and color, Its general appearance
and habits are otherwise about the same. In our

8o Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Cyanea the disk is seldom larger than that of Aurelia's,
hut is more domelike; the incisions of the margin are
more pronounced and are sixteen in number; only eight
of these notches, however, contain eyespots. On the
under surface is the central mouth, surrounded and hid-
den by four long voluminous veils that hang in loose
folds. Near the margin, separated into eight distinct
clusters, are the tentacles.

Here we come to what are perhaps the most singular
organs in the animal kingdom. For one who sees our
Cyanea the first time, as it floats serenely near the sur-
face, trailing beneath its pulsating body these long and
multitudinous threads, some of which are spun out for
several feet and glisten like the finest gossamer, it is
hard to realize that the jellyfish is anything but defense-
less. But let one inadvertently expose his bare skin to
the touch of the delicate strands and he will quickly
withdraw with surprise. And if the specimen encoun-
tered be large enough, his surprise will not be unmin-
gled with pain. The tentacles are, in fact, the crea-
ture's stinging organs wherewith it shocks and benumbs
its prey. With these formidable weapons it literally
combs the water for small fishes, crustaceans, and other
animals upon which it feeds. They are contractile and
extensible; indeed, the enormous length to which they
can be extruded gives a considerable compass to the
operations of the animal. But it so happens that
Cyanea is not always hungry. Nevertheless, any luck-
less swimmer that grazes the paralyzing snare is seized
and stunned just the same. It is soon released, how-
ever, and sinks to the bottom as if dead. Then, after
a while, the effect of the shock seems to pass off, the

The Comb Jellies and Others 8i

animal recovers, and swims away apparently no worse
for the experience.

This remarkable capacity of the tentacles, wherewith
the jellyfish is enabled to subdue its prey by stunning it,
is due to hundreds of minute stinging cells that invest
those organs. The cells are somewhat egg-shaped,
with thickened elastic walls, and each one contains a
coiled threadlike filament, one end of which is attached
to the cell. The free end is pointed (in the case of
some organisms it is barbed, in addition) and is charged
with a highly irritant poison (believed to be formic
acid). When organic matter, such as food animals or
other edible material — for the jellyfish eats both the
living and the dead — comes into contact with the ten-
tacles, the cells in the immediate vicinity of the col-
lision become excited and burst with such force that the
poisonous filaments are driven into the object. It is
to the noxious property of these myriads of poisonous
darts that the paralyzing shock is due.

As I have already implied, the sexes are separate In
the jellyfishes. The spawning season of Aurelia and
Cyanea, which takes place in midsummer, Is often
marked by inordinately thick shoals of the congregating
males and females. The eggs are carried in the ma-
ternal pouches until they have developed Into little
pear-shaped bodies (planula) covered with short cilia
enabling them to swim. When they are liberated they
wander around for a short time, but finally find their
way to the bottom where they^ attach themselves to
plants and stones. Then begins a series of marvelous
changes in the growth and development of the jellyfish.

In attaching itself, the embryo does so on the narrow

82 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

end of Its body. At the opposite, or free, end is the
mouth, around which some little tentacles, usually six-
teen, soon make their appearance. These latter are
armed with stinging cells, the extruded threads of which
give them a bristled appearance. It now commences
to take food, and, consequently, begins to grow; but it
will be some time before its details can be seen without
the aid of a very strong lens. This is known technically
as the scyphostoma stage.

As the scyphostoma grows, it lengthens considerably.
At the same time an encircling constriction begins to
make its appearance just below the base of the tentacles.
Then gradually others appear in succession at regular
intervals down the whole length of the animal. Finally,
so deep do they become that the little jellyfish is seg-
mented and now looks like a miniature stack of shallow
dishes. But in the meantime another change takes
place. The topmost, and first-formed, segment loses its
tentacles, and the margin becomes deeply indented.
The remaining segments then in turn develop similar
indentations on their circumference, and the whole now
assumes a decided plantlike appearance. This later
form that these transformations have wrought is called
the strobila.

The number of segments, or, more properly, disks,
on a single strobila may reach as high as thirteen or
more, but generally the total is less. The constriction
separating the uppermost disk eventually becomes com-
plete, and the liberated part, called an ephyriiJa, inverts
itself and swims away. In a short time it grows ten-
tacles, and becomes a perfect, though tiny, jellyfish less
than an eighth of an inch in diameter. Following the

The Comb Jellies and Others

83

departure of the first ephyrula, the others soon detach
themselves to pursue their Individual ways. They will
continue to grow, and in their turn produce eggs, until
six months later, when their cycle of life is complete,
the autumnal storms will have brought about their
death and disintegration.

STKOBIl.A OF AURELIA.

Regardless of their common name, "jellyfishes" are
not, in any sense of the word, fishes. They, together
with comb jellies*,' belong to a very different and far
lower phylum known as the Ccelenterata, a division of
the animal kingdom that includes also the plantlike
hydroids, the anemones/ and the corals. Nor must it
be inferred that all jellyfishes develop in exactly the
§ame way as iVurelia or Cyanea. Some there are which

84 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

start out in life as a spherical swimming egg, called a
planiila, and later become branching hydroid colonies;
in other species, neither the colonial nor the strobila
stage marks their metamorphosis; they pass without
alternation of generation directly into the ephyrula
state.

Notwithstanding that many of the comb jellies and
jellyfishes are luminous, they are not essentially crea-
tures of the night. It is true that some species among
the latter never liberate their eggs until after the sun
has set; however, it is equally certain their eating habits
are not regulated by the sidereal alternation of daylight
and darkness. Yet it is the night that reveals them in
their most peculiar splendor. If by day the witchery
of these resplendent forms is overwhelming, what shall
we think of them at night when the fulgor of their mys-
terious lanterns flashes forth in the inky depths like
pale-blue comets or streaks past with the similitude of
shooting stars in the moving tide?

In general it may be said that little is known about
the nature of animal light, and the luminous property
of coelenterates in particular is still an obscure subject.
Indeed, even the life histories of only a few jellyfishes
themselves are completely understood. One who would
aspire to explore in a most interesting and an undevel-
oped field cannot do better than to give his attention
to the coelenterates, a group whose members easily rank
among the most beautiful of all the living wonders.

Chapter VI
SOME FRIENDS IN ARMOR

If It so happens that the tide Is favorable, the early
light of an August dawn not infrequently finds me rest-
ing athwart the stern of my little boat, idly drifting in
the shallow waters close to the harbor shore. Here
the placidity of the sea, the companionable cries of the
breakfast-hunting crows and gulls circling above the
beach, the cool morning air dissolving the rising mists
that hover along the cove, conspire to give an ardent
glow to the enthusiasm with which I pursue my am-
bitious quest. For on the present occasion whereof
I write, my early morning adventure has a more definite
object than that of general observation.

Still, the familiar, pleasing details of the scene do not
escape me regardless of the smaller compass that re-
quires my attention. Even the sea seems now to be in
its most delightful mood. Later, when the full heat
of the day sets in, my motionless, open boat exposed
to the direct rays of the seething sun becomes a veri-
table griddle; but in the present propitious hour, the
temperature stirs the blood. And as I gaze into that
wonderland over which I float, its serene and refresh-
ing aspect quickens my very perceptions.

Among the water grasses and swaying seaweeds, I

85

86 , Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

catch the flutter of a flatfish as It makes its low leap
across the rippled sand. The starfish, the moon snail,
and the comb jelly, too, hold forth in the watery haunts ;
and there comes and goes a host of others.

Nearer is a pebbled area barren of vegetation. Here
among the mussel clumps an occasional oyster can be
seen with gaping valves competing with its neighbors
for the microscopic harvest of the water. Almost with-
in reach of my hand a low, sinuous mound slowly ex-
tends its length. The mole of the land has its rep-
resentative in the sea. This tortuous trail is formed by
the labor of the young horseshoe crab. Resting on the
bottom, which it simulates with astonishing realism, ij
a squid. Unintimidated by my immobile presence, it
watches with its great lugubrious eyes the approach of
a shoal of killifishes. The minnows move in rhythmic
progression, casting a stippled shadow over the
gravelly floor, unav/are of the danger that lurks beneath
them. For an instant they hesitate — too late ! The
weird apparition suddenly darts into their midst,
dispersing them in all directions; but not before
it has seized several stragglers In Its terrible arms.
With a vicious snap of its beak, it speedily exterminates
them. Not content with one victim, which would be
fully ample for its meal, the monster ruthlessly de-
stroys what cannot possibly serve its needs.

What manner of instinct Is this that gives such scant
consideration to the conservation of life, an instinct the
primary impulse of which is an extravagant lust for
killing? For a moment, forgetting the dictum of
nature which properly holds that many must die so one
may live, forgetting that awful equilibrium In which

Some Friends in Armor 87

there is maintained a just proportion of life through
the ferocious but necessary medium of the stomach, and
forgetting that here Is but an operation of a benevolent
law which determines the survival of the devourer to be
in direct dependence on the unfitness of the devoured,
I look upon this rapacious butchery with horror.

A dreadful fascination holds me, and with rapidly
beating pulse I lean far over the rail. The movement,
however, betrays my presence, and the animal on per-
ceiving me takes alarm and slinks away, leaving in its
trail an inky cloud.

My attention is now drawn toward a spot near by
a small clump of mussels, where in the uncertain haze
caused by the retreating squid I catch now and then the
fleeting glimpse of the agitated movements of a young
moon snail's shell. At once I recognize the object of
my early visit to the seashore. It is the little hermit
crab {Pagiiriis longicarpus) .

Her-^ he comes, now ! Crawling actively over the
bottom, he pauses from time to time and scrapes the
sand in search of a morsel of food. From his busy
claws comes the glint of the morning sunshine, and on
the texture of those members there is a delicate iri-
descence produced by the diffraction of light. Soon he
spies a dilapidated whelk shell half burled in the silt,
and cautiously advances toward it. Its size Is nearly
equal to the one he carries; its decrepit condition, its
calcareous incrustations, to which small seaweeds have
anchored themselves, show that. several summers have
passed since it was instinct with life. After a prelim-
inary frisk with his long threadlike feelers, he quickly
rolls it over several times, giving the exterior a rapid,

88 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

but thorough, examination. Then deftly inserting his
great claw into the opening, he explores the interior.
A scale worm, clinging just within the glazed en-
trance, seems evidently not to concern him. The crab's
pressing occupation now is to determine whether or not
these precincts contain something more formidable —
perhaps a member of his own tribe. He finds it free
from these, however, and prepares to take it over.
Grasping the rim with his pincers he is about to with-

polynoe; the scale worm.

draw from his old shell and transfer to the new-found
one when his antennas fall across the worm. This
causes him to hesitate. Oh, well; no matter. There
seems to be room enough for two. So, without more
delay, he vaults over swiftly and nimbly into the other
shell.

Possession is followed immediately by a momentary
disappearance whereupon all but the tips of his claws
are hidden from sight. Soon his fore body emerges,
and by the aid of the currents that wash the gill cav-
ities, he sends forth a stream of particles consisting of
the sand and debris that have filtered into the recesses
of the scurfy ruin. The operation of retreating into

Some Friends in Armor 89

the interior and coming forth to eject the rubbish Is
repeated several times, during which he does con-
siderable squirming in the effort to adjust himself to
the convolutions of the shell.

After these precautions against insanitation and dis-
comfort, the crab, with his flexible hind body firmly
wrapped around the columella, or inside spiral, extends
his legs and walks alertly away.

Now, in the strict sense of the word, the hermit crab
is neither a hermit nor is he a crab. One may forgive
the original nomenclators for misnaming this animal;
in their rude system everything that carried claws was
called a "crab." But the fact that they have bequeathed
to posterity the misleading appellation of "hermit" is
entitled to scant courtesy. Indeed, the fancied resem-
blance of the shell of the hermit crab to the shelter of
a hermit Is no more analogous than that the shirt on
one's back is one's home. Nor Is he averse to the com-
pany of his fellows. At no time does he lead a life of
seclusion. Furthermore, among other of his un-hermit-
like attributes, as we shall have occasion to discover
later, Is his fondness for female society In particular.
Yet this Instance Is a trifle to some of the blunders of
popular nomenclature ; therefore, I shall pass It without
further comment, lest I be accused of weighing hairs.

But his claim to membership among the crabs, hang-
ing as It does by a still more slender thread, is a seri-
ous matter, and cannot be dismissed so easily. The two
great groups into which the higher crustaceans are sep-
arated bear the scientific names of Macriira and Bra-
chyiira; meaning, respectively, "long-bellied" and
"short-bellied." Of those crustaceans who are mem-

90 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

bers of the suborder Macriira, the lobster and the well-
known fresh-water crayfish can be cited as the most
familiar types. The distinguishing feature that places
them in this division is, as the name implies, the pos-
session of a long cylindrical abdomen, or hind body.

To the Brachyiira only, belong the true crabs. And
these are distinguished by the inconspicuous flat hind
body reflexed along the under side of the thorax, or
fore body. A common example of this division is the
edible, or blue, crab of our tables.

These distinctions, by the way, are not arbitrary
arrangements made merely to suit the convenience of
the systematic scientists; for the most superficial ac-
quaintance with comparative anatomy soon reveals that
the crablike animal differs more greatly from the
lobsterlike individual than does the dog from the cat.
It is therefore because of this anatomical, or, to use a
more correct term, this morphological difference that
the hermit crab is incontestably removed from the
brachyurians, or crabs.

However, regardless of those general features of his
hind body that cause him to be set apart from the crabs,
he is by reason of a striking modification of the form
and function of this part of his anatomy peculiarly dis-
tinguished from all other creatures of his kind. Indeed,
it is on this account that some writers have relegated
him to a distinct group of his own, known by the name
of Ano7nura, the "nameless bellied"; for his unusual
hind body not only makes him notorious among crus-
taceans but places him among the curiosities of nature.

Unlike the fore body and its appendages, which are
armored with a hard, tough crust, the abdominal region

Some Friends in Armor

91

of the hermit crab is soft, weak, and defenseless; it is
invested with a thin membranous cuticle of a texture
so delicate that the slightest abrasion will rupture it;
an injury to this tissue is almost sure to prove fatal.

MALE HERMIT CRAB REMOVED FROM HIS SHELL; SHOWING THE SOFT UNARMORED

HIND BODY.

Beginning at the very slender waistline, the bulging
paunch assumes a spiral form and tapers toward the
tail, where it is terminated by an aborted caudal fan,
the use of which assists the crab in maintaining a grip
on his borrow^ed shell. It is here that the intestinal

92 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

tract ends. Two other appendages are found on the
left side, and a glance at their location and structure
leaves no doubt of their origin. They are vestiges of
what were once highly specialized locomotor append-
ages in the ancestral form of this animal. But now
these degenerated, feeble, bristle-fringed outgrowths
serve an entirely different purpose. In the case of the
male crab their chief use is for sweeping forward the
stercoraceous matter deposited in the shell; in that of
the female they serve the additional function of anchor-
ages for her extruded eggs.

The only effective strength that the hermit crab is
capable of exerting to secure himself in his shell is con-
centrated in a small group of muscles extending along
the under side of the hind body, and it is for the pur-
pose of retaining this hold that this region has acquired
its remarkable formation. In short, his belly functions
as an organ of prehension; that is to say, a grasping
organ.

It is apparent from the foregoing that the crab is
not only compelled for reasons of safety to adopt a
defensive covering, but when changing from one shell
to another he also must act with the utmost dispatch
if he is to avoid being seized by some predatory rover
who may be near. Still, although it may be with good
reason that the exchange is made quickly, it must be
said that ofttimes it appears utterly without reason
that the exchange is made at all. Now many motives,
real or fancied, may inspire him to leave one shell for
another, but there is only one distinct physical cause
that absolutely forces him to seek a new covering. This
cause arises from the simple fact that the crab grows.

Some Friends in Armor 93

The hermit crab lives long, indeed, if he survives the
attacks of enemies and the dangers of parasitism for
four summers' duration; but seldom does his life bear
so extraordinary a charm. During the earlier part of
this period he molts at least once — and sometimes,
though rarely, twice — a year. Each molt is accom-
panied by an increase in size; and as a consequence he
is obliged to find a larger shell. This shell needs never
to be wanting for long. He has but to choose almost
at random from the abundant supply around him, to
find one suitably roomy. Yet times innumerable have
I witnessed the abandonment of one for another, and
for no apparent purpose other than to satisfy a
crotchet. Moreover, he is not overscrupulous in the
selection he finally does make. With so many to choose
from, it would appear that instinct, if not reason, would
determine the proper choice and impel him to select
only that kind best fitted for his comfort and protection.
He will, nevertheless, abandon a specimen which for
convenience and capacity leaves nothing to be desired,
and wedge himself into another so small, that there is
scarcely space enough to retract his fore body in time
of extreme danger; in truth, he will adopt with equal
facility the covering of a perfect shell or a fragmentary
portion that passes as such.

Few instincts are more strongly developed than the
instinct of self-preservation; in the crab, however, this
instinct, exemplified by his preferences for protective
coverings, shows some strange, aberrations. I have
found him encased in crumbling shells of rotten chalk.
In a piece of spongy bone. In a bent ferrule from a
jointed fishing pole, in a cumbersome hollow stone, In

94

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

a broken bottle neck and, more than once, in a remnant
of a crushed shell which being little more than a girdle
left his hind body as exposed as his head. Needless to
say, his investiture with these heterogeneous materials
reduces his capacity for defense, and exposes him to
perils ordinarily improbable were he to provide himself
with a more efficient form of protection. Could there
be a more utter want in the display of intelligence? Oh,

HERMIT CRAB IN A BROKEN SHELL. THE DISINTEGRATING SHELLS THEY SOME-
TIMES USE LEAVE PORTIONS OF THEIR BODIES EXPOSED TO THE ATTACK OF
ENEMIES.

for only a ray of reason ! The faintest gleam would
advance his welfare more in one brief moment than for
him perpetually to grope in the darkness of aborted
Instinct.

Let us return to our wanderer. Having ensconced
himself in his recently acquired shell, he now leaves the
scene of the transfer in considerable haste. The truth
is, his movements betray an unwonted agitation. His
antennic jerk spasmodically, and his nimble crawl ac-

Some Friends in Armor 95

celerates to a brisk run. It Is evident that some singu-
lar attraction in the vicinity draws him onward. Ah, so
that is it ! I suspected as much. He has come upon
the partially devoured carcass of a female sand crab,
over and around which the mud snails {Nassa obsoleta,
Nassa trivittata) and other small scavengers are
swarming. The crushed carapace of the animal shows
that it met its death under the spiteful heel of some
fisherman, a stupid clown who, prompted by innate
wantonness as well as by a desire to safeguard his lines
from a bait pilferer, has in this ignorant act destroyed
one of his most valuable assets; for the larval young of
these creatures serve as the chief supply of food to
many fishes.

Arriving at the table the hermit crab brushes aside
several of the assembled diners, and with his great
claw tears from the exposed flesh a choice portion
which he retains in this member; then using his smaller
claw he plucks from the detached piece shred after
shred which he carries to his mouth. Daintily, deftly he
performs this gastronomical feat with a fastidiousness
almost humanlike; but notwithstanding this apparent
refinement, the crab, like all animals which live pre-
cariously, gorges to surfeit. With but few exceptions
the search for food among the denizens of the seashore
entails an acute problem, a problem wherein the strug-
gle to eat is surpassed In intensity only by the struggle
to keep from being eaten. And, curiously, it Is with the
higher forms that this struggle^to maintain life is the
most bitter. The tiniest morsel has scores of competi-
tors. When, through accident or otherwise, a death
among one of the larger animals takes place, a veritable

()6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

windfall occurs; and the event seems to be telegraphed
to the legions of the sea. Myriads hasten to the ban-
quet. One and all, they come: the snails, the worms,
the crustaceans. All, within the radius of the efHuvial
currents hurry to dispose of the corpse. Thus, in the
economy of nature, each individual plays a part of the
utmost impctance; for it is through the desperate
agency of hunger that the waters of our shores are
purified.

After reducing the portion which he holds in his big
pincer to a size small enough to be manipulated by the
pair of fingerlike clasping appendages near his mouth,
he passes to these what is left, and decides to move on.
He does not proceed more than a few feet, however,
before he stops and devotes some time in consuming
what he can of the rest of his food; but, as he has
literally bitten off more than he can chew, he finally
ends by rejecting the remainder altogether.

Having satisfied the inner man, the hermit crab now
gives some consideration to his external needs; for he
is more or less of a fop, and will sometimes spend
hours in grooming himself. Using either claw with
equal facility, he rubs and scraps all parts of his fore
body and its appendages. His time, however, is given
mostly to the cleaning of his feelers, his eyestalks, and
his legs, whereof the joint of the last named receive
particular attention. Moreover, these toilet functions
are very necessary; were he to neglect them in the
slightest detail, his crust would eventually be overrun
with plant growths which find in the horny composition
an admirable holdfast; and their presence would in-
directly cause his premature death by impeding his

Some Friends in Armor 97

movements and making it difficult — in fact, impossible
— successfully to cope with the vicissitudes of a life that
is hazardous at best. The result of this neglect is evi-
dent in the case of old crabs, many of whom, no longer
retaining the suppleness of youth, have tufts of seaweed
growing in those areas inaccessible to their chelipeds.

Hello! Who is this? Another hermit crab, at-
tracted by the feast that our friend just left, has come
within several inches of the primper. He is a great
hulk of a fellow; and his shell is covered with a downy
growth, for he carries with him a colony of coelenterates
{Clava leptostyla), which makes him look for all the
world like a giant clad in furs.

Each catches sight of the other at the same instant.
A momentary pause ensues. Then each, with his great
claw extended, makes a sudden and furious rush for the
other. The clash and rattle of their shells on the
pebbles can be heard distinctly through the water as
they come to grips and wildly seek an advantageous
hold. Jabbing, cuffing, wrestling, they display an aston-
ishing agility, encumbered as they are with their heavy
shells, and the rapidity of their movements behooves
one to watch sharply if he is to observe every detail.
Now one is uppermost, now the other. Separating,
they encircle one another with a sidewise movement, all
the while keeping their big pincers thrust forward.
Again they come together. They part. This time,
however, the newcomer betrays a craven spirit; he pre-
cipitately leaves the field with a. backward run. It were
better, perhaps, to say he attempts to leave, for in his
rapid retreat a stone obstructs his way, and the impact
sends him topsy-turvy, causing him from fright or sur-

98 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

prise to withdraw completely into his sliell and to block
the entrance with his claws. Tn a trice the other is upon
him. Seizing one of the exposed claws, he tries to dis-
lodge him by tugging so violently and rapidly that the
collision of their shells beats a tattoo. The persistent
attack evidently arouses a spark of pugnacity in the
poltroon, for he relaxes sufficiently to emerge and flour-
ish a threatening pincer. This, however, is his undoing.
He is immediately grasped by one of his rear legs, is
jerked clear of his shell, and is tossed over the aggres-
sor's shoulder.

The vanquished crab, now exposed In all his naked-
ness, curls his hind body under him and gropes around
excitedly for some sort of object that will afford a
shelter. None Is within sight. It is now "any port in
a storm." So, thrusting his hind body into an interstice
among the pebbles, he assumes a defensive posture and
keeps a wary eye on the victor who, meanwhile, follow-
ing the unvarying procedure among his kind, is feeling
around the inside of the empty shell with his formidable
claw. After a momentary investigation he exchanges
it for the one he carries. Obviously all is not satis-
factory; In a very short time he returns to his own.
Now, according to the rules of fair play, he should at
least be generous enough to relinquish the spurned shell
to the loser, as he can by no means avail himself of the
spoils of the conquest and still retain the shell he bears.
But fair play is no part of the hermit crab's code of
ethics; therefore, he seeks to distrain the other who
soon shows a disposition to press matters In order to
regain his property.

Awaiting in vain for an Incautious moment when the

Some Friends in Armor

99

100 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

victorious adversary would relax his vigilance, the dis-
possessed crab ventures closer. When within a few
inches of the guarded shell, he makes a bold attempt
to feint his enemy from his position by making a quick
circuit around him at close quarters. The other is not
to be caught napping, however. He engages the bereft
one, and with a well-directed cuff, sends him flying
backward.

These maneuvers are repeated again and again until
It would seem there is no ending, or until one of the
two tired of the contest, were it not for a circumstance
that makes both of them forget their private quarrel.
Two other males arrive in the vicinity. The first to
spy them is our gladiator. He hurries forth to meet
them, leaving behind the disputed shell. Then follows
a skirmishing fight in which three hermit crabs are
engaged.

This is an opportunity not to be lost by the defense-
less one, so he speedily takes possession of his chattel.
One would imagine that from his recent experience he
has had his fill of fighting. Not so, however; he
hastens to the fray and takes his part quite lustily, and
the affair now becomes a battle royal between all four.
For a number of seconds there is a confusing tangle of
brandished claws and animated shells, while the stac-
cato clicking of the latter rises in crescendo. Sud-
denly one of the warriors is knocked sprawling, upon
which event the mass with one accord disintegrates and
the crabs depart, all going their several ways. The
fracas is over as suddenly as it was precipitated.

Let me here observe that of the hundred brawls I
have witnessed between hermit crabs — in none of

Some Friends in Armor

lOI

which, by the way, have I ever seen an individual suffer
a serious bodily injury — all were repeated without es-
sential variation from the foregoing incident. Please
note, however, that there is always a violent exertion
on the part of the aggressor to dislodge the other, and
when this is effected it is seemingly brought about by
a tug that jerks the defeated crab clear of his shell.

That this exhibition of force is more apparent than
genuine, I shall try to make clear by a brief analysis.
If, with my fingers, I attempt to extract a hermit crab
from his shell, one of two things is bound to happen.
He either will throw off his claw or other appendage
which is under tension, or he will suffer his body to part
in twain. In the first instance, provided it is a cheliped
or walking leg only that is concerned, the damage, par-
ticularly in the case of the younger animals, will be
compensated for by the growth, or regeneration, of a
new member at a succeeding molt. In the latter in-
stance it is a graver matter, as the sundering of a vital
organ results in almost instant death. Try as I can,
however. It is impossible to remove the crab without
recourse to methods less violent and of an entirely
different nature.

Now no hermit crab is strong enough to dismember
his antagonist, much less pull him apart. It therefore
follows that even the largest and most powerful of
these animals — whose strength, of course, can not ap-
proach that of my fingers — are utterly incapable of
drawing an opponent from his shell by sheer force.

But, granting that the crab's strength is equal to the
attempt, it is plain in the case of evenly matched indi-
viduals that the aggressor Is as likely to w^renchhis.

^SlflLIBRARY

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I02 Dzvi'Uers of the Sea and Shore

own limb from his body as to inflict this injury on his
adversary.

Nor should the strenuous muscularity displayed by
the crab be accepted without question. I have seen,
times without number, this same agitated and frantic
attack made upon empty shells, the same tugging and
straining of forelegs inserted into a vacant interior, the
polished nacreous walls of which could offer no possible
resistance.

What is it, then, that causes the crab to leave a
shell that he could easily retain merely by refusing to
be coerced?

Well, I shall come to the point quickly. The hermit
crab, acting solely by an instinct that he has undoubt-
edly inherited from his ancestors, is a notorious bully.
Therefore, his display of force is only a fraud, a sham
whereby he terrifies or startles his opponent out of his
wits and out of his retreat. It is a question of nerves.
The one with the most temerity wins.

Chapter VII
SOME FRIENDS IN ARMOR {Cont'mued)

The peregrinations of our gladiator do not take
him very far before he meets with a female. The
latter, who is less than a third as large as the other,
does not perceive him until he swoops down upon her
from an ambushing frond of sea lettuce over which he
has crawled. Instantly she withdraw^s completely into
her shell and covertly watches him. When he reaches
her he rolls over her shell, then stands above her wait-
ing for her to emerge. It is not long before her an-
tennae are thrust out, followed immediately by her fore
body. Whereupon he seizes her by a rear leg and re-
tains a secure hold. The art of coquetry seems not to
be absent even among the lowly, for she makes a great
pretense at resistance and vainly endeavors to free her-
self. But he will not be denied. The rogue is a cool
lover; ardency in his make-up, though not wanting, is
without tenderness; he deliberately pulls her after him
while he continues his perambulations.

Now and then they halt. In these periods he idly
and mechanically scrapes the sand for atoms of food
that he does not desire, but which she eagerly devours
when they drift her way. By this time she has ceased
her resistant efforts and resigns herself to him without

I04 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

further protest. For the greater part of an hour they
continue their sauntering; she in the meanwhile remain-
ing in his tenacious grip. The monotonous watch
makes me weary of waiting.

At length, however, his behavior changes. Facing
her, he gathers her to him, and with a sudden move-
ment brings her fore body clear of her shell. She
accepts his embrace; and it is in this brief moment that
a future generation of hermit crabs is assured.

These amatory embraces of the freebooter are re-
sumed at intervals of a half to three quarters of an
hour or more. But at no time does he release his hold
on her leg. And he would, no doubt, continue to re-
strain her for the greater part of the forenoon but for
the occurrence of the Inevitable. The nuptials are
rudely disturbed by the intrusion of a stranger.

The hermit crab who now comes upon the scene is
formidable not merely in bulk but In appearance, also.
Gauzy sprays of red seaweed float from the ends of
each feeler, and from the joints of his fore legs stream-
ers of green flutter at every step; all of which give
him the aspect of a warrior bedecked in the panoply of
battle. The presence of these vegetal growths indi-
cates that he Is old. Although old he may be, he as yet
shows no trace of senility In his movements, a circum-
stance apparently not lost upon the other male.

Viewing the other's approach with no little pertur-
bation, the apprehensive swain signalizes his concern
with a menacing gesture of his free claw^; then uncere-
moniously rolling his smaller mate under him, crouches
with his fore body over her and assumes a belligerent
attitude.

Some Friends in Armor

105

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io6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

The plumed knight does not even hesitate, but
quickly engages the other. It is soon over. The more
youthful one, receiving a painful pinch on the eyestalk,
is overwhelmed by the onslaught and retreats inglo-
riously, leaving his mate to the mercy of the dauntless
aggressor. He does not go far, however, before he
recovers from the assault and decides to come back.
Whether he returns to take issue with the big male, or
to retrieve the female, it is not easy to say. Perhaps it
is for both reasons. At all events, when he reaches the
spot again, he halts in evident surprise at the sight that
greets him. The handsome stranger, adding insult to
injury, now holds the female and is paying assiduous
court to her. To make matters worse she accepts the
other's blandishments in complete indifference to her
late lover's presence. Never was there more un-
abashed effrontery. What at first bid fair to become a
conquest of violence has now resolved itself into an
affair of the heart. The friendliness that she entertains
toward her new gallant is only too plain to be pleasant.
But the jilted crab ventures no visible remonstrance
beyond nervously twitching his antennas and flicking his
claws, as if berating the fickle jade for her faithless
conduct.

The turning tide, now fast coming in, makes further
observation difficult. As I am curious to follow the
history of the new-matched pair to its conclusion, I
gather him with the decorated joints and plumed an-
tenn.T clinging fast to the female's leg, which my inter-
ference does not cause him to release, and place them
in a pail of sea water to be transferred to a tank in
my laboratory.

Some Friends in Armor

107

Although it may not be termed a hardy creature
when compared with some other inhabitants of the sea,
the hermit crab can be raised successfully and be made
to round out the natural span of its life in the artificial
environment of the indoor aquarium. It is here, there-

■"**!,

MALE AND FEMALE HERMIT CRABS. THE FEMALE IS THE SMALLER CREATURE
PERCHED ON THE LARGER SHELL OF THE OTHER.

fore, that I propose to trace those phases of its history
impossible of determination in its natural habitat.

There is strong reason to be-lieve that the female
can give birth to fertile eggs a year after the attentions
of the male, but the time between mating and the emis-
sion of the eggs is generally much less. It is, however.

io8 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

subject to considerable variation, and may range from
a few hours to several weeks.

As was indicated, the mother attaches her eggs to
the hairs of her abdominal appendages. Here they
hang suspendeci like clusters of miniature grapes.
The number of units in a cluster is not large, averaging
perhaps not more than three hundred. Indeed, this
number is surprisingly small when one considers the
enormous broods of some other crustaceans. The
blue crab, for instance, will produce in a single spawn-
ing 1,750,000 eggs. However, as the female hermit
crab gets older her fecundity increases, but the incre-
ment is not enough materially to change the average
given above. Her eggs are a deep cherry red in color,
and in size no larger than the period ending this sen-
tence. Each one is suspended in a membranous sac
which in turn is attached by a short thread to a bristle
on one of the forementioned appendages. Receiving
no other care than an occasional brushing to keep them
free from particles of dirt, they are carried for a fort-
night before they are ready to hatch.

But in the meanwhile some remarkable changes have
been taking place. By tearing apart, under the dis-
secting microscope, an egg which is but a day old, the
differentiation of organization can be seen making
its first appearance. That mysterious transformation,
due to those unfathomed forces that cause the cells of
all organic structures to assume their predetermined
arrangement, has just taken place. Nearly a week
later, examination of one of the spherical units will
show that the yolk comprises nearly half of its bulk;
while in the remainder of the egg content can be traced

Some Friends in Armor 1 09

the dim outlines of the nascent larva. Each succeeding
day is marked by a gradual but very definite change in
the embryo; until finally the wee animal acquires a seg-
mented hind body, a large tail fan, and a pair of un-
stalked eyes. A more dissimilar offspring from the
crawling adult could hardly be imagined. Its muscular,
ringed abdomen and its broad tail now fit it preemi-
nently to lead a roving life at any depth.

The moment for hatching comes. It has been sig-
nalized some hours before by a restless activity on the
part of the larva in its apparent efforts to burst the two
walls that confine it. Suddenly these are split length-
wise and the wriggling youngster emerges headfirst
through the rent. It has no chance to linger as it is
caught immediately by the respiratory currents of the
mother and sent hustling away. A common impulse
now seems to animate the brood, and within a few
hours the remaining larvae abandon forever the pre-
cincts of the maternal shell. The mother then de-
taches the swaddling clothes still adhering to her; and
soon following the departure of her young she sends
bag and baggage flying after.

Thenceforth each little crab pursues its uncertain
fortunes alone. After a lapse of five or more weeks —
during which it molts not less than four times, increas-
ing in size and acquiring a more adultlike character
with each shedding of its crust — it settles to the bottom
and finds a tiny shell.

Such is the manner in which the hermit crab is
ushered into the world. A rapid survey of his future
shows that before the winter gales will have forced
him into deeper water, where he will pass a dormant

iio Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

existence, he will have molted once more and attained
a quarter of an inch in length. The following summer
will find him considerably larger, and by the third
year he will have arrived at the period of sexual
maturity; whereupon he will begin to take notice of
his fellows, both males and females. From this time
onward his feastings, fastings, fightings, and love-
makings will continue. About two years later, realiz-
ing that the business of life is done, he will crawl under
the shelter of a rock or frond of seaweed and die.

It is a natural impulse for us sentimental humans,
when contemplating these lowly creatures whose em-
ployments have excited our interest, to exaggerate,
somewhat, their mental capacities. Intimate knowl-
edge of their ways, however, reveals the disappointing
proof of a cerebration almost incredibly restricted in
its range. But, regardless of the measure we may give
to their intelligence, it is likewise a common experience
at times to wonder what thoughts — if such an attribute
can be said to distinguish invertebrate animals — are
passing through some spineless brute's brain. We wish
to be transformed by some magic power for a brief
period, and to be reduced to the same mental plane In
order to glean a glimpse of that strange psychology of
another world, a world so mysterious that a moment's
consideration leads us at once to recognize that here
we have to deal with factors which have barely any-
thing in common with human understanding — which is
to say, the behavior of the invertebrate is governed by
Impulses that have little resemblance to intellectual fac-
ulties as we understand our own.

In truth, a thoughtful consideration of all lower-

Some Friends in Armor ill

animal intelligence brings the inevitable conclusion that
we are powerless to penetrate even the outlying boun-
daries of that incomprehensible domain. As we de-
scend from the intelligence of man, from his exercise
of pure reason, through instinct, through so-called re-
flex action to the sentiency of one-celled organisms, we
find that at each receding level the barriers to that
awful frontier become more and more impassable.

The mind of humans or what passes for such among
the lower animals is not a thing that can be subjected
to the crucible or the retort. It cannot be weighed or
measured. The instrument is yet undreamed of, which
can register in the slightest the difference in kind or in
degree between the mentality of mankind and the
abysmal consciousness of the protozoan. The analysis
of this thing which is without substance, form, or color,
but which is nevertheless a tremendously real entity, is
confronted by perplexities unknown to other investiga-
tions of the experimental worker.

Without wishing to anticipate myself, I am con-
strained to admit at once that the fragments I have
gathered in regard to the status of the hermit crab's
intelligence have added but little to the meager balance
in its favor. Actuated entirely by instinct, prompted
solely by the exigencies of the moment, it is in none of
its pursuits guided by the faintest glimmer of reason.
In the conduct of its courtship, in the search for food,
in fact, in its entire deportment throughout the whole
tenor of its life, it is motivated by a mind that is little
superior, and in many instances inferior, in its mani-
festations to the movements of an automaton.

The primary attribute that distinguishes intelligence

112 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

as such, is memory- I need go no further than to Illus-
trate by example the doubtful possession of this faculty
by the hermit crab in order to substantiate the above
indictment. The reader has seen that in the natural
habitat of the crab, the waters of the seashore, a meet-
ing of the males precipitates a brawl. It is the same on
their introduction to the large tanks of my laboratory.
In their new environment, however, these quarrels are
not resumed indefinitely; eventually they resign them-
selves to a peaceful toleration, and share their quarters
with indifference, if not with genuine amity. Beyond
the usual attempts to filch one another's food, it is
extremely infrequent that further hostile demonstra-
tions occur. But what is more to the point is the fact
that two males, when confined in a small half-gallon jar,
never, after the first few hours of their acquaintance,
renew, or rather exhibit, the slightest animosity toward
each other. This circumstance, when considering the
natural pugnacious propensity of the crab, is remark-
able. What, therefore, does it signify? Does it mean
that they have a memory for faces, so to speak?

Let us see. From a small circular jar in which two
males have lived at peace for several months, I remove
both and transfer them to one of the same capacity
but of a rectangular shape containing a different ar-
rangement of seaweeds. Immediately their former
friendship is forgotten; a fight ensues; and one or the
other generally loses his shell in the encounter. After
they have settled their differences, I return them to
the first jar; but no sooner do they come into contact
than they again fall to, with the same result.

What could be plainer? The hermit crab either

Some Friends in Armor 113

has no memory or this memory In him is so feehle as
to carry him only to the point of recognizing a strange
environment. Beyond this he fails to apprehend any-
thing else — not even the identity of his old companion.

If this inference be correct, we may reasonably ex-
pect to find that their transference to a corresponding
container will result in no display of belligerence. And
this is what we do find. The similarity of their sur-
roundings misleads them into accepting the newer as
their customary home; and as there is nothing un-
fam.iliar in the newer place, they do not mistake each
other for strangers. But this is not all. If I now drop
a strange crab from one of the larger tanks into their
presence, neither of the two original occupants seems
to be aware of the addition until compelled to defend
himself from the inevitable onslaught of the newcomer.

One more word regarding this matter. Near a
north window in my study stands a rectangular aqua-
rium holding about twenty gallons of salt water. In
one corner of this miniature replica of the seashore
bottom is a large brown anemone {Metridium margi-
natum) attached to a rock. Among the other animals
with which the aquarium Is stocked are several hermit
crabs of both sexes. Conspicuous among these is a
singularly huge male who by reason of his decrepit
appearance and obviously old age drew from my chil-
dren the alliterative, but fanciful, name of Hank the
Hermit. Throughout the past winter Hank's great
diversion, apart from exploring the nooks and inter-
stices of the gravelly floor, and giving battle to imagi-
nary enemies concealed in those retreats, was to make
daily tours with monotonous regularity around the

114 Diccl/i-rs of the Sea and Shore

glazed confines. in the direct patli of these excursions
stood the anemone. Now it seems not to be one of
the traits of the crab when meeting with an obstacle
to choose the more sensible and easier method of going
around it; instead, his course is an attempt to go di-
rectly ovxr it. This was Hank's intention whenever he
came upon the anemone; but the contact of his feelers
with the arms of the coclenterate caused him to recoil
with surprise. It may be interposed here that, al-
though the touch of the anemone's tentacles is deadly
to very small organisms, their potency is quite lost on
the tough armor that encases the fore body of the
hermit crab. Still, their power is considerable, as I
have had occasion to learn by testing with the tip of
my tongue; and I have no doubt, therefore, that the
sting is as acutely felt with those delicate tactile organs
of sense, the antennae of the crab.

As the unpleasant contact with the anemone was
assuredly one to be avoided, it might well be assumed
that after three or four repetitions of his blunder,
Hank would give that animal a wide berth. But three
or four hundred repetitions failed to inculcate in him
the slightest recollection of the dangerous spot. Time
and time again, on his perpetual rounds he would
blindly walk into the tentacles, never learning by ex-
perience or memory to avoid their painful touch.

Now, it has doubtless struck the reader long before
this that it is a somewhat unfortunate, as well as a
curious, circumstance for the hermit crab to be marked
among all crustaceans by the double affliction of pos-
session of a weak body and being obliged to bear a
burdensome load throughout the greater part of his

Some Friends in Armor 115

lite. That he was not a weakhng, however, in the
remote history of his race, is not only revealed by the
internal evidence of his structure, but, if the statement
of men learned in the evolution of life, that in the
embryological and larval phases of animals are roughly
recapitulated their ancient forms, be correct — and
there is reason in abundance so to believe — there is
more than a hint in the development of the living
hermit crab that he did not always require a borrowed
shell for his protection.

As fossil remains of crustaceans have been so
meager, there is, of course, no way of picturing with
absolute certainty the true appearance of the hermit
crab's ancestor. Nevertheless, without going into
tedious technical details, I will say that anatomical
considerations alone strongly support the inference that
the forerunners of the crab were endowed with a seg-
mented hind body, and that they in general were
distinguished by a much higher physical develop-
ment.

It is, moreover, wxU known that the crustaceans
appeared on this earth long before the mollusks.
Therefore, it may be assumed that the utilization of
dead shells by the crab is an attainment of a compara-
tively recent date. Nor is it unlikely that his propen-
sity for secreting himself in crevices or crannies to
await his prey, eventually led him to hide in empty
shells. It needed only a further lapse of time for him
to acquire the habit of carrying these advantageous
coverings with him. But this restricted his movements.
And the new mode of living lost him the pristine vigor
of his body. What is more, the descent from the apti-

ii6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

tude for a predatory life to the less alert existence of
a scavenger has lost him his sagacity.

I am now obliged to make a painful admission. In
summing up all the evidence, it is only too apparent that
the hermit crab is an animal which long ago reached
its highest development, and is now on the decline. In
a v/ord, the hermit crab is a degenerate.

Chapter VIII
MARINE GROVES AND GARDENS

As our knowledge regarding the nature of living
things increases, it becomes more and more evident that
the difference which is presumed to exist between the
plant and the animal kingdom is at best an artificial one.
That is to say, plants and animals are essentially the
same. It is true that we recognize plants by certain
characteristics, such as form, color, or development —
characteristics not commonly found among animals —
but, after all, a little reflection will show that these
distinctions are more or less superficial. There is, in
fact, no single attribute of fundamental importance to
the life processes that can be said to belong wholly
within the province of either kingdom.

The chief biological difference that distinguishes
plants as such is in their capacity to utilize the sunlight
in transforming certain elements into parts of their cell
structure, and their ability to form organic compounds
from elements existing free in nature or derived by
breaking down inorganic compounds. This somewhat
technical statement is only another way of saying that,
whereas the truly typical animal can eat only substances
already manufactured, such as plants or 3ther animals,
the plants, on the other hand, manufacture their own

117

ii8 Dzicllcrs of the Sea and Shore

food. But even this statement, although essentially
accurate, is subject to qualification. Numerous excep-
tions abound. As a matter of fact there are some
animals which are nourished like plants, and there exist
certain plants which subsist only on food material
already formed.

Now all this is not to say that what are commonly
recognized as plants are animals in masquerade, or
the reverse; it is, however, a way of stating that t!.e
gulf between them is far more apparent than it is real.
Between the higher individuals of both kingdoms the
relationship, of course, is not so generally obvious.
But when we turn to the lowest of all living forms,
the one-celled organisms, an undisputable kinship mani-
fests itself. Indeed, there occur among these some
w^hich have identities that are neither distinctly plant-
like nor are they truly animallike ; rather they are both ;
that is to say, they are half vegetable and half animal.
The little green Euglena of fresh-water ponds and
streams is a classical example of organisms which, so
to speak, are on the borderland. This pretty, but
paradoxical, creature — if I may so call an organism
which is also an undoubted plant — has given rise to
considerable friendly controversy among naturalists as
to its proper place in nature. Botanists as well as
zoologists claim it as their own.

But our lowest plants merit an attentive considera-
tion quite aside from any of the foregoing reasons, for
they are presumed to be the present-day representatives
of the first living things to appear on this planet. The
history of the earth is a thrilling record of vast and
impressive changes, not only in the appearance and the

Marine Groves and Gardens 119

»

very structure of its surface, but in the succession of
living forms which have inhabited it. Yet the simplest
plants have outlived them all. Many there are that
have persisted unaltered throughout the countless ages
that saw the appearance and disappearance of mighty
hosts of higher forms. Ancient as is animal life, the
lowly plants probably antedate them by a period so
great that in comparison the existence of the former
would seem to be but of a day.

It is, therefore, with peculiar interest that we turn
to the vegetation in the sea, for, as was pointed out
in a previous chapter, this region was the probable
source of all life. This vegetation, with very few
exceptions, is comprised entirely of the lowest forms
of plant life. Now this will appear strange to the
reader whose limited acquaintance with the seaweeds
has led him to look upon their varied and ofttimes
beautifully branched fronds as structural counterparts
of land plants. As a matter of fact, however, they
have nothing in common with the higher terrestrial
types. Seaweeds all belong to that division of plants
termed thallophytes. All thallophytes living in water
and obtaining their nourishment directly therefrom are
further distinguished by the name alg^e. It is for the
reason that they are composed of one class of cells that
algae are the lowest and simplest of plants. In this
respect, it must be borne in mind, the familiar flowering
plants are totally different. The groups of cells which
constitute the stem and the leaf and various other parts
of the plant are vastly unlike in their character and
function. In the higher forms of marine algae, the
vegetative body is called the frond. The disk or ex-

I20 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

pansion of the base of the plant Is the holdfast. This
latter, although corresponding to the root of a flower-
ing plant, does not, in the real sense of the word, per-
form the office of that member any more than the frond
functions as a flower or a leaf. Roots absorb the
nourishment for the entire plant. The nourishment
derived by algne from the substances held in solution
by the surrounding water is due to the work of every
individual cell composing the plant. In other words,
beyond the fact that it is in physical attachment to its
neighbors, each cell lives as a unit and without refer-
ence to the rest of the colony.

Notwithstanding Its fundamental simplicity, the
diversity In the structure of marine algae is very great.
In the lower orders a single cell constitutes the plant
body. These forms are mostly microscopic. Next In
point of development are those like Cladophora, which
consist of single threadlike rows of cells. Then comes
Ulva, In which is found the earliest type of expanded
frond. Here the cells are arranged in a horizontal
surface forming leaflike or ribbonlike expansions. In
Enteromorpha there is a double layer of these cells
which separates, giving the seaweed a hollow, or
tubular, form. From here on the complexity Increases
until In Sargassum, or gulfweed, we see the most dif-
ferentiated of all marine plants. In this form there
are slender branching fronds bearing various kinds of
lateral members, some of which are like ordinary foli-
age leaves supported on stems; others are round air
floats resembling clusters of berries; and still other
branches bear remarkable sex organs.

Not merely do the marine plants compare favorably

Marine Groves and Gardens

121

with those of the land in diversity of form, but they
surpass them in linear size. The huge floating fronds
of Laminar'ia, whose stalk develops great rootlike hold-
fasts, are frequently ten or more feet long. But the

sargassum; the gulfweed.

lessonia; a laminarian seaweed.

largest plant in the sea, and, for that matter, the great-
est in height in the whole world, is an Antarctic lami-
naria. This extraordinary seaweed rises from the
sloping bottom of the continental shelf with a frond
nearly a thousand feet in length. Other large lami-
narian forms grow on the sea bottom like trees, hav-

K^

m

egregia; a laminarian seaweed.
122

Marine Groves and Gardens

123

ing thick trunks, numerous branches, and leaflike
appendages.

Seaweeds also exhibit considerable diversity in color,
and this feature has caused their being divided into
four great groups. These groups, or subclasses, a'*e
the blue-green alga? {Cyanophycea) ^ grass-green algae
{Chlorophyceo') , the brown algcE {Phteophycea) ^ and
the red algae {Rhodophyce^e) . These are again sub-
divided into various genera and species, and the num-

MACROCYSTIS; A LAMINARIAN SEAWEED.

ber of the latter so far known and classified is said to
be several thousands.

As is the case with shore animals, the most favorable
time for collecting or observing the range and distribu-
tion of seaweeds is during low tide. A walk along
almost any shore at this time will show that these
humble forms are as particular in their choice of
locality and character of their neighborhood as are the
higher plants of the land. Just at the high spring
water mark will be seen some sturdy types of a short,
stubby growth, which seem equally at home out of the

124

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

water as well as In it. Living here for many gen-
erations, they have attained, as the result of long-
continued exposures by the intermittent tides, an un-

N

enteromorpha; a green seaweed.

usual hardihood for sea plants. Others ^vhich have
more recently taken to living here exhibit traces of the
fight to maintain their new positions in their emaciated
and starved appearance. They have not yet acquired
the ability to withstand prolonged absence from the

Marine Groves and Gardens 125

water. Lower down, these same plants can be seen
growing; but in this place, well within the washing of
the waves, they are robust and vigorous.

Not far below the line reached by the ordinary tides,
especially in neighborhoods of streams, or estuaries
w^here brackish water prevails, a bright fringe of green
skirts the shore. This consists largely of the con-
fervold algae, or silkweeds, whose fine, filamentous
fronds sometimes grow in tufts so dense that they are
matted at the base. But in close company with these
also grow many others. Here w^e find Enteromorpha
bitestinalis, whose tubular. Inflated fronds have given It
its characteristic Latin name, and Its sister plants, E.
clathrata and E. coinpressa. Here, too, occasionally
attached to larger algal forms or lying loose in drifted
clumps, are the pretty locks of mermaid's hair, a blue-
green seaweed with the curious scientific name of
Lynghya majiiscula; and occurring In spreading patches
are the minute threads of OsciUaria and Spirulina,
strange, restless plants which under the microscope
exhibit a ceaseless vibrating movement. Then we
come to the water, where Ulva abounds.

Who has not heard of "sea lettuce"? Ulva, which
almost universally goes by that name, is the commonest
and best known of all the seaweeds. That this Is so
Is not because of Its greater abundance, for there are
many others far greater In numbers If not in range,
or because it is the largest of all green seaweeds,
therefore the most conspicuous, ^but it is by virtue of
its association with those bays and Inlets of a type
whereon mankind has always been wont to congregate.
It is identified with nearly every seaport and harbor

126 Dzvellcrs of the Sea and Shore

in the world. The reason for this Is philn. Its form-
less fronds, often measuring several feet in length and
breadth, are as thin as a newspaper. Thus they pre-
sent a considerable area to the action of the waves;
and although they can withstand the tempered move-
ments of sheltered waters, they could never endure the

ulva; the sea lettuce.

surging swells of the open coast. To say that Ulva
is a beautiful seaweed would be to venture a praise
more enthusiastic than critically just. Yet Ulva has
its merits. Its broad, green, crispy fronds glisten like
silk in the sunshine and forming as they do acres of
veritable marine gardens they may well be included
among the rarest of nature's lovely spectacles. And
how the fishes love to sport among the lifting folds!

Marine Groves and Gardens 127

The sea lettuce is the common food of many creatures
of the sea. Indeed the human species itself has not
disdained to make it serve its needs. Under the name
of "oyster green" this seaweed was once prepared for
the table as a wholesome delicacy. But its value to the
animals of the sea is twofold; besides serving as a
source for food it gives off considerable oxygen in the
water so that they may breathe. While all seaweeds
give off more or less oxygen this property of Ulva is
noteworthy and for that reason it makes a most desir-
able plant for aerating the indoor aquarium. It adapts
itself readily to confinement and will thrive in situations
that are fatal to other marine plants.

Next to Ulva, perhaps the most familiar seaweed is
Fiiciis. Fucus, or the rockweed, is far different from
Ulva, however, in color, form, and habitat. It is one
of the brown seaweeds, although its color is more often
an olive green, and grows in its greatest profusion
between the tide marks on exposed rocky shores. The
tough and leathery texture of this plant denotes its
character. Holding fast with its suckerlike disk to the
rocks of rugged shores, it breasts with impunity the
shattering force of the driving surf. But its hardiness is
exemplified not merely in the ability to live in a pound-
ing sea; it thrives throughout the winter, and, under
the scorching rays of the summer sun, during the fall
of the daily tides, it survives temperatures that would
shrivel the sea lettuce into a formless cinder.

In further contrast to the simplicity of green sea-
weed is its higher organization, or differentiation of
parts. Some members of this genus have a distinct
midrib. All the plants are forked and flat; that is,

128

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

they are expanded in one plane like an oak leaf. A
distinctive feature, and one which marks quite an ad-
vance in the development of seaweeds, is its possession
of air bladders and conceptacles, or spore chambers.
The air vessels enable the somewhat thick and clumsy
fronds to uplift themselves in the water and thereby

FUCUS, AN OLIVE-GREEN SEAWEED, GROWING ON A ROCK.

maintain a position most favorable for the assimilation
of light and nourishment. When thus seen swaying in
the depths, their beautiful bouquetlike forms bend to
and fro with indescribable grace.

It is in the peculiarity of its spore chambers, how-
ever, that Fucus particularly solicits attention. For
here we find the beginning of that complex process of

Marine Groves and Gardens 129

reproduction which is later to be found in such per-
fection among higher plants. In fact, this alga carries
on its spore production in a way that is ah'eady as
involved as the formation of seeds in flowering plants.
The conceptacles are usually grouped at the extremities
of the frond, and are easily identified, as their surface
has a pimpled, or rough, appearance. Now Fucus is
heterogamous; this means that the individual plant
bears both the male and the female sex organs. The
eggs and sperms are discharged in the water inde-
pendently. The eggs float freely and without motion;
but the sperms each possess two cilia arranged in a
fore-and-aft manner, and these latter, being in a con-
stant state of vibration, enable the organism to swim
about. So small are these sperms that many hundreds
can be contained in a drop of sea water. The eggs
are considerably larger, though their details cannot
be resolved without the aid of a good microscope. As
the egg floats passively in the water, in some mysterious
way — supposedly by chemical action — it attracts great
numbers of male cells to it, and these arriving in such
force, frequently set it to rotating by impinging against
it. Yet of all the host that seek it, only one is
favored. A fusion finally takes place, and the now
fertile egg drifts around for a while, eventually finding
a favorable lodging place on some rocky shore where
it later develops into a new plant.

As Fucus must find a firm support to which to attach
itself, it is obvious that its presence on the Atlantic
coast would be relatively rare south of Long Island,
for below this region great stretches of sandy beaches
prevail. There does exist, however, in the deeper

130 Dzii'lU'rs of the Sea and Shore

waters off those shores, a brown seaweed closely
related to Fucus, whose differentiated fronds, closely
resembling the structure of higher plants, are often
torn from their anchorage and found washed up on the
beach. This is Sargassum, of which mention has been
made before. Two plants of this genus, S. vidgare and
S. montacjnei, both of which measure less than three
feet in length, are found as far north as Cape Cod;
but a larger species, S. bacciferiim, known as the "gulf-
weed," grows off the shores of Florida. This latter
seaweed has acquired considerable prominence from
the fact that it composes the major portion of that
extraordinary floating mass of vegetation circling
about in the great sea eddies produced by the Atlantic
currents and forming the so-called Sargasso Sea.
After being carried far from their place of origin
many of these plants continue to grow in this mid-
ocean tangle as luxuriantly as on their native shores.

Many of the brown seaweeds are of economic im-
portance. Particularly noteworthy in this respect are
the giant laminarians of the Pacific coast commonly
called sea wrack or kelp. Kelp is harvested by boats
equipped with special machinery for the purpose.
These ocean reapers bring in great barge loads of this
free-for-the-collecting freight from where it floats in
huge fields, and turn it over to industrial organiza-
tions which convert it into iodine, potassium chloride,
and other by-products. Its high potassium content also
allows it to be dried and used in that way as a soil
fertilizer.

The large proportions of the kelps make them easily
the fastest growing plants in the vegetable kingdom,

Marine Groves and Gardens 131

as they attain their full growth within a year. One of
these is reported as having a stem of the thickness ot
a clothesline and reaching the length of nine hundred
feet; along the greater part of this ropelike stem are
attached numerous expansive "leaves." Another, the
bladder wrack, has a stem the length of which measures
a hundred and fifty feet. But, although its stem is
relatively short, it is distinctive in having at the end
a great globular float bearing leaflike appendages over
twelve feet long.

Except for those low, invisible, fungous forms, the
bacteria, marine vegetation is entirely restricted to the
surface of the sea and its shallow waters. This limi-
tation is obviously far short of that of the animals,
who, as will be revealed in a later chapter, range to
the greatest known depths. Now the reason for this
restriction would not be hard to guess, even though
our knowledge of conditions generally regulating the
growth of plants on the sea floor were ever so imper-
fect. The chief factor, of course, is light; for the sea-
weeds are no more able than are their land relations
to live beyond the reach of the sun's rays. The amount
of light that penetrates the sea rapidly diminishes with
increasing depth ; therefore, few living plants are
found much lower than a hundred and fifty feet.

Yet even at this level they do not sensibly decrease
in numbers. They are, however, greatly reduced in
size. Nor is this the only change. They are exten-
sively altered in character. In fact, it is here in these
remote regions, where filter feebly the last remaining
rays of light, that flourish the most varied, the most
colorful, the most exquisitely delicate and, in many

132 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

ways, the most beautiful forms of plant life. These
are the red alg^.

Although red is their prevailing color, they exist in
hues ranging from a delicate pink to deep purple, and
these sundry shades, ordinarily the most pleasing of
the spectrum, seem to acquire an unwonted beauty in
the filmy or filamentous or ribbonlike structures of
some of these seaweeds. Often a profuse branching
occurs, and the plants resemble mosses or ferns. But
such mosses, such ferns ! Nature has no parallel, in
any higher plant, for tint or texture. This red color,
by the way, is only a mask. In spite of its predom-
inance, there exists in these plants a large amount of
chlorophyll, the green coloring matter that character-
izes Ulva and the higher forms of vegetation, and
that by some subtle alchemy converts the sunlight into
plant food.

All red seaweeds are anchored forms. Moreover,
as I have pointed out, they are particularly identified
with the deepest waters in which algae will grow. But
it by no means follows that they are restricted to the
deeper parts; they are, in truth, to be found living as
high as the tide marks. The numbers and species, how-
ever, grow fewer as the higher levels are reached.
This latter observation also may well be applied to
their range as it extends northward; for they are es-
sentially plants of temperate and tropical seas. In this
connection mention of the corallines will not be out
of place. This remarkable group of seaweeds, mostly
displayed in the warm waters of tropical shores, se-
cretes so great an abundance of lime in the cell walls
that the plants become deeply incrusted and resemble

Marine Groves and Gardens

-^^^T,

branching corals. It Is on this account that the^ are
called corallines. A representative type, though one
which by no means attains the perfection and beauty of
the tropical forms, Is the common coralline (C offici-
nalis)^ found In tide pools and on rocks at low-water
mark on New England shores and In Long Island

corallina; a red seaweed which resembles coral,

Sound. Its rigid, jointed, and many-branched frond Is
often mistaken, by those unfamiliar with Its real
nature, for coral, to which It has some resemblance.

In the territory just mentioned, the amateur col-
lector win also often find washed ashore many of the
deeper forms, such as the brilliant Griffithsia, so named
for an English algologlst, Ptilota the feather weed,
Hypnea the moss weed, and Phyllopliora the leaf weed.

134 Dzvc/lers of I he Sea and Shore

But he need not depend on the chance of the waves
to start his acquaintance with this interesting group;
an abundance of living forms will be found growing
well within his reach. Of the genus Polysiphonia alone,
there are over two hundred named species. If it so
happens that he is fortunate enough to possess a micro-
scope, some startling revelations await him in the exam-
ination of the structures of these threadlike plants.
Under that instrument a filament becomes a bundle
of filaments, or tubes, surrounding a central tube.
These tubular parts are called siphons, and from them
Polysiphonia (meaning "many tubes") gets its name.
In some species the siphons are bare, and the filaments
are banded with alternate rings of color. In others, a
surrounding layer of corticating or bark cells cover the
siphons, giving the filament an unmarked, uniform, but,
nevertheless, attractive appearance.

Then there is Ceramhim, the pitcher weed. This
also shows to its best advantage under the microscope.
Like Polysiphonia, it is banded, but its forked filaments
are not made up of siphons. Another is Cailithamnion,
a soft, silky seaweed of cobweb fineness. This plant,
too, is represented by many species; they grow in crim-
son tufts, and along each gauzy filament are dense dots
of deep red.

However, the want of a microscope should not deter
the ambitious beginner; a good, strong pocket lens will
often serve him well. I shall add, moreover, that even
the latter could be dispensed with, and there would still
remain a numerous host whose obvious details would
not fail to excite his wonder and delight.

Notwithstandinji that the red seaweeds are found in

Marble Groves and Gardens 135

adv^erse situations, flourishing under the most unfavor-
able conditions known to chlorophyll-containing plants,
they have, nevertheless, reached the highest develop-
ment of all marine alga?. This is marked by their mode
of reproduction. Now this is an extremely complex
affair, and differs quite extensively in detail among the
different members of the group. In fact, so involved,
or modified, is it in some instances that it is as yet
poorly understood, even by professed botanists. Still,
I think that I can give some representation of the
process as drawn from a very simple case, that will
enable the reader to form at least a fair, if not com-
plete, conception of its general nature.

Red algae are peculiar and unlike other algae from
the fact that they produce no swimming spores. Their
reproduction is carried out in two ways. These are
termed asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction.
In asexual reproduction, the spores are formed in an
envelope which, with its contained products, is called
a sporangium. Since the sporangium usually, but not
invariably, carries four of these spores, they are termed
tetraspores. These upon being discharged in the
water settle to the bottom and immediately start to
germinate and produce new plants. It will be noted
here that this method is quite different from that pre-
vailing in the spores of Fucus. There is no fusion of
cells prior to the development of the plants. This is
the usual way in which red algae multiply.

But there sometimes occur in the life of a plant
extraordinary circumstances, somewhat like the winter
season or other unfavorable periods experienced by
land plants; and these unfavorable conditions must be

136 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

bridged over In some way if the seaweed is to per-
petuate itself. It accomplishes this through its most
remarkable sexual reproduction. On a certain part of
the frond it develops an organ called the antheridium.
This gives rise to sperms which, like the tetraspores,
are Vvithout cilia and are, therefore, unable to swim.
However, instead of sinking to the bottom, they float
about until they come into contact with another organ
on the plant known as the oogonium. The oogonium
is a bottle-shaped female organ with a long narrow
neck. In the bulbous base is contained an egg. When
the floating sperm reaches the oogonium it clings some-
where along this neck, and, perforating the wall at the
point of adhesion, it passes its contents to the egg, thus
fertilizing it.

Strangely, the immediate result of this fusion of the
sex cells is not, as one would anticipate, the develop-
ment of a new plant. Instead, the now fertile egg
breaks up Into numerous spores, and there appears in
the place of the oogonium a fruitlike structure called
the cystocarp. So what we have here is really a kind
of sporangium or spore case containing asexual spores.
But, unlike the tetraspores which cannot defer their
development, these carpospores can await a favorable
time or situation before proceeding to maturity; that
Is to say, before growing into a new generation of sea-
weeds. We find, then, in summing up the life history
of the red alga, that beside having two modes of re-
production, asexual and sexual, they produce two sorts
of asexual spores : The tetraspores, arising from a
simple sporangium; and the carpospores, products of a
fertilized egg developed v/lthin the cystocarp.

Marine Groves and Gardens 137

An acute observer once pointed out that there seems
to prevail a natural rule to the effect that as an organ
becomes more highly specialized or as plant and animal
life becomes more advanced in development, the ability
to regenerate injured tissues or lost parts becomes in-
creasingly diminished. For instance, in higher animals
the stomach, a primitive organ, can undergo consider-
able mutilation and recover its pristine vigor, but the
slightest damage to the more specialized kidneys is
practically irreparable. Then, again, the facility with
which low^er animals, from the sponges to the crus-
taceans, can grow lost parts, when compared wath that
of the vertebrates, is another case in point. Well, at
any rate, w^hatever may be the value of this rule in its
application to higher forms, it is certainly true so far
as it Is reflected by the seaweeds. With some doubtful
exceptions, red algs cannot give rise to new individuals
if the fronds are detached from the base. In other and
lowxr forms, however, growth constantly proceeds re-
gardless of an injury of this sort. This method of cell
reproduction, known as vegetative multiplication, is
carried to an extreme by many green seaweeds. A
good example is Ulva. When it is In the growing stage
It can be torn into any number of parts, and each one
will continue to enlarge into a conspicuous frond.

The seashore is the great evolutionary threshold of
both plants and animals. I have already mentioned
the fact that some of the marine algae are learning to
live out of the water; but there are, on the other hand,
not a few land plants which have taken to the sea. x\nd,
curiously, these for the most part are represented by
the higher, or flowering, forms. This reversion to

138

Dzicllcrs of the Sea and Shore

their ancient habits is not in any sense to be taken as
a form of degeneracy; they have, on the contrary, ac-
quired an uncommon degree of specialization in order
to adapt themselves to an aquatic existence.

Like the seaweeds, these plants are intrinsically in-
teresting, but they are especially noteworthy for their
remarkable association with certain forms of animal

r^A-i .di

WkAl^-^ ■ ttlR^

W

fW

-r-^

V,' ' *15

-.

\^-,
^ ^'^

r. ^.

4

1^

»

PRICKLY wort; a FLOWERING PLANT OF THF. SEASHORE.

life. Seldom do we find a bed of eelgrass (Zostera)
without a host of hydroids, snails, and other creatures
living among its watery glades; even one or two red
algs seem to prefer the slender leaves for their attach-
ment rather than the rocks. The thatch (Spartina)
and other plants of salt marshes anci meadows are
marked by some crustaceans as their very own. A
species of fiddler crab {Uca pugilator) makes its home
in such numbers in the muddy soil holding the thatch,

Marine Groves and Gardens 139

that it is rarely looked for elsewhere by experienced
collectors.

Here I must conclude. It is not without a certain
regret, however, that I do so. For, to me, there are
few subjects more absorbing than that which forms this
chapter. For the reader's proper understanding of
that vast range of life which forms the groves and

SALT wort; a flowering plant of the seashore.

gardens of the sea, I have necessarily been obliged to
trace the briefest outline. But it would be a mistake
for him to assume from this bare sketch that marine
vegetation has no interest apart from what was occa-
sionally pointed out. The plain truth is, there are
periods in the life histories of various individual plants
that are as dramatic and as charged with incident as
those which arouse our emotions in the case of higher

140 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

animals. To grasp those situations, of course, requires
a sympathetic attitude, an interpretative spirit fostered
by affection. This, however, will not be slow in assert-
ing itself. One cannot long associate oneself with
them before learning that one has not to do merely
with an inanimate, growing form, but with a very vital
thing. And this, by the way, is just as true of the higher
plants as of the seaweeds. It is a singular thing that
of all our companions on this planet, the members of
the plant kingdom are the most serviceable and yet the
most neglected. Almost every variety of animal has
been revealed to us through the fervent praises of dis-
tinguished pens. But where is there a Homer of the
plants? Certainly, the answer is plain; and perhaps it
contains the real reason why plants to the many always
have been, and still are — just plants.

Chapter IX
FEATHERS AND FEELERS

This account of shore life would be incomplete if
no consideration were given to that distinct and most
interesting association of animals which occurs in con-
nection with the jetsam deposited by the tidewaters.
Therefore, I purpose to take the reader to one of those
spots in my neighborhood in which my frequent pres-
ence has made me almost as familiar a part of the
locality as the dune plants and beach grass that thrive
in the sandy soil. The region whereof I speak is a
narrow spit, some three fourths of a mile long by only
a fraction of that in breadth, which almost completely
bars the entrance to the marshy cove. This peninsular
area is constantly changing in outline and topography,
but in spite of the rapidly shifting ground, a prolific
and numerous vegetation maintains its determined
stand. Certain dune plants are trying hard to domi-
nate; still, the strand is in no sense a typical dune. It
is low-lying, and, with the exception of a sort of back-
bone, or central ridge, the tides nearly submerge it.

In addition to the great variejty of shore life which
crowds its tide pools and populates the sands, the iso-
lated nature of the place, due partly to the wilderness
of reeds flourishing in the slimy soil that connects it

141

142 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

with the mainland, and partly to the creek that sepa-
rates it from the opposite shore, makes It particularly *
favored by the marsh hen and other birds — and by me.
Here, more so than is possible at any other point along
the harbor shore, I am able to install myself In some
sequestered spot and follow also the actions of my
humble friends of the sea, uninterrupted by the Idly
curious. Unfortunately, however, these advantages
are growing less and less each year. The beach that
lines the outer side of this barrier is the finest In the
harbor. The bathers hereabout have discovered this,
and every summer sees an Increase in their numbers.
On my own part, I have no selfish wish to see It other-
wise ; for who am I to put a personal convenience above
the happiness of the many? Yet It Is not without
emotion that I regard the effect these seasonal incur-
sions will have on the welfare of my pretty animals.
Where are they going after being driven from their
homes? No other place In this region offers such an
Ideal sanctuary. It Is not large, but within Its limits
are contained a number of forms which, unable to
thrive elsewhere, have sought It as the last remaining
place of refuge. One of these, Limulus, the horseshoe
crab. Is, at best, fast becoming extinct; and It would be
a pity to have this picturesque and inoffensive creature
disappear from these shores entirely.

During July and August the heat of the sun beats
down upon this strip of sand with tropical Intensity.
It is the season most loved by the animals of the sea
and shore. At this time they are at the height of their
activities. A walk along the water's edge reveals a
teeming population. Many of them, alarmed at human

Feathers and Feelers 143

approach, strike out in all directions with panic-stricken
haste. The scampering of the fiddler crabs making
their way up the slope to their burrows and the pro-
gressive leaps of the minnow shoals are distinctly
audible as a continuous, murmurous hum. Larger
forms are also here displayed which do not take kindly
to our presence. Almost under our feet the ebbing tide
has left a molting lady crab. Partly buried in a puddle
of silt, she fidgets uneasily, viewing us apprehensively
with her twitching stalk eyes. Having been weakened
by the profound physical change that she is undergoing,
she was unable to swim out with the retreating water.
But she need have no fear where we are concerned;
far greater danger lies in the chance observation by
sorpe member of a flock of herring gulls now rising with
a' chorus of angry cries within a stone's throw of our
advance. Nearing the spot where raged the recent
tumult, we soon have no difficulty in learning why they
resent our intrusion. High up on the beach is the
stranded carcass of a fishing frog. The casting-up of
these curious deep-water fish is not an uncommon occur-
rence on this shore; although in what manner they
meet their death is not readily apparent. I once found
a specimen nearly four feet long which had a mouth
more than a foot and a half wide; it was intact,
bearing no external evidence of any mortal injuries.
Nor, on cutting it open to examine the contents of its
stomach, was there anything to indicate an unseemly
death. Sometimes fishes are known to die from the
effects of trying to eat over-large spine-bearing crea-
tures which they are unable either completely to swal-
low or to regurgitate. But the stomachs of those ani-

144 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

mals I have opened were generally filled to capacity only
with herring or other small fishes in various stages of
digestion — a circumstance, furthermore, which pre-
cludes the probability of death by sickness or starvation.
For the reason that it is commonly supposed to allure

FOOTPRINTS OF A HERRING GULL.

its prey within reach of its great jaws by means of a
dangling, baitlike organ at the end of a long modified
spine on its snout, it is also variously called the sea
angler or angler fish.

In the confusion of tracks around the carcass on the
sand are to be seen those of other birds beside the
herring gulls. One conspicuous footprint, with deep-

Feathers and Feelers 145

taloned Indentations at the ends of the toe marks,
shows that some wandering buzzard has stopped to
eat. Another is that of the great saddleback gull,
a bold, well-marked imprint, a perfect intaglio of the
sole of the web-footed maker. The crow, too, has left
its characteristic mark. But it needs no telltale foot-
prints here to indicate that carrion is part of its com-
mon diet. Wherever this bird is found to congregate it
leaves evidence of its food habits by the ejections from
its mouth of long pellets of partially digested food.
The seashore, however, is less plentifully dotted with
these pellets during the summer than in the winter.
Food is more plentiful inland in the warm months,
therefore fewer crows are obliged to seek the beaches;
moreover, at this time the pellets quickly crumble into
pieces. Freezing weather causes them to retain their
shape. As these cylindrical objects are sometimes as
large around and over half as long as one's finger, they
give an interesting clew to the extremely varied bill of
fare of the animal. The seeds of sundry plants are
common constituents, and often these are of a bitter-
sweet, and even poisonous, variety; but In addition to
these, there is apt to be present in considerable quan-
tities the bones of fishes and of frogs or other small
four-footed animals, the hard parts of crustaceans,
shells of clams and mussels, periwinkles and numerous
small mollusks, and not infrequently one comes across
the wing cases of beetles and other portions of insect
armor.

That the crow should become so Integral a part of
the shore life as is the gull, is not surprising. The
opportunities this region offers to such an indiscrim-

146 Dzcellcrs of the Sea and Shore

inating palate arc quite obvious. But what is it that
attracts the other hind birds which wt see winging their
way hither and yon over the burning sands? Here is
the swallow; with its familiar headlong swoop it passes
close over our heads. Here, also, is the ubiquitous
sparrow, the robin, the meadow lark, the pipit, and the
myrtle warbler, none of which is a carrion eater, or
known to show a preference for sea food. Yet these,
beside many other distinctly land forms, are as common
to the seashore as they are to their native woods and
fields.

The secret of their presence lies in their food habits.
Most of them are insect eaters; and few places in the
world are more prolific of insect life than that line of
plant remains and other organic debris which marks
the tidal heights.

While the scavenger w^ork of the seashore is per-
formed largely by beach fleas, the little amphipod
crustaceans Orchestia and Talitrus, terrestrial animals
having the same food habits, are vigorously disputing
their province. The number of insect species is not
large, but in numbers of individuals the proportions
are enormous. Those actively engaged in reducing the
jetsam are principally flesh flies {Sarcophagus) , car-
rion beetles (NecropJiorus) , and Staphylinid beetles.
Associated with these, however, is a tribe of parasitic
and predatory prowlers whose important business it is
to hold this prolific horde in check. Even worms —
mostly Enchytra?ids — are represented here; and occa-
sionally birds which are neither strictly scavengers nor
eaters of flesh are to be seen picking over the heaps for
tasteful tidbits.

Feathers and Feelers

147

Seating ourselves In the shade of a thatch clump,
better to observe the industrious folk about us, our
inactivity is almost immediately productive of fruitful
results, but of a kind not exactly agreeable. With
irritating persistency a large green-eyed fly attempts to
settle upon some vulnerable part of our body. We
make haste, however, to drive it away as soon as we

A STAPHYLINID, OR SCAVENGER BEETLE. THIS INSECT LIVES ON THE DECAYING

MATTER AT THE HIGH-TIDE MARK.

recognize it. For it is Tabaniis costalis, and its painful
drill is something to be avoided. Notwithstanding that
Tabanus Is a true fly, or Dipteron, and is gifted with a
powerful pair of wings that enables it to roam wher-
ever It may list, this species Is rarely found elsewhere
than In the neighborhood of the sea. Its larval life
Is spent In the rich, muddy soil of salt marshes, where
It feeds only on decaying plant remains. x\t this period

148 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

It is a simple semitransparent lethargic tube of liquid
contents, and to see it thus is to witness a strange con-
trast to the splendid, tawny, emerald-eyed creature
which it later becomes.

Look, there goes Eristalis, pursued by the robber fly

ROBBER FLY ATTACKING ITS PREY.

(Erax riifibarbus) . Whatever advantages the first-
named fly may have derived from its beelike disguise,
the imposture surely does not stand it in good stead
now; for the bloodthirsty assailant will as readily at-
tack a genuine sting bearer as one v/hich obviously is
not. Other winged assassins pass. To flies, wasps,
and beetles, there would seem no end.

Feathers and Feelers 149

Even the ground has Its quota of killers. These arc
chiefly spiders whose nimbleness of foot gives them an
additional advantage when seeking a hasty refuge in
the tops of reeds or other shore plants at every in-
coming tide. There is, however, an air-breathing crea-
ture here among the ground dwellers that is submerged
regularly — often for hours at a time — during the
periods of high water. The insect so distinguished is
the larva of the tiger beetle known to science as Ckin-
dela dors alls.

Now the grub of Cicindela is worthy of our atten-
tion. For the seashore naturalist, it has an especial
interest in the fact of its being one of the very few
insects of the shore which are not known to occur any-
where else ; its individuality, though, would commend it
to any one's consideration.

But where shall we look for this lethal larva? Not
in the vegetal debris; its soft, unprotected body makes
it too easy a prey for others thus to expose itself. The
truth is, its only safe resort is in the ground. Its bur-
row is quite numerous, as is testified by small holes that
perforate the surface, and is a vertical shaft some six
inches deep with a fairly even diameter of the size of
a slate pencil. This home Cicindela never leaves for a
moment, until the time of its metamorphosis, when it
emerges as a swift-flying beetle. How does it capture
its food? Well, if our watch be persevering, we shall
see an exhibition of its singular method.

In the meantime it is to be observed that the grub
is nowhere in sight. This is due to its extreme timidity.
So cautious is it that our slightest movement is suflficient
to make it remain for some time in hiding. Presently,

150 D-zii'I/crs of the Sea and Shore

however, our immobile vigilance Is rewarded: the top
of a flat, hideous head appears at the entrance of a
burrow. It is hard to say which is the more striking
about this glossy black countenance suddenly thrust into
view, the formidable sicklelike jaws or the fixed pair
of double-orbed eyes that glisten like tiny jet beads.
These latter organs are so arranged that one part of
the pair Is pointed to the front and the other part to
the rear, thus enabling the larva to see in all directions
without moving its head. A few short bristles shine
about the eyes and fringe the outlines of the face,
enhancing the savage aspect of the larva. More than
this is not observable at present. The creature remains
within Its shaft with Its head blocking the entrance com-
pletely and in such a manner that It Is on a level with
the ledge. Indeed, as it now presents itself, it is not
difficult to detect; but those stubby hairs are worn for
no Idle purpose, and I have seen them more often than
not so encumbered with adhering grains of sand or
other particles that to novice eyes the animal would
readily pass as part of the surrounding soil. In this
position it awaits Its prey with a patience that would
far outlast our own, did not chance bring an abrupt
and early close to the monotonous affair.

A young isopod {I do tea metalliea) about the size of
an apple seed makes its way over the sand. On what
business It is bent and where Its destination may be Is
not clear, but its course lies almost directly over the
larva's lair. The little crustacean does not differ
greatly from Its land relative, the common "sow bug"
found under damp, decaying wood or under stones and
in other dark, moist places, except that It Is longer and

Feathers and Feelers 151

flatter aiul is covered with a coat of bright bluish green
that shimmers with a metallic luster, it is a swimmer,
but on dry land its mode of progression is virtually the
same as its well-known cousin; that is to say, it moves
at a fairly rapid pace. However, it does not move too
fast for our Cicindela. When it gets barely within a
quarter of an inch of that living trap, there is a blur,
and with astonishing suddenness both the isopod and
the grub vanish utterly from sight. Where they have
disappeared is, of course, not hard to guess. Yet so
quickly did the larva work that the eye has taken in
little of what actually happened to the isopod or the
extraordinary maneuver by which it was seized.

To establish this clearly, therefore, let us resort to
a ruse. But as this is the last that will be seen to-day
of this particular individual, it will be necessary to
employ our wits at another burrow, of which there are
plenty.

First a fly or some other small insect must be ob-
tained. This is but a matter of a moment. A dead
marsh miller lying near by suits the purpose exactly.
Then, breaking off a dry reed, we fasten a fine thread
at the tip. At the free end of the thread a noose is
made and drawn around the fore body of the moth.
The result, in short, is a miniature fishing pole and line
baited and ready for use. Thus equipped, we establish
ourselves at a likely spot and wait. Our subject soon
appears at the top of a convenient hole, and with a
cautious turn of the wrist the dangling corpse is low^ered
over the lurking larva's head. Snap! The swinging
bait is struck so forcibly that the impact nearly tears it
loose. The sharp-pointed pincers, however, close with

152 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

deadly precision on the body of the moth, and there is
a strong, swift tug as the grub attempts to haul its prey
down into the shaft. But this movement is checked by
the thread; whereupon the animal, perceiving almost
immediately that something unusual restrains its effort,
loosens its hold and withdraws like a flash into its
retreat; yet not too soon for us to take in certain details.
The brief interval of time that the grub clings to the
miller reveals the fact that when engaged in its oper-
ations it retains a firm grip on the walls of its shaft.
Moreover, in so doing, it strikes with an upward thrust
of its head accompanied by a sudden lengthening of its
body which carries the fore parts and a portion of the
abdomen well clear of the hole. This "jack-in-the-box"
performance is accomplished, however, not so much by
a telescoping of the body as would easily appear, but
is largely achieved through its peculiar configuration.
If our sight be keen enough it will have been evident
that in retracting its body the grub, after a manner of
speaking, doubled up on itself, by reason of the S-like
shape in which it is roughly bent.

Now let us dig out the animal to see if anything more
is to be learned on this score. Carefully removing the
sand at one side of the shaft, we discover as we go
deeper that the latter is of a uniform character and
without any turns. Here we have a departure from the
bore of most sand-dwelling beetles. Generally their
gallery has a sharp curve that becomes horizontal near
the top. The advantage that that construction offers
in keeping the loose, dry, shifting sand from filling up
the burrows is obvious. Nevertheless, our Cicindela
well knows what it is about in sinking this simple shaft.

Feathers and Feelers 153

The nature of the ground indicates at once why a more
complex burrow is unnecessary. In this instance the
sand is always moist and more or less closely packed;
therefore, its tendency to be blown about is reduced to
a minimum. But what of the water? Although the
grub need not provide against the hazards of the wind,
it is clear that it must guard itself against the silting
action of the waves. If we linger here long enough,
the animal will show us how^ it overcomes this little
difficulty. Still, as a considerable portion of our time
has already been consumed in following its present be-
havior, it may be well to anticipate by explaining that
it plugs up the entrance with sand just before the tide
comes in. How it becomes aware of the time for ap-
proaching high water is a mystery. Yet this perform-
ance is as periodic as the flood. Within the space of
an hour or more preceding every rise, it seals its hole
as regularly as though it watched a tidal clock.

The question here arises as to how the larva over-
comes being drowned in its narrow cell. This is an-
swered in our examination of the burrow itself. As we
dig into the porous sand, a noticeable difference is ap-
parent in the texture of that portion forming the wall.
Instead of falling aw^ay loosely like the neighboring
material, the grains that surround the shaft come apart
in clumps. This means that they are bound together
with a sort of cement. Closer inspection with a glass
does, in fact, show this to be the case; furthermore, the
adhering particles are fixed in a way that makes the
burrow practically water-tight, but admitting the pene-
tration of air; the latter feature being of a decided ad-
vantage to the animal in its long winter sleep. It is

154 DivcUers of the Sea and Shore

patent, therefore, that the periodic plugging of the en-
trance serves not merely to keep the drifting sand out
when inundation occurs, but at the same time also to
keep in the necessary oxygen to breathe.

When the larva is turned up at the bottom of the
burrow, it proves to be a quite abject and helpless in-
dividual. Its length is not more than an inch; and as
it attempts to escape its efforts may best be described as
a fast crawl rather than a run, for its legs seem to be
set somewhat closely together under its short thorax,
and as it moves over the ground it is obliged to trail
along a cumbersome hind body. The hard armor that
encases its head extends over the greater part of the
fore body, but the abdomen is soft and vulnerable, and
its pale waxlike hue is relieved by markings on the
upper part of each segment, making a triple row ex-
tending along the back. The segments are seven in
number. They are well defined, and from the sides of
each projects a little clump of short bristles. But the
most remarkable of the animal's appendages is to be
found on the fifth segment. This part of its anatomy
is slightly enlarged, and viewed from the side a pro-
nounced hump occurs, accentuating the already crooked
curves of the creature's body. At the peak of this
Yiump — that is, on the highest point of the back — two
stout, sharp hooks, one sixteenth of an inch long, are
set with their points turned upward. These are placed
one on each side of the middle line that marks its
length, and they in turn are encircled at the base with
bristling hairs.

Although it may not strike one immediately that the
bristles on the segments are used for climbing up and

Feathers and Feelers

155

down the shaft, one need not hesitate to decide the
function of the hooks. In view of what we have
already seen of the grub's habits, does not their position
and appearance attest plainly that their purpose is for
maintaining an anchorage in its hole when thrusting out

LARVA OF THE TIGER BEETLE.

its head to seize Its prey? Furthermore, one can well
imagine what would take place when it happens to
catch a tartar, so to speak. If some device did not pre-
vent it from being dragged from its retreat.

This Is all that the little larva of CIcIndela has to
show us for the present. If we wish to inquire further
into Its history. It will be necessary to raise it In the
laboratory where under controlled conditions the prog-

156 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

ress of events can be watched with closer attention than
is possible in the open. There subsequent details, to-
gether with what can be learned from the adult in its
natural environment, will give a complete life history
something like this: The adult female tiger beetle,
who is provided with a strong egg-laying drill, bores a
hole in the soil with this instrument and lays a single
egg. She is easily distinguished from the male, for the
latter has the sixth segment broadly notched under-
neath so as to expose the seventh segment, which is
invisible in the female; moreover, the first three tarsal
joints on his front legs are very broad and bear a heavy
coat of down on the under side. The female punctures
the packed sand about fifty times, leaving an egg at the
bottom of every hole. Two or three weeks later a grub
hatches, and the little pit dug by the mother is ample
enough to hold it; but as it grows, it enlarges its home,
all the time going deeper and continually consolidating
the walls. Its growth, of course, is like that of all
other insects, a process which is closely bound up with
the molting, or shedding of the skin. When this event
is about to occur, the larva seals the entrance to its
shaft, and goes to the bottom, remaining there until
the change has taken place. For three years its life is
spent in the ground. Throughout each winter it hiber-
nates, closing its shaft for this purpose in the early
autumn ; it does not reopen it again until the middle of
the following spring. Very shortly after its third and
last disappearance, however, it changes to the pupal
form. But this chrysalis stage, during which it retains
its hooks and develops leglike processes trom the four
segments in front of them, to keep it out of contact with

Feathers and Feelers 157

the walls of Its cjll, Is of brief duration. In the same
autumn that It closes its door for the last time, it makes
a complete transformation from a groveling grub to
a perfect beetle. But the now winged tiger, instead of
emerging at once from Its lair, goes Into a long winter
sleep, and does not awaken until the warm and balmy
air of May arouses it from Its lethargy; whereupon It
digs Its way through the sand that blocks the shaft,
finding Itself finally at the surface. Here It proceeds to
clean Itself. As It rids Its feelers and other appendages
of particles of clinging dirt, the metallic sheen of Its
armor becomes resplendent. Its body underneath and
over the head and thorax Is a deep bronze green. Its
elytra are mottled with blotches of creamy buff; and It
occasionally lifts them to give Its wings a flick In the
genial sunshine. Like the larva. It has a pair of terrible
jaws. In repose they are crossed; and, as the inner
edge of each sickle is provided with several strong,
sharp teeth, it Is easy to see with what deadly efficiency
the tiger beetle can work. The possession of this
weapon gives It a sort of courageous confidence even
In respect to humans; for If It be flushed it will run for
a short distance and then fly just out of reach to face
boldly the pursuer upon alighting.

We will here leave CIcindela engaged in Its oper-
ations preliminary to taking its maiden flight. To fol-
low It farther would be to witness a life of further
slaughter, but add nothing essentially of Interest
therein — unless, perhaps, It be that It Is double brooded
and also hibernates in the perfect or adult stage : prob-
abilities which are founded on more than a mere sus-
picion, but which are not known to be certainly true.

158

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

H

■J

<

►J

a
a

Feathers and Feelers 159

Still, notwithstanding the murderous instinct that
makes the behavior of this animal not altogether a
pleasant feature of its life, it constitutes itself by the
very nature of that instinct one of our best friends; for
in preying on other creatures it kills off scores of insects
which are injurious to us in many ways.

PART TWO
THE TIDE POOL

Chapter X

FLOWERLIKE FORMS AND FANTASIES

From out of the past comes a memory of a wonder
world. I am standing at the edge of a pool on a sunlit
shore whose dank, glistening sands bespeak the out-
ward running of a recent tide. The day is young.
Shortening shadows of strange plant growths lie blue-
black and sharp on a watery floor; the air is still and
cool; the only sound is a faint murmur rising from the
distant washing of a gentle surf. A feeling of be-
wilderment possesses me. The glassy surface of the
tide pool, reflecting the brilliant azure of the sky,
smites the eye with a violent glare, but in the trans-
parent fulgor, fantastic forms present themselves to my
startled gaze. I see a forest of fairy trees, fernlike
glades of shimmering green, and a garden graced with
filmy fronds of a delicate pink. Moving shapes I see,
some without color and, so it seems, without substance;
but many shine resplendent from mystic grottoes, or
glide about like glittering jewels of living light. . . .
Yes, form, color, and w^eight are here; though to my
enchanted vision all realities become ethereal — the
loveliness, the transcendent beauty of the scene is over-
whelming. And as I look into the mysterious depths
of this magic mirror, all about me has the semblance
of a dream. . . .

163

164 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Such was the impression produced by my first ac-
quaintance with a tide pool. At the time of this expe-
rience, nothing whatever was known to me of the nature
or the identity of the various plants and animals which
inhabit the seashore. My interest in nature, always
keen, had hitherto been excited only by such of its
aspects as are ordinarily familiar to the inland dweller.
It is true that those contacts were fraught with an un-
deniable charm. Many a ravishing hour had I spent
watching some woodland watercourse with its divers
wonders; indeed, I have often been beguiled into lin-
gering at the margin of some glistening pond to watch
with awe just the merest living mote. But on none of
those occasions did my emotions respond to the degree
that they did on my introduction to the tide pool. Per-
haps this was because they had always been among the
common things of life. It was not so much that mar-
vels did not occur as that it did not occur to me to
marvel. Alpine villagers, it is said, fail to find the
same beauties in their region that move the tourist to
such superlative expressions of delight. The ever-
present spectacle of those lofty altitudes is unimpressive
and without novelty, if not without charm, to a people
born and reared amidst sublime surroundings. My
own feelings and attitude in regard to the outstanding
features of my terrestrial haunts were, doubtless, of a
sort like this. Then for the first time I saw the sublime
aspect of nature as it exists only in the sea. I was like
one lost in a delectable land of illusion. But there was
no illusion: I had acquired a newer vision; and from
that moment I have never looked upon living things in

FlozverUke Forms and Fantasies 165

quite the same light as I had been prone to look upon
them before. . . .

A later and closer acquaintanceship with things
marine, naturally, has dissolved much that was mysteri-
ous to me on my initial meeting; nevertheless, this fuller
familiarity has in no wise tended to diminish their ear-
lier charms. Seldom do I venture along the shore with-
out encountering some feature, not necessarily novel or
strange, yet sufficiently impressive to awaken a respon-
sive thrill. It must be confessed, however, that the
waters of tide pools are more fertile of interest and in-
cident in this respect than any other region of the shore.

As Harbor Beach is graced wuth a large and particu-
larly attractive example of one of these natural marine
aquaria, needless to say it surrenders to me many
secrets of the sea. In the shallow water of this ex-
pansive basin (it is two or more acres) are often
found, congregating throughout their proper seasons,
representatives of nearly every type of life peculiar to
these latitudes. Here are found the forms that line
the high-water mark as well as those which range the
deeper levels. For not infrequently is some strange
straggler from the outer reaches caught unawares and
left imprisoned by the retreating tide, unable to escape
until the next succeeding flood. Sponges, too, swept in
from darker and cooler depths, continue to grow with-
out perceptible restraint in the genial currents of their
newer habitat.

Such a one is the finger sponge {ChaUnopsiUa
oculata), a dull orange-red individual with compressed
fingerlike branches that look like lobes of melting

1 66 Dzvellers of the Scci and Shore

copper. And then there Is its paler cousin (C arhiis-
ciila)y standing about six inches high, whose delicate
and finer textured branches of tawny gray grow more
slender but in greater profusion. Some sponges re-
semble crumbs of bread; others spread themselves in
irregular golden masses over the fronds of seaweeds
or the surfaces of stones. These latter generally first
find their way here as fragments. Soon or late, how-
ever, some of these fragments drift into contact and
coalesce, forming a single but larger and perfect unit.
Still, of all the immigrants, the boring sponge {Cliona
stilphiirea) has the most striking habits. It is a light
cream yellow in color and usually grows on the dead
shells of the oyster and hard clam, though it some-
times settles on living shells to the great irritation
of the animal within. It honeycombs these shells
with galleries by absorption, wherein it establishes it-
self, showing only its wartlike prominences through
little perforations about one eighth of an inch in diam-
eter that riddle the surface of the valves. In time the
dead shell is completely disintegrated by the work of
this persistent borer, but the living mollusk, although
hard put to prevent this disaster to itself, manages
to delay if not effectually resist these encroachments
by the constant secretion of new lime over the parts
that are penetrated by the sponge.

But the sponge population of the tide pool is by no
means composed entirely of immigrants. A community
long established herein also holds its own. The bril-
liant orange-red incrusting sponge {Microcioua pro-
lifcra), spreading itself in a velvety, tangled mass over
shells and stones, is a conspicuous example. Less color-

Flozverlikt' Forms and Fantasies

167

fill but equally diverting is the lovely little urn sponge
{Grantia cU'uita). This is a particularly favorable
type in which to observe the way in which all these ani-
mals work. If a specimen be placed in a dish of sea
water, to which a trace of carmine is added, it will be
seen that the coloring matter held in suspension is

TUBE SPONGE. A NON-CALCAREOUS SPONGE.

sucked through the sievelike pores on the creature's
sides and expelled in a steady stream through the large
opening that punctures the top. ^

I have referred to the sponges as animals; for that
in truth is what they are. Aristotle was the first to find
this out. So, you see, I am not setting forth a fact that
is particularly new. Yet, in spite of the age-old knowl-
edge of their identity, there is a prevailing impression

1 68 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

that sponges are plants. This misconception no doubt
arises from the appearance of those which are in com-
mercial use. Such sponges, however, are only the
horny skeletons which in the living animals were com-
pletely covered with a soft tissue of cells. Even in life,
they are by no means typical of the group in general.
For sponges are not only extremely variable in size and
color; they are also found to grow in a vast variety of
forms. Some species are so small that they are scarcely
visible to the naked eye; others grow to such propor-
tions that their dimensions are only to be measured in
feet. Again, they range from masses so indefinite in
outline as to appear like monstrous aberrations, to sym-
metrical structures of exquisite shapeliness. Neverthe-
less, the fibrous framework (spongin) of the common
commercial sponge identifies it as belonging to the Non-
Calcarea, one of the three classes into which all of these
animals are divided. The skeleton of those sponges
belonging to the Calcarea differ in being composed of
mineral spicules (lime) or a combination of lime and
spongin. This flinty material gives these individuals
a hard and rigid character. It should be noted, how-
ever, that among the calcareous sponges some odd ex-
amples exist whose skeletons consist wholly or nearly
so of particles of sand.

Although the sponges are undoubtedly animals, they
are very low ones. Indeed, they stand near the foot
of the ladder that symbolizes the evolution of the
many-celled organisms. There are many other animals
which are still lower, but they consist of a single cell.
The sponges, however, are only a step higher, for,
although their bodies are composed of an aggrega-

Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies 169

tion of cells, they have not so far progressed as to
acquire a stomach or anything resembling the special-
ized organs that distinguish other multicellular crea-
tures. It is on account of their low organization that
they may be cut into pieces without killing the indi-
vidual, for each piece will continue to live and grow;
by the same token, certain members of the same species
are enabled to coalesce when coming into contact.

As all animals must eat in order to live and grow,
the individual sponge, notwithstanding its having no
mouth or stomach, manages this important business
In a very efficient way. And although utterly inca-
pable of locomotion, it captures its food in a manner
no less adroit than that of the most active swimmer.
To arrive at an understanding of how this Is done, let
us look more closely into its structure.

In the living animal, the organic parts — that Is, those
parts which do not comprise the framework — are made
up of a soft jellylike tissue consisting of three different
layers of cells. The outside layer, which Is virtually
the skin, Is composed of flat cells, and is called the
ectoderm. The middle layer, known as the mesoderm,
makes up the main mass of the body, and It Is the
function of these cells, which are of various shapes
and kinds, to form the framework and take part In the
reproduction and digestion. The internal layer, or
endoderm, Is an arrangement of cylindrical cells, each
one of which has at Its exposed end a cup, or collar, that
encircles the base of a freely lashing flagellate hair.
Now these thread cells {choanocytes) , so-called, liter-
ally line the walls of the many locks, or chambers. In
the canal system that traverses the sponge, and it Is they

lyo Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

that capture the minute plants and animals which pass
in through the pores with the circulating water. But
please understand — it is not the cilia, or hairs, that
catch the food; their office is merely to create the cur-
rents which keep the water moving, a condition main-
tained hy their constant vibration; they both take in
their food and eject the waste products of digestion
through the circular orifice within the collar. Thus, in
fine, the sponge works something like this : Through
the innumerable fine pores that cover the outside of the
animal, the water is strained of its coarser particles of
floating food and the finer material is carried through
incurrent canals into ciliated sacs or chambers, the cells
of which select and absorb the suitable ingredients;
thence the streaming atoms are diverted into the large
channels and pass out through craterlike vents called
osciila. In proportion to the pores, the oscula are few
in number; in fact, it is due to the porous structure of
sponges that they have received the scientific name
Porifera.

The sponges are singular in having no natural ene-
mies— unless we humans in our commercial exploita-
tions of these animals can be included in this category.
But even here our attention is confined only to the
genus Spong'ui; and we make some effort to compensate
for their reduction by artificial propagation. Living
sponges are cut into pieces, and these are planted in the
most suitable situations favoring their growth. They
grow rapidly, attaining a marketable size within a year.
The commercial sponges of this hemisphere are all
taken from Florida waters, and off the shores of the
Bahamas and the West Indies in depths of less than

Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies 171

thirty feet. Ihe finest sponges In the world are those
from the fisheries of the Mediterranean and the Red
seas.

Natural reproduction in these creatures is carried
on in two ways. In the sexual method, which is the
most common, eggs and sperms are formed in the mes-
oderm. The fertilized eggs escape as rounded ciliated
larvcE which, on finding a favorable bottom, immedi-
ately attach themselves; given to growing rapidly, they
soon become mature individuals. Sponges reproduce
asexually by budding. The buds in some instances re-
main attached to the parent and continue to grow;
usually, however, they drop off and drift away to begin
life anew.

In another chapter we have seen that certain sea-
weeds, the corallines, bear a close resemblance to the
corals; there are, on the other hand, animals which
have every appearance of being seaweeds. Their plant-
like character is even more marked than that of the
sponges. These are the fixed hydroids; and although
the ordinary eye would never associate them with jelly-
fishes, their relationship, as a matter of fact, is not far
removed, for they belong to the coelenterates, or
polyps. Indeed, all the animals which are now known
as coelenterates were at one time called zoophytes, a
term meaning "animal plants," and suggested by their
likeness to plant forms. And it is the class Hydrozoa
of the coelenterates in which are included all the hy-
droids, both fixed and free-floating.

The fixed hydroids differ from the free-floating
forms in that they are invariably colonies of associated
animals which remain attached to a common, base

172 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

throughout their communal life. That is to say, like
plants they spend their entire adult life on the spot
where they originally started to grow. It is true, in this
respect they do not differ from the sponges, but so much
more pronounced is their plantlike appearance that the
comparison here is quite to the point. Some there are
which liberate swimming bells. It is for this reason
that hydroids often have been called the nurses of
jellyfishes.

Throughout the summer months the fixed hydroids
are well represented in my tide pool. However, of the
four main groups, or genera, into which these animals
are divided, tiibularians, campaniilar'ians, sertidarians,
and phimidarians, the sertularians are the most abun-
dant. Hanging like frosted fringes from the fronds of
seaweeds, can be seen the silver sertularian {Scrtularia
argentea) \ and the sea cypress {S. cupressina)^ a
species somewhat similar, with its arched and drooping
branches, forms funereal groves over shells and stones;
but the commonest and in one sense the most curious is
the creeping sea oak {S. piimilla). This hydroid criss-
crosses its silken stems in such profusion that it some-
times hides completely the rocks or seaweeds on which
it grows. From the tangled w^eb, there rise at close
intervals slender, upright stalks about an inch in height
adorned with zigzag branches.

But how is one to determine their animal nature and
avoid confusing them with seaweeds, which they so ob-
viously simulate? Very easily. A strong glass, how-
ever, must be used for the purpose. All hydroids, in
fact, can be studied to advantage only under the lens.
Few sertularians, as a rule, reach higher than a foot,

Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies 173

and their branches are so fine as sometimes to be almost
invisible. When magnified, a branch will be found to
consist of a horny shell or tube divided into more or
less regular internodes. In some species this tubular
branch contains a single canal throughout its length; in
others, it may contain several. These canals contain
living substance, the horny exterior being only a sup-
port and protection. But the most striking thing that
greets the eye are the flowerlike forms arranged alter-
nately along opposite sides of the internodes, and which
constitute the individual animals themselves. Each one
is an anemonelike creature — in this case, called the
hydranth — held in a transparent cup of amber, over
the brim of which it spreads a spray of sixteen tentacles,
silvery petallike processes of gossamer fineness. These
are arranged in a single whorl around a conical, or
dome-shaped, proboscis having in its center a tiny aper-
ture, the mouth. The cup that holds the hydranth is
known as the hydrotheca, and in sertularians this is
almost always set close to its supporting branch without
a connecting stem, or pedicel. On the hydrothecal rim
is a hinged structure which works like a trapdoor when
the hydranth retracts, closing after the animal to pro-
tect it from harm. A diaphragm forms the floor of the
cup, and through a hole in this passes part of the body
of the hydranth, making it continuous wMth the other
hundreds of hydranths which compose the colony.

At occasional points along the branches, larger urn-
shaped bodies are to be seen. These are the repro-
ductive organs {gonosomes) , and with rare exceptions
the entire colony will contain sex organs of one kind
only — which is to say, the colony is either male or

174 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

female. In sertularians, sexual reproduction Is a proc-
ess not greatly unlike what we have observed in the
case of the seaweeds. The sperm cells stream forth
Into the water in countless numbers. On reaching the
female colonies, they pass through a perforation In the
top of the gonangia, seeking the eggs. Only a few
are fortunate in finding the ova, however, whereupon
fertilization is immediately effected, to be followed
later by the development of the embryos. Eventually
these embryos grow into ciliated larvae which, on being
liberated, swim to some substantial support and pro-
ceed forthwith to start new colonies.

The campanularlan hydroids, to which reference has
been made, are many of them similar in naked-eye
aspect to the sertularians. Fut they differ quite notice-
ably under the glass. Take Clytea (Clytea poterium)
for example. What in most sertularians is a horny cup
set close to the branch on which it is borne. Is In the
case of this animal a stemmed goblet of crystal trans-
parency. The goblet, bell-shaped and open at the top,
Is smooth around the rim and without the angularities
or modulations commonly founci in campanularlan hy-
drotheCcT ; but the stem is faintly ringed throughout its
length, giving the merest suggestion of an ornamental
pattern — In short, the simplicity of its design makes It
a fitting support to so chaste a chalice. The hydranth
— but how shall I describe the hydranth ? Every goblet
contains a cluster of sclntillant tentacles; yet so feeble
Is the light they reflect that they look like the pale glow-
ings of ghostly stars. Somewhat like the sertularian,
the sea oak, this hydroid is a creeping form. The
main stem runs rootlike over the stones or seaweed to

Flozverlike Forms and Fantasies i'] S

which It is attached, and this gives rise to the upright
pedicels bearing the nutritive and the reproductive or-
gans, or zooids. In Obelia (Obelia commissuralis) ^
however, a campanularian generally found in company
with Clytia, the form of growth differs considerably.
Here the main stem rises to a height of six inches;
It carries branches spirally arranged around its axis, and
these In turn subdivide Into other and shorter members.
The ultimate branches are in reality the ringed pedicels
of twelve-sided cups. The cups are bell-shaped but
slightly incurved. Indeed, the campanularlans get their
name from the characteristic shape of the hydrotheca,
for campanula, from which the name Is derived, is liter-
ally "a little bell." The reproductive zooids, larger
and vaselike, are on short, ringed pedicels occupying
the angles of the branches.

Now, although the campanularlans just described
have a superficial resemblance, even under the glass, to
the sertularians, it is here in their outward aspect that
their similarity ceases. Their life histories are totally
different. In the life cycle of these hydroids is ex-
hibited that peculiar phenomenon known as alternation
of generation {metagenesis) ^ two different forms of
individuals In one species, or, to put it another way, one
kind of individual in two separate and distinct forms.
Specifically, Clytia and Obelia are at one stage of their
lives fixed hydroids, or polyps; at another, jellyfishes.

Here is how It comes about. The reproductive
zooids of these animals, unlike those of the sertularians,
produce neither eggs nor sperms; Instead, they contain
little stacks of saucer-shaped meduscC, or jellyfishes,
which, in their form of attachment to one another by

176 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

the middle of the convex side, recalls what we have
observed in another place regarding the strobila of the
large jellylishes. When, at maturity, the cover of the
zooid ruptures, the tiny jellyfishes are liberated. From
the inside center of a swimming bell thus set free de-
pends the stomach of the creature, having at its outer
end a four-cornered mouth. Diverging from the point
where the stomach is attached are four tubular canals
in the bell which are continuous with a circular canal
running around the rim. This is usually a conspicuous
feature, and often serves as an aid to identification.

When a hydrold is in the jellyfish stage, It may be
said to have reached the highest point In its develop-
ment; for it is only in the mature medusa tliat sexual
reproduction occurs. The eggs are pear-shaped ciliated
bodies, which are dispersed by the parent meduss at
the end of summer ; they swim or drift around until they
reach a favorable anchorage; whereupon they grow
into hydrold colonies which In turn give rise to other
jellyfishes in the following spring. Some meduScT, In
addition to their egg-bearing capacity, can reproduce
by budding, producing smaller individuals on the
stomach or on the rim of the bell. Moreover, not all
campanularians are positively known to be of the above
described type. Many of these hydroids have not yet
been observed to bear medusa cups; nor can all the un-
doubted hydrold medusa.^ be identified with the polyp
colonies from whence they came. What Is more, some
live always in the medusa state, having no colonial
existence whatever.

The plumularians, as the name would indicate, are
featherlike hydroids — at least they were when this

Flozverlikc Forms and Fantasies 177

name was first applied. But now, since our knowledge
of these animals has been vastly extendetl, a (juitc
numerous group of individuals has been included among
them which have no resemblance to a feather. For in-
stance, there is one {Antenniilaria antennina) which
often appears in my tide pool, that is decidedly weed-
like; it grows in dense clusters of sparsely branched up-
right stems to a height of eight or more inches, and is
by no means prepossessing. However, among those
forms which do bear out their characteristic name, are
the most beautiful of all fixed hydroids. Such is the sea
plume {Aglaophemia struthioides) ^ a species found on
the Pacific coast. It has a striking likeness to a min-
iature ostrich plume, and the rich, colorful tones of
some individuals make them even more attractive than
the object for which they are named. This hydroid,
like many other plumularians, has the zooid cups ar-
ranged only on one side of their supporting branch.
The cups are without pedicels, or stems.

But there is one thing in which plumularians agree,
and it is the distinctive feature that now identifies all
members of the group regardless of their superficial
aspects. This is their stinging organs known as
nematophores. Whereas, in the other fixed hydroids
that we have considered, the tentacles of the hydranth
are the only organs bearing stinging cells, in these crea-
tures the nematophores are additional members in-
vested with these deadly darts. These are bodies of
sundry shapes, the external shell being generally tubular
or trumpet-shaped, containing a single tentacular finger
capable of great extension. They are variously situated
along the internodes and sometimes on the sides of the

178 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

zooid cups themselves, compared with which they are
greatly inferior. Their purpose is not definitely known,
but on occasion they can function as weapons either of
capture or of defense. It is supposed, however, by
many naturalists, that the nematophores are merely
degenerate zooids. Reproduction is of the same type
as that of the sertularians; there is no medusa stage.
In the genus Anteunidar'ia, however, exists the unusual
instance of both male and female zooids in a single
colony.

In a well-shaded spot at the edge of the tide pool,
where the overhanging mud bank exposes the mussel-
laden roots of the thatch, I often find a hydroid which
is incomparably more like a flowering plant than any
other species of my acquaintance. Not only does this
apply to the polyps, but the colony as a whole has every
appearance of a floral bouquet. It grows on the shells
of the mussels, yet not infrequently it attaches itself to
the dead stems and roots that are imbedded in the side
of the bank. Quite dense are its clusters, and fully two
inches high; and its amber-tinted stems are terminated
by the prettiest of pink hydranths. It is one of the
tubularians {Thamnocnidia spectabilis) ^ and so like a
certain real plant is it, with its delicate stalks and starry
zooids, that it is known everywhere as the passion
flower of the sea.

I think it hardly necessary to point out here that the
flowerlike zooids, as is the case with other hydroids, are
the nutritive parts, and that their stinging properties,
besides assisting in the capture of small organisms, are
of considerable help in the animal's defense. But, let
me say, this pretty polyp, powerful as it is in its way,

Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies

179

has, nevertheless, some irresistible enemies. On one
occasion I observed a roving herd of fiddler crabs de-
scend into the water of the pool and strip these diminu-
tive gardens bare of every branch and blossom. But
their greatest foe in this place undoubtedly is the hermit
crab; when this hungry prowler finds them out he will

clava; a colony of tubularian hydroids. (enlarged.)

spend hours in plucking off the clusters — plucking off
many more, in fact, than he can possibly consume.

Now in regard to the hermit crab and its appetite,
an odd sight sometimes presents itself. Often one of
these creatures will be seen searching assiduously for
food while the shell which it bears is literally covered
with living hydroids. Yet, though its craving may be
ever so keen, it will not touch them. These hydroids,
too, are tubularians, and are generally of the genus

i8o

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Hydractinia. They form a soft mosslike covering,
usually of a whitish or pinkish color — the lighter-hued
colonies being male, and the darker-hued, female — and
are very seldom found growing elsewhere than on the
shells of hermit crabs. Here, then, we find that re-

hydractinia; a colony of tubularian iiydroids. (photograph made of the
living animals growing on a shell occupied by a hermit crab;
greatly enlarged.)

markable instance known as commensalism, a term
which, freely defined, means "dining at the same table."
But in this case, as indeed is the case with most true
commensal animals, they do more than merely dine
together; they really render each other a service. That
is to say, this sort of association is formed for mutual
benefit. The tubularians, beside the concealment they

Flowerlike Forms and Fantasies i8i

may offer to the crab, are effective against Its enemies
with their stinging weapons of defense. The hermit
crab reciprocates by carrying the colony about to places
most likely to be plentiful with food; a favor enhanced
by the fact that the polyps are also assured of better
oxygenation.

When a colony of Hydractlnia Is examined closely,
the Individual polyps will be found to rise from a horny,
rootlike network creeping over the surface of the shell.
It will further be observed that the zoolds are of three
entirely different kinds: a nutritive member carrying a
crown of tentacles; a second slender individual without
tentacles but well armed with stinging cells, and a
shorter stalk on which a small cluster of ovoid bodies
Is attached near the top. These latter are the gono-
phores. Hydractlnia has no jellyfish stage; the eggs
develop Into swimming larvae which seek the shell of
some other hermit crab than that on which they were
born, and there commence another colony.

The characteristic feature that distinguishes tubu-
larlans from other hydrolds is In their long slender
zoold-bearing stems. These In some instances reach a
length of ten or more Inches; often they are branched.
The zooids ordinarily have two rings of tentacles en-
circling the mouth. In many species, however, the
mouth Is raised on a prominence, or proboscis; and not
infrequently reproductive zooids will be attached be-
tween the two rows of tentacles or just below the outer
fringe. In no tubularlan does a horny hydrotheca
cover the hydranth.

Such free-swimming colonies of hydrolds as this pool
affords are few If not relatively rare. This Is not to

1 82 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Imply that there exists a scarcity of these forms. They
are, on the contrary, very numerous. Their usual
haunts, however, are the more open spaces of the sea.
Southern and tropical waters, particularly, are prolific
of these wandering creatures. Once In a while some of
these warm-water dwellers drift to these northern lati-
tudes with the Gulf Stream, eventually finding their
way to this shore. Of these floating wanderers, one
form Is especially worthy of our attention here, because
of all the free-swImmIng hydrolds It Is the most beau-
tiful and the most famous — and the most dangerous.

PhysaUa arethusa, or Portuguese man-of-war, as this
notorious coelenterate Is called, floats on the surface of
the water — a resplendent, fairy craft of faint purple
and rose. The hull, or body, of this marvelous ship is
a bubblelike bag about five inches long roughly resem-
bling a dirigible balloon; and it carries a crest, or sail,
that can be raised or lowered before the wind. The
bag Is filled with air, and from beneath trails a cluster
of brilliant blue streamers which sometimes are nearly
one hundred feet in length. In addition, there depends
a mass of flask-shaped bodies, or feeding zooids, and
some that look like miniature bunches of grapes, the
reproductive zooids.

The attractive tentacles of Physalla, as In the case of
the large jellyfishes, are covered with stinging cells; but
in this instance they are more poisonous and para-
lyzing. A strange thing — Is It not? — that such an ex-
quisite creature should possess so terrible a power. No
fish of ordinary size can escape when coming In contact
with this alluring snare. In its deceptive mazes sea
turtles weighing twenty pounds or more are, in spite

FlozverJikc Forms and Fantasies 183

of their scaly armor and leathery hide, caught and
benumbed and rendered utterly helpless. Nay, the dan-
ger that lurks in that deadly touch makes the man-of-
war a fearful animal to encounter by even the human
swim.mer.

Yet, notwithstanding the deadly nature of the ten-
tacles, they harbor, unharmed, certain little fishes which
swim throughout the treacherous toils with perfect
freedom and unconcern. This, you will admit, is truly
remarkable. How much more so, then, is the fact that
these constant companions of Physalia are of the exact
color — a bright, pretty blue — as that of the monstrous
members among which they make their home !

Chapter XI
CAMOUFLAGE

In the color resemblance of the fishes that follow
Physalia, we have touched upon a circumstance which
leads us now to conside^r some important and funda-
mental advantages possessed by certain animals of the
seashore in their struggle for existence. I refer to
those aggressive and protective endowments, apart
from distinct organs of offense and defense, which are
usually known as mimicry, masking, deceptive colora-
tion, or by some term of similar significance.

The dense population of the shore makes competi-
tion exceedingly keen. Everything that is edible has
scores of hungry claimants; this applies to the larger
living animals as w^ell as to the most trifling bit of
organic food. Now, as one half literally subsists on
the other half, it is obvious that any device which will
enable the possessors the better to obtain something
to eat or to avoid being eaten, will promote the welfare
of the species as effectively as that of the individual.
No one can seriously study the conditions that prevail
in this area without becoming early aware of the fact
that, notwithstanding the enormous prolificacy which
obtains here, the balance of life is maintained at a
somewhat critical point. Even among the dominant

184

Camouflage 185

forms, the line that lies between their present suprem-
acy and total extinction is by no means a broad one.
Many mighty multitudes are holding their own in the
tremendous struggle merely by virtue of some appar-
ently insignificant feature in form or color.

Such advantageous features as swiftness of move-
ment or unusual strength, of course, contribute largely
to an animal's ability to make a living; but even these,
in many instances, would be quite useless were it not
within the power of the animal to render its presence
unperceived when approaching its prey. In so doing it
seeks to identify itself with its surroundings by one of
three ways: by actual concealment, or hiding; by dis-
guising its appearance with a covering of materials
miscellaneous in origin — that is, by masking; or, as is
most commonly the case, it relies on its natural color
or markings or peculiar shape to keep it inconspicuous.
Thus it will be seen that the resorts of the killers in
deceiving their victims are as ingenious as they are
varied. Human enterprise Is hardly less distinguished.
When, in the recent war, we went into the business of
butchering each other, we took a hint from the animals,
and, as our borrowed methods needed a distinctive
name, the word "camouflage" came Into popular use.
Although science has not yet adopted this very useful
term, its employment here will not be out of place.

Camouflage, then, may also serve the purpose of
protection as well as aggre§sion. It is clear, moreover,
that the capacit^^ of a creature to_ conceal itself from Its
enemies is of an importance not inferior to that of
making itself invisible to Its prey.

Fishes are classic examples of natural camouflage.

1 86 DzveJIers of the Sea and Shore

Their hues and markings almost invariably harmonize
with their native haunts, and a great many species are
capable of changing their colors momentarily to con-
form with the prevailing tints or tones of various locali-
ties. As nearly all of them are white along the under
surface of the body, it is not unlikely that to their ene-
mies which view them from below they would be con-
fused with the light above; and to the birds and other
enemies over them, their markings and coloration
doubtless make their forms quite indistinct. In the
perpetual darkness of the deep sea, camouflage is un-
necessary. As a consequence, we find the fishes there
unmarked, their entire bodies being an inky violet in
color, below as well as above. In truth, to say nothing
of the birds, such as slaty blue gulls and terns, which
are colored like the sea, there are throughout every
group of marine inhabitants — moUusks, crustaceans,
echinoderms, worms, etc. — abundant instances wherein
the perpetuation of the species is unquestionably due to
protective or aggressive resemblances.

However, it is not my purpose to range the entire
ocean for specific instances or to recite even a rep-
resentative list of examples. Nor is it necessary. My
present object will be fully attained, I think, without
venturing beyond the comparatively narrow limits of
my tide pool. At any rate, let us see what it holds
for us.

This briny basin is so situated that when the tide
is low its broadest expanse is separated from the waters
of the harbor by a reef of gravel and sand. Owing to
the shifting nature of this material, the outer shore of
the pool is continually changing by the tidal action;

Camouflage 187

consequently, few plants find a footing here. And for
a considerable area along the margin, the clear, shallow
depths also appear quite barren of animal life — at least
it would thus appear to the inexperienced. Save for a
few small snails clustered in the furrows of the rippled
floor or an occasional hermit crab cautiously roaming
about, there would probably be little else to attract the
notice of the average passer-by; yet unknown to him
he would be the focus of many pairs of eyes belonging
to creatures much larger than these. If he unsuspect-
ingly steps into the water at this place, surprising evi-
dence of this fact will manifest itself. Almost from
under his feet will be a scurrying of shadowy forms
slightly smaller than his hand, in length and breadth.
Let him follow one of these creatures in its flight and
determine exactly where it stops, and he will discover
that he is utterly unable to locate it. So completely has
it effaced itself from view that he begins to doubt his
sense of seeing. With a hand net he may perhaps suc-
ceed in capturing one of these elusive shadows, but not
so long as it is content to remain at rest on the bottom.
It must first be startled from its place and then be
caught on the leap, so to speak.

After which it will prove to be a fish; a flounder, in
fact, or flatfish (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) . A
very unusual fish it is, also; and in more ways than
would appear at firsthand. It swims and lies flat on
one side, the lower side being white, or colorless, while
the upper side is grained and mottled and presents an
appearance identical with the coarse, sandy floor of its
haunts. These imitative markings are not confined to
the body alone; they extend over the fins and tail.

i88

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Here, In a word, is the real reason why the flatfish Is
Indistinguishable when It is motionless. The most
striking of its adaptative features, however, Is the posi-
tion of its eyes. In the common fishes familiar to
everybody these organs, like those of the higher ani-
mals, are situated one on each side of a middle line
dividing the right and left half of the body. But the

ROCK CRAB CONCEALING ITSELF IN THE SAND. THE ANIMAL IS IN THE CENTER OF
THE PICTURE. THE FORE PART OF ITS BODY AND THE ENDS OF ITS CLAWS ARE
THE ONLY PORTIONS EXPOSED.

flounder Is almost a freak; Its eyes are both on one side
of its head; in other words, on that side of its body
which it keeps uppermost. When one considers, more-
over, that this creature is hatched as a transparent
fish, swimming vertically in the water, with an eye on
each side, the foregoing circumstances seem all the
more striking. Nevertheless, it should be observed
that these changes are not more marvelous than the

Camouflage 189

postembryonic metamorphoses by nearly all of the
other animals of the sea. Indeed, I may add that the
more metamorphosis Is studied, the more It becomes
divested of Its aspect of marvel, though Its absorbing
Interest, of course, never diminishes; for reduced to Its
simplest terms, metamorphosis Is development. Those
features which excite our wonder usually do so because
of the extraordinary or strange contrasts they present;
that is to say, development, always gradual and orderly
in its course. Is sometimes, however, revealed only as
If it were an occasional occurrence, consequently giving
the Impression that Its progress Is marked by sudden
transitions from one peculiar phase to another. As I
have said, our flatfish swims vertically when hatched.
Soon It starts to rest Itself obliquely on the bottom, and
the eye on the lower side commences to turn upward.
As growth continues, this eye gradually moves with Its
socket around the forehead accompanied by a twisting
of the skull until eventually both eyes and both sockets
are more or less approximated on the upper side. By
this time the fish has assumed its characteristic flat
position. But the end is not yet. The full-grown flat-
fish Is an Inhabitant of the deeper and darker waters;
it Is only the young and Immature animal which I find
frequenting the shallow bottom of my tide pool. There-
fore, before Its growth will have been finally completed,
it will have changed its bright sand-colored coat to
one of a hue more somber and In keeping with the sur-
roundings of Its adult home.

Now the capacity for color resemblance that inheres
in our flounder Is clearly of a decided advantage. Were
it not so endowed. It would become the prey of count-

190 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

less larger creatures; for it is a harmless and rather
feeble swimmer, subsisting only on small mollusks,
worms, and crustaceans, and its sole means of protec-
tion is by escaping observation. Notwithstanding its
apparent immunity, it has several harassing enemies
which make its existence anything but serene. Pres-
ently we shall have occasion to see one type of these
killers at work.

The whole of the question of camouflage among
animals is as yet imperfectly understood. It is known,
certainly, that deceptive resemblance confers an enor-
mous degree of protection to those forms so distin-
guished and which are too weak to resist their superiors.
But what is the answer in regard to those which are
equally defenseless and which by no stretch of the
imagination can be considered inconspicuous? After
eliminating those instances where inedibility, unusual
prolificacy, agility, and kindred conditions may be fac-
tors, there yet remain cases in which the species seem
to thrive without the apparent protection afforded the
majority. These matters, doubtless, will some day be
cleared up when our general knowledge of the con-
ditions of life is more complete.

There has been much nonsense written on this sub-
ject. It has been seriously suggested that deceptive
resemblance i3 an exercise of the will on the pari: of
the animal; although it is only fair to add that no com-
petent naturalist nowadays holds this to be the case.
Nor should the learner who perchance has read some
of the older overenthusiastic literature entertain this
belief. In what way, for instance, the flatfish has come
to acquire and exercise its remarkable property of de-

Camouflage 191

ceptlon Is even now not agreed on by naturalists, but
not one of them asserts volition or Intent to be a factor.
That animals may adopt certain habits, and that these
habits may tend to bring about actions in long-contin-
ued circumstances which accentuate or reenforce those
deceptive features of form and color, Is patent to any
one who has a mind to study the matter; but that this
Is the result of reason, it does not at all follow. Rather,
it is Instinctive or reflex ; and these inherent qualities are
the result of slow and gradual growths through a long
line of ancestors. And here too, by the way, is a broad
hint regarding the colors of those creatures which do
not seemingly find them useful. It is not Improbable
that the color markings of many present-day marine
animals exist solely as the result of heredity; they were
handed down by ancestors who, living under different
conditions, found them directly and decidedly beneficial.
The objections that may be urged against volition In
the case of color resemblance cannot be maintained In
regard to that method of camouflage known as mask-
ing, except, perhaps, only insofar as instinct is con-
cerned. Strangely, the most celebrated instance of this
form of disguise is not, as one would expect, among the
fishes, but Is among the crustaceans, a group far less
advanced In general intelligence. The crustaceans thus
eminently distinguished are the long-legged spider
crabs, a tribe of creatures so resourceful that they
have often been honored with a place at the head of
the entire group. When collecting seaweeds In my
pool, I have several times come across the natives
of this vicinity {e.g. Ltbinia diibia, L. emarginata)
in a most unexpected manner. These animals hav:

192 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

evolved the habit of planting on their bristly backs
all sorts of marine vegetation and low forms of animal
life such as hydroids and sponges. The result is that
they are sometimes so completely hidden by these
growths that their presence is indistinguishable in nor-
mal situations. In gathering material, therefore, I
have been deceived into attempts to appropriate the
private property of these animals; and my eiforts to
detach some likely-looking specimen from its base
brought a pair of puissant pincers to bear upon my
hand. These crabs are sluggish in their movements,
which perhaps accounts for their habit of disguising
themselves, and although some individuals have legs
that spread over a foot they succeed in masking their
appearance very effectively.

The plants and other growths which they gather for
masking purposes seem to be selected with an extraor-
dinary degree of acumen. They will transplant only
such organisms as will not suffer permanent injury by
being torn apart. That the growths on their carapaces
are placed there by intention and do not affix themselves
spontaneously, and that the spider crabs are quite as
able to denude as to adorn themselves, becomes readily
obvious if we place one in a tank or other environment
which contains masking material of a different kind or
color than that already covering the animal. If the
creature is masked with colors that contrast with its
surroundings, it will remove its coat and replace it with
one in harmony with the new locality. In making this
change, the crab laboriously picks off with one of its
claws whatever colors are not in keeping with its situa-
tion, the chelipeds being well adapted by their length

Camouflage 193

and by the flexibility of their joints to perform this
operation. Then the animal selects a suitable object
and holds the broken portion to the appendages of its
mouth where it is manipulated and covered with a secre-
tion of some adhesive substance, after which it is car-
ried with an overhand movement to the back and at-
tached. This is continually repeated until within a few
hours the spider crab once more resembles a miniature
garden. In addition to the cement they use, some crabs
are provided with hooks and barbs on their backs,
which aid in holding fast the transplanted organisms.

It may be of further interest to note that among the
spider crabs are found the largest crustaceans in the
world. These are the giant Macrochiras of Japan,
full-grown individuals of which are said to have a leg
spread measuring fifteen feet.

The invisibility that the dwellers of the tide pool
achieve by color combinations, strange shapes, or mask-
ing would seem to be perfect, at least to human eyes —
and there is no good reason to believe that the lower
animals have a better vision or even one to equal ours.
Yet, perfect as is this achievement, it is as nothing,
in a way of speaking, compared with that of some crea-
tures in this place, which dispense entirely with such
shifts. The glass prawn {Palcemonetes vulgaris) is
such a one. This crustacean frequently crowds the
pool in great numbers, especially in the fall; but so
transparent is it that shoals containing hundreds
could pass within the observer's reach without his
once suspecting it. Only by holding it to the light
in a glass of water can its form be seen with any
degree of distinctness. Its body is about one and

194 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

one-lialf inches long and it has antenna? that equal
it in length. Its legs are remarkably slender and
fragile and seem almost too delicate to support even
so buoyant a body as the prawn's appears to be; the
animal is, nevertheless, a good crawler and gets its
food by this means, either on the bottom or on the
fronds of seaweeds.

As a matter of fact, all prawns, though capable
swimmers and given to migration, are sedentary in
their habits, and the majority of species, like many
other sedentary animals, are protectively camouflaged.
They may be uniformly colored in sundry shades of
red, brown, or green, or they may be marked by various
patterns of color. These varicolored individuals are
usually found among seaweeds which they closely re-
semble : the blotched and the barred forms, for instance,
are frequenters of the larger and coarser weeds, and
the lined forms live among the finely branched and
feathery growths. There is evidence that these dif-
ferent color patterns may be acquired during the
growth of the animal; that is, a young prawn reared
among finely branched seaweeds will become lined,
while another kept in a tank containing coarse vege-
tation will in time acquire bars or blotches. Even adult
specimens have been observed to change their color
after a few days when placed among plants of a dif-
ferent hue, their pattern, however, remaining the
same. But here is something still more peculiar : if one
of these prawns be put into a white dish, or if kept in
the dark, it becomes nearly colorless, and it does so
within a very short time. This it accomplishes by a
contraction of its pigment cells, or chromatophores, the

Camouflage 195

substance from these diffusing into the fluids of the
body and giving the animal a transparent tint of deli-
cate blue. As this is a phase which under natural con-
ditions is assumed at nighttime, it is interesting to note
that chromatophores of prawns kept in the dark con-
tinue for several days periodically to expand and con-
tract, the rhythmic movements of the pigments being
regulated in a manner corresponding to the alternation
of day and night.

The habit of hiding involves none of the freatures of
camouflage that w^e have considered, but it is apparent
that the safety from attack which weak animals find in
this form of protection is of considerable consequence
in their struggle for existence. Very early in my con-
tact with seashore life the significance of this method
of concealment was strongly impressed upon me. The
incident which I have in mind beside revealing animal
behavior, introduced me to that very curious creature,
the squid, an animal hitherto known to me only through
pictures and writings.

At that time I was quite unfamiliar wath many of the
tide-pool inhabitants, and the most commonplace of
them would hold my wondering attention for hours.
A periwinkle making its way over a frond of seaweed,
a little horseshoe crab plowing through the mud or a
sea worm slowly extending itself out of the slime, were
novel and thrilling affairs. A circumstance, too, of no
mean magnitude was the molting of a crustacean. Now,
a lady crab, in the slow process of shedding its skin,
had once engaged my curiosity for a considerable
while when eventually I realized by the rising water
that the incoming tide had reached the pool and that

196

Dzi'i'l/crs of the Sea and Shore

further observation would soon be impossible. I was
about to wade in to get the animal and place it in a
small pool on a higher level when it promptly disap-
peared with an oblique backward movement into the
sand. In spite of the fact that my acquaintance with
its ways was limited, this sudden action, coming at the
end of a long period of lethargy, anJ the further fact

LADY CRAB.

that I had as yet made no effort to disturb the creature,
struck me at the moment as being somewhat queer.
At the same time an equally puzzling performance
took place on the part of some small fishes hovering
in the vicinity. These — it was later that I learned
they were Mummichogs {Fiindiilus majalis) — darted
to the bottom and buried themselves, too, out of
sight. A suspicion crossed my mind. I had known

Camouflage 197

birds to take precipitately to cover on the appear-
ance of a hawk in the neighborhood, and this, no
doubt, led me to infer that something of a similar
nature had caused the crab and fishes to conceal
themselves. I was not wrong. On looking around, a
sight greeted me that took away my breath. Several
yards distant a school of squids was approaching. The
animals did not number over a dozen, but the turmoil of
sand that followed in their wake and the swift dartings
backward and forward of some, made their numbers
appear actually greater. The cause of the silty turmoil
was soon made clear. The squids were evidently on the
hunt for prey. As they proceeded, now and then an
individual would descend to the floor and feel over the
surface with a pair of long flexible tentacles. Suddenly
these organs would encounter some living object lying
unseen on the sand, and a short struggle would ensue in
which a cloud of silt and sand was raised. A squid
would then emerge into view, holding in Its monstrous
tentacles the unresisting form of a flatfish, and swim
away, closely accompanied by a couple of its less for-
tunate and jealous companions, a hazy reddish trail
meanwhile marklnii^ Its course : the blood of its victim
which had been bitten through the back.

Chapter XII
CURIOUS CREATURES

The squid and its allies, the octopus and cuttlefish,
have long held an evil reputation. Old books — many
of them dating back to the last two centuries — contain
pictures and descriptions of huge devilfishes over-
whelming and capsizing ships with their tentacles. To
these creatures romancers have ever been prone to
ascribe a nature and capacity frightful in the extreme.
Nor are modern fictionists insensible to the fascination
and dread that an artful account of their exploits can
inspire. So they often use them in their tales as an aid
to excite the imagination. And these colored accounts
of the nature and capacity of devilfishes, though less
exaggerated than those of older writers, succeed in
fostering in the popular mind an impression wholly at
variance with what are the actual facts. Indeed, as a
consequence, they are generally conceived to be the
most fearful of all invertebrate animals.

Marine naturalists give us a quite different version
of the activities of these creatures, and from their im-
passioned reports we learn that the devilfishes are not
so black as they are painted; moreover, it is revealed
that the leading trait they display in their behavior
toward humans is either docility or fear.

198

Curious Creatures 199

Devilfishes, or cephalopods, are highly organized
mollusks, being very close relatives of clams, snails,
slugs, etc., and they are primarily distinguished by their
tentacular sucker arms arranged in a radial manner on
the head around the region of the mouth. They are
carnivorous, or flesh-eating, and subsist chiefly on
nshes and crustaceans. There is some evidence that
certain squids are at least part vegetarian in their diet,
for several six-foot specimens captured off Catalina
Island, California, were found to have their stomachs
full of seaweed.

Squids range in size from the little sepiolas of about
an inch long to the giant Architeuthis, the largest
known invertebrate, which measures, it is said, nearly
fifty feet over the entire length of its body. These
large creatures are all inhabitants of deep waters, and
have never been seen alive near the shore. They are
probably very scarce, as few have ever been discovered ;
even of these, none was In a perfect condition when
found, owing to the violence of storms or the attacks
of whales. Sperm whales live almost entirely on cepha-
lopods, which they destroy in countless numbers in their
excursions through the open sea. The common squids
of my vicinity do not attain to more than a foot and a
half In length. They are rovers and generally travel in
schools, following shoals of young fishes or minnows.
Often, however, a lone raider will stalk Its prey. And
in so doing, it presents some remarkable color changes.
This property of changing its color, shared by all
cephalopods. Is due to the chromatophores covering the
surface of Its body. The principle on which the pig-
ment cells work Is somewhat like that obtaining in the

200

Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

LOLIGO; A SQUID. (PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BOTTOM OF A TIDE POOL.)

iris of the human eye. When the colorless animal is
in the act of changing to a darker shade, a dilation of
these minute organs exposes a pigmented area; each

Curious Creatures 20 1

chromatophore, like an enlarging freckle, spreads out
until it coalesces with its neighbor. These changes —
from white to deep mottled brown or full purple, or the
reverse — can be produced instantly and can be re-
stricted to different areas of the body, thus enabling it
to simulate a pebbly bottom or other environment with
more or less fidelity. Few things are more startling to
the novice than the rapid flashes of color that pass
over these creatures. At one moment it may be of a
deep tone contrasting strongly with some shell-covered
floor, then suddenly it becomes almost invisible by turn-
ing a ghostly white, and will slink away like a specter
of its former self. The mode of progression used by
the squid is no less curious than its appearance. Its
body may roughly be compared to a common force
pump wherein water enters at one aperture and is ex-
pelled at another. It is the force of the water directed
through the "spout," or siphon, located just below the
head at the base of the tentacles, that propels the ani-
mal. This force is produced by contractions of the
mantle, a loose saclike envelope wherein are enclosed
the stomach and other vital organs. Usually the squid
swims with its so-called tail foremost, but it can reverse
its course without changing the direction of its body
simply by turning its flexible siphon the opposite way.
In addition to their effective color changes, all ceph-
alopods, with the exception of the single genus Nauti-
lus, possess a unique organ, called the ink bag, with
which they can render themselves invisible. This organ
produces an effect similar to the smoke screen employed
by naval vessels in combat. When one of these animals
is irritated or pursued, it ejects a black substance

202 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

that clouds the water and disconcerts or confuses its
enemies.

Although the name "devilfish" is by many indis-
criminately applied to the squid, the octopus, and the
cuttlefish — and even to many creatures outside of this
group — its use in literature seems to be restricted to
the octopus; at least this appears to be the devilfish

EGGS OF THE SQUID, ATTACHED TO A CLUMP OF RED SEAWEED. EACH OF THE
CYLINDRICAL OBJECTS IS COMPOSED OF A GROUP OF EGGS NUMBERING MANY
HUNDREDS.

described in the majority of stories; which is strange.
For they have neither the aggressiveness nor the huge
proportions attained by the squids. It has been ex-
tremely infrequent that octopi have been found with
tentacles over ten feet long. And even when large
individuals are caught they show no disposition t :) fight

Curious Creatures 203

but invariably make a desperate struggle for liberty.
Notwithstanding that they have great strength and
are armed with a powerful weapon in their sharp
parrotlike beaks, they appear to be unaware of their

BABY squid; just HATCHED. (GREATLY ENLARGED.)

potentially dangerous possession, seeming never to
attempt using it in their defense.

An octopus is a timid creature and will usually
retreat when a human being comes near it, but it is not
a hard subject to study in its natural habitat if one
is cautious in one's movements. Like most wild crea-

204 Dzvellers of the Sea and SJiore

OCTOPUS, OR DEVILFISH.

Curious Creatures 205

tures they recognize as inimical only objects in motion.
The difference between a typical octopus and a squid
maybe stated tersely by saying that the first-named has
eight long tentacles and a short body and the second-
named has ten short tentacles and a long body. The
relative lengths of the tentacles in both forms will often
vary considerably, but their numbers always remain as
<yiven. It is because of its comparatively long arms, or
tentacles, that the octopus, no doubt, gets its unsavory
reputation; these writhing members make it the most
hideous and gruesome of all living things. The hard,
stony stare of the creature also adds much to the gen-
eral impression of horror that attaches to one's sight
of it; the visual organs of no other animal have the
ghoulish, terrifying expression that is in the eyes of the
devilfish. This weirdness is even still further accen-
tuated by the insinuating, tortuous movement of the
entire body as it crawls from place to place ; for, unlike
the squid, it seldom swims when It wants to travel.
When it does so, however, it employs its siphon and
also works Its way with rhythmic contractions of a web-
like connecting membrane between the bases of the
tentacles. For the most part. It remains secreted In
rocky crevices, there awaiting its unwary prey, but it
has been seen to dash out of the water for several feet
and scramble up the dry rocks after a fleeing crab.
Seldom Is there an escape of the victim, whether it be
fish or crustacean, when once the snaky arm, lined with
Its double row of sucker disks. Is shot in Its direction;
despite Its struggles, it is quickly pulled up to the sharp
nippers and dispatched.

The female octopus Is a devoted parent. She usually

2o6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

selects for her nest a recess in the rocks below the low-
tide level, and guards her eggs with all the jealousy of
a mother hen. The eggs, when first laid, are small oval
bodies somewhat resembling translucent grains of rice
growing around a common stalk. Each one is sepa-
rately attached to the stalk by a short peduncle, the
whole being not unlike a bunch of tiny white grapes.
The average number of individual units in the brood
of a full-grown female is fifty thousand. She aerates
them frequently by manipulating the clusters with her
tentacles and directing a current of water upon them
with her siphon. Only occasionally does she leave the
lair, and then merely for a short time when it becomes
necessary to search for food. The brooding period
lasts for about seven w^eeks; at the end of which, the
young hatch soon leave to begin a life free from fur-
ther maternal care. In appearance the new-hatched
octopus is greatly unlike the adult; its arms are quite
undeveloped and decorate the head like a raked crown.
In the cuttlefish we find a cephalopod having most of
the attributes of the squid. That is to say, it is an
active swimmer and it has ten arms anci a propor-
tionately long, but somewhat flat, body. All but two
of its tentacles are relatively short; these two are de-
void of suckers along their length except on the club-
shaped enlargement at the ends. They are generally
kept retracted close to the head and are brought into
play only in the capture of prey. It is from the ink bag
of this animal that the India ink and sepia of commerce
is obtained. This creature is also the source of the
familiar cuttle "bone" that is given to caged birds.
Strictly speaking, this object is not a bone but is the

Curious Creatures

207

Internal calcareous shell secreted by the cuttlefish.
Cuttlefishes are abundant in tropical waters; I have
seen their white shells so thickly strewn on East African
beaches that it was all but impossible to keep one's eyes
open in the dazzling glare. The animals are harmless
and inoffensive to man, and never attain the size of the
octopus. Yet, so firmly established is the fear of devil-

CUTTI.EFISH.

fishes in general that the most venturesome of a mis-
informed public will shrink from bathing in waters that
are known to be frequented by these cephalopods.

Indeed, the universal prejudice against the larger
cephalopods is maintained in more restricted environ-
ments. In an actual test made in a marine laboratory
where an octopus with arms a foot long was confined,
scores of visitors who passed the tank were asked to

2o8 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

touch the animal; yet less than two per cent did so, al-
though in each instance the request was made after
earnest assurance was given that the devilfish was harm-
less and would merely squeeze the hand.

An extraordinary or repellent aspect in a lower ani-
mal is an almost certain obstacle to its finding any favor
with the multitude. That beauty or ugliness in any
creature, as in humans, may often be only skin deep,
so to say, seems not to be generally considered. To
the true naturalist, however, no creature is ugly. The
serious business of his life removes him from those
aversions commonly inspired by outward appearances.
This happy indifference, of course, most persons do not
share. But they ofttimes regard as forbidding, and
even unworthy of consideration, many living things
which a kindly attempt at acquaintanceship would re-
veal to be prepossessing and genuinely interesting.

Now, while this is in a deep sense true of that class
of cephalopods just considered, it applies with special
significance to a group of animals in no way related to
them. And this group is the greatest in the animal
kingdom. It is the worms. Of all the creatures that
are universally held in aversion, none takes precedence
over these in popular contempt. Nor is this contempt
entirely without cause. The unwholesome experience
of mankind, gained largely through contact with de-
generate parasitic forms, has done much to create an
antipathy toward all the other members of the group.
Nevertheless, there is considerable interest attaching
to the worms, and a charitable inquiry into their ways
will amply repay the investigator. By far the greater
in number, both of species and individuals, are those

Curious Creatures 209

which live in salt water. Here is to be louiul every
type, from the low^est to the highest, from the most
abhorrent to the most attractive, and forms which in
richness, variety, or harmony of color are not surpassed
even by the exquisite tints of the comb jellies. All
show marvelous adaptation to their environment, many
exhibit uncommon ingenuity in the construction of their
homes, and not a few betray an intelligence that is
superior to numberless creatures more highly organized
than they. In truth, the simple organization of the
worms when contrasted with the complex life histories
often prevailing among them, is one of the greatest
marvels in natural science. So involved is the develop-
ment of some of the most abundant forms that years
of patient investigation have not yet determined its
exact nature.

Perhaps the strangest puzzles occur among the flat
worms, the lowest of all worms. There are some
which begin life as males, but later in life they lose
their masculine characteristics and become females.
Others, again, seem to have lost all functions of sex,
reproducing their kind by dividing into several pieces,
each piece, after growing into a perfect adult, repeating
the process.

The largest of the flat worms, and, for that matter,
of all worms, are contained in the nemerteans, a class
characterized principally by the long, narrow, pro-
trusible proboscis carried by the individuals. A com-
mon type is the ribbon worm {Meckelia ingens). This
animal is found in tide pools secreted under stones or
buried in the sand between the tide marks. Its length
when full grown is ten feet or more; its breadth Is

2 10 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

about an Inch. It is flat, extremely soft, and of a pink
or flesh color, and in general appearance not greatly
unlike the article from which it receives its popular
name. Despite its great length, it is capable of con-
tracting to less than a yard; but in doing so, it loses its
flat shape and becomes nearly cylindrical. Although it
is a most delicate creature, it can burrow with great
rapidity when escaping from its pursuer. It does this
with the help of its long proboscis, an organ that is
also used in determining the location and effecting the
capture of its prey. The proboscis, by the way, has no
connection with the alimentary tract; it is an inde-
pendent structure and is extruded through an opening
on the top of the body near the forward end. The
mouth is on the under side, and is capable of engulfing
creatures of considerable size. In accomplishing this,
part of the esophagus is thrust out to envelop the ob-
ject, and it is then withdrawn.

The ribbon worm lives mostly on worms w^hich it
finds buried in the sand or mud; although I have fre-
quently encountered it in the nighttime swimming
around in the pool, obviously on a predatory hunt. As
it extends itself wnth wavelike undulations over the
stony bottom, its proboscis constantly darts here and
there among the crevices in search of a victim. Often
this \\\\\ prove to be a member of its own species. Like
most nemerteans it is a cannibal, and w^ill readily de-
vour those of its kind which are not too large to be
overcome. Its voracity knows no bounds. Nor is the
creature exactly discriminating in its quality of food.
It will eat worms, such as nereids, which grow nu-
merous spines or bristles. In that event, these indiges-

Curious Creatures

21 I

tible portions often work their way through the in-
testinal wall and out of the body; but this is in no wise
disconcerting to the nemertean, as the punctures heal
rapidly, leaving it no worse for the experience.

All nemerteans have the power to regenerate lost
parts, which enables them to undergo astonishing in-
juries without fatal results. They can be cut completely
in two, and the fore body will ultimately grow into a

meckelia; the ribbon worm, with proboscis partly extruded,

new and perfect worm, while the hind body will retain
its vitality for days before dying. This division of the
body can be accomplished by the animal itself, and it
seems sometimes to occur as a natural process. Their
tendency toward self-mutilation is so great, in fact, that
they cannot easily be handled; they will often separate
under the slightest touch. The planarians, a lower
group of flat worms, possess the power of regeneration
in an even greater degree. When they are divided not

212 Divellers of the Sea and Shore

Into two but several pieces every piece will live and
function as an adult. If, on the other hand, they merely
are mutilated instead of cut through, bizarre forms will
result from this modified tendency to regenerate.
To exert no more effort in the capture of prey than

EGGS OF A FLATWORM LAID ON THE GLASS SIDE OF AN AQUARIUM. (ENLARGED.)

is required in the normal process of breathing, Is the
ultimate in solving the food problem. Yet this very
thing Is accomplished by the serpulids. Scientifically,
the serpulids are known as tiihicolous polych^ete anne-
lids. For our purpose, however. It will be sufficient to
understand them as tube-dwelling segmented, or ringed,
worms bearing bristles — which means precisely the

Curious Creatures

213

same thing. These odd creatures are also very beau-
tiful; their variegated colors and conspicuous corollate
gills give them the appearance of delicate flowers. A
constant circulation of the surrounding water is caused
by the cilia on the gill filaments, and these currents pro-
duce a vortex that brings oxygen to the gills, and small
organisms into its mouth. Serpula, departing from the

THE MASON WORM.

methods of the tube-building mason worm, which con-
structs its house of agglutinated shell and mineral frag-
ments, and the comb worm, which cements grains of
sand together in mosaic fashion to make its free cone-
shaped shelter, manufactures its ow^n materials. The
structure is a frail tenement, but one of imposing excel-
lence. It is a calcareous tube, winding about over small
stones or dead shells, and is, by some mysterious chem-
istry of the worm's body, converted from the com-
pounds of the sea.

214

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Another instance wherein the gills serve the double
purpose of supplying the animal with oxygen and food,
but in a manner considerably different, Is In the blood
worm {Polxcirrus eximius). It is a segmented worm,
deep crimson in color, and adorning its head is a crown
of crowded tentacles, or gills, composed of transparent

serpula; a tube-building worm, this creature has built its tube on the

dead shell of a whelk.

filamentous strands that are continuously contracting
and expanding. These can be extended to several times
the length of the animal's body, the latter being about
three inches long. A pair of shorter, branched gills
also occur on each segment of the forward half of the
worm, while the hinder part is bare. In this creature,
as well as many others of Its class, the typical crown of
appendages that they bear may with equal correctness

Curious Creatures

215

be termed either "tentacles" or "gills," as it is evident
these are used both for feeding and respiration.

The blood worm makes its home in the mud where
it lies buried with nothing but its tentacles showing.
These ramify in all directions, suddenly shooting out

POLYCIRRUS; THE BLOOD WORM.

over and under the surface of the substratum, and
would be invisible but for the brilliant stream of blood
pulsating through them. Its faod consists of organisms
which are minute but not necessarily microscopic.
Sometimes a little Cyclops or a larva of some larger
crustacean will brush against the tenuous strands; in-

2i6 Dzvellcrs of the Sea and Shore

stantly It is arrested in its course aiiel wafted at once
toward the ever-waiting mouth.

Highest of all worms are the segmented forms, and
the highest of these are the wandering, or free-swim-
ming bristle bearers. And among them are the most
beautiful. The attractiveness of two types. Aphrodite
and Nereis, has already been dwelt on in an earlier
chapter, so that feature needs no further comment
here. Nereis (A^. virens) , however, merits attention
for other reasons quite as much as for her beauty. She
is easily reared in the indoor aquarium. The activities
of few other inmates are more interesting to watch than
are hers. When young the worm wmU make a nest in
old shells or under stones; sometimes it will seek a
frond of Ulva for this purpose. After growing too
large for such quarters — a length of fifteen inches being
not uncommon for this animal — she burrows into the
sand or mud where she builds another. Her retreat
is a tunnel, the lining of which is composed of an ad-
hesive mucus that binds the walls. Quite often it Is
built In such a manner that she has egress at either end,
thus facilitating her escape when pressed by an enemy.
Notwithstandina that the diameter of the tunnel Is
approximately that of her body, she can turn around
In it with remarkable ease and rapidity. Here she
remains hidden throughout the day, seldom venturing
to extend more than half her length beyond the open-
ing. She loves the night. It is then that she becomes
quite active. Leaving her burrow she will wander
about for hours, and being a fairly fast swimmer, as
well as an exceedingly graceful one, the distance she
covers Is not inconsiderable. In the tanks of my lab-

Curious Creatures 217

oratory these worms invariably find their way back to
their nests, but it is quite certain that with the larger
freedom of their natural habitat, they do not often
return to their original homes; therefore it would seem
that Nereis is practically put to the necessity of con-
structing a new shelter at the end of every jaunt.

As to the why and wherefore of this propensity for
nocturnal prowling, the reader should have no difficulty
In anticipating. It Is born of a desire to escape the
hunger of others as well as to appease her own. Under
the cover of darkness Nereis eludes the vigilance of
numerous stronger creatures always on the lookout for
such a toothsome tidbit as is she. Some of these, in-
deed, know where she lives and root her out of her
home. At this business, the flatfish Is particularly pro-
ficient; but probably the greatest enemy of the worm is
a creature of another kind, Limulus, the horseshoe
crab, an animal which, molelike in habit, leads an under-
ground life for the express purpose of feeding on this
and many other worms.

Now Nereis herself Is a fierce and voracious
huntress. Although she will eat almost any kind of
food, plants occasionally Included, she is given to the
capture of living prey. For this purpose she is well
equipped. Her powerful jaws, hard and horny, are
very like a pair of serrated sickles. They are set well
back in the throat, and In bringing these formidable
weapons into play, she everts her pharynx, much as
one would turn Inside out the finger of a glove; the
seized prey is then withdrawn Into the throat and torn
apart, the jaws doing the work of a gizzard. Nereis,
In fact, is possessed of remarkable strength throughout

2l8

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

her body, and is no mean antagonist of many larger
creatures. She will easily overpower any other worm,
not her species, which Is her equal In size. Nor Is she
above destroying the weaker of her own species when
hunger Impels. She has a well-developed head on

NEREIS, THE SAND WORM, ATTACKING A SMALLER INDIVIDUAL.

which the eyes, feelers, and other specialized sense
organs are located. Her eyes are somewhat primitive
In structure and seem Incapable of forming a distinct
Image of surrounding objects; she relies principally on
her feelers and olfactory organs to detect the proximity
of her prey.

Curious Creatures

219

Little is known of the habits of the males, except
that during the breeding season, about the first week
in July, they swarm the waters in enormous numbers

JAWS OF THE SAND WORM.

after sundown. They are a little more than two inches
in length, and the posterior part of their body is
bright red and peculiarly modified. They appear to
be short-lived, for at the close of the swarming period
they are found dead in hundreds, and are not seen
again for another year.

Chapter XIII
A "LIVING FOSSIL"

At the northern border of my tide pool, the bottom
and the neighboring beach lose somewhat of their
sandy character. The region is paved with the stones
and pebbles that have been transported here by ancient
glaciers. Time and tide have done much to wear them
down, and those which are more exposed are flattened
in shape owing to cleavage by the frost and other
natural agencies. They are of various sizes, ranging
from small waferlike pebbles to an occasional bowlder
standing as high as my waist. They are of red sand-
s' one and form no part of the native rock that composes
the foundation of Lond Island. Whence they came
no one knows. Geologists have made several attempts
to trace them to their source, but without success.

Now these stones have an Interest all their own,
apart from the mystery of their origin. If an expert
blow be given to the laminated edge of one of the slabs,
it will open after the fashion of a ponderous volume,
and just as In some long-forgotten tome, wherein is
sometimes discovered between the ancient leaves the
stark remains of a flower which bloomed in another
day, there will likewise be found preserved in the stony
matrix pretty plants of a former age. Gone, of course,

220

A ''Living Fossir 221

is the actual substance of the originals; many, many
thousand years have passed since they were resolved
into the elements from which they were derived ; but the
outward shapes remain as perfect as when in that far-
distant time they drifted to the floor of some quiet lake
or inland sea to become entombed in the hardening silt
and sand.

These petrified plants tell an impressive and curious
story. They tell us that great and important changes
have occurred on the surface of the earth in its past
history, changes that occurred not only in the character
of the land but in the living things which inhabit it as
well. But most striking, perhaps, is the revelation they
make in regard to the enormous length of time that the
changes involved. The years that have passed since
these forms flourished are reckoned only in millions.
And yet this duration of time is relatively short when
compared with the total time that vegetable life has
existed on this planet; for these particular petrifactions
are flowering land plants, and in point of time they
were preceded by other forms whose beginning was so
remote that the significance of the number of years
which have since elapsed cannot easily be grasped by
the ordinary person.

It is a singular circumstance, however, that so far as
actual proof exists in the records of the rocks the origin
of animal life was immeasurably distant to that of the
plants. The fossils of animals are found in rocks much
older than those in which any plant remains appear.
But this may be simpler than it seems. The most an-
cient plants were undoubtedly the soft vegetation of the
sea, and, therefore, they were not so easily preserved

222 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

-S!'

Z^.^.

::-.^

^'

AN ANCIENT ANIMAL OF THE SEASHf)RE. (tKILOBITE FOSSIL.)

A ''Living FossiT

223

as were the hard coverings that prevailed among some
of their contemporary creatures.

One of those creatures was the trilobite. And, in-
deed, its enduring remains are among the oldest of all
undoubted and definite organisms found in the primor-
dial rocks. The general form of the trilobite is not

unlike that of the familiar terrestrial isopod crustacean
called the "sow bug." After the manner of the sow bug
it was able to roll itself up into a ball, and in this posi-
tion its fossil has often been found. Formerly the two
were thought to be related, but, notwithstanding cer-
tain of its crustacean characteristics, the trilobite has
in recent years been classified with the Arachnida, a
group including the spiders and scorpions. The truth

2 24 Dzi'cllers of the Sea and Shore

is that the systematic place of this ancient creature has
always been a debatable one, many naturalists holding
quite opposite opinions as to its position among animals.
It gets its name from the three prominent lobes, or
regions, into which the body is divided: cephalic, tho-
racic, and abdominal; that is, the regions of the head,
fore body, and hind body. Although more than five
hundred species are known, many of them diverging
widely in structure, they all agree in having a head
shield more or less crescentic in shape; and, except in
the case of a few blind forms, this head shield bears a
pair of large compound eyes. Succeeding the cephalic
region is a varying number of free segments, each of
which consists of an arched section flanked by a pair of
lateral plates. This, the mid-region of the body, is
terminated by the abdomen, similarly arched, but
having the segments fused.

Fossils of the trilobite in which the appendages of
the under side can be distinctly traced, have been ex-
ceedingly rare, and only in one genus (Triarthnis) is
their structure accurately known. In this Instance it
was discovered that each segment of the body carries
a pair of legs jointed to the lateral plates. In the
region of the mouth the base of the legs was armed
with teeth, subserving the purpose of mastication, or
the reducing of its food.

The trilobite, no doubt, lived along the seashore
where it slowly plowed Its way in the mud and sand
after worms and other soft-bodied animals. It prob-
ably became extinct long before flowering plants made
their appearance on the land; which is to say. It died
out about the time the coal beds were formed. The

A *' Living FossiF^ 225

cause of Its disappearance is as obscure as that of its
origin.

Although the typical trilobite has ceased to exist,
It has living to-day a relative in the horseshoe crab
{Limuhis polyphemus) ^ the sole surviving descendant
of an otherwise extinct group of animals. The life his-
tory of LImulus is as interesting as it is simple; for in
the development of this ancient creature is to be found
one of the most beautiful illustrations of that great
natural principle which seems to prevail to the effect
that the ancestral forms are recapitulated in the embry-
onic and larval stages of the individual.

The horseshoe crab is found along the whole At-
lantic coast from Maine to Yucatan. Although far
less numerous than even a generation ago, it is still
common enough to be one of the most familiar animals
of the seashore. Considering for a moment the in-
creasing scarcity of this creature, it may be stated that
in recent years mankind has become more and more
aware of its edible properties and of its value as a soil
fertilizer. This has resulted in a wholesale and unin-
telligent slaughter. Naturalists have recorded that as
late as the year 1856 more than a million horseshoe
crabs could be seen to come ashore and lay their eggs
within a single mile along certain sections of the East-
ern coast. That this abundance nowhere near exists
to-day Is ample testimony that their future Is very In-
secure, and unless some measures are taken to preserve
them, they will at the present rate of decrease prac-
tically be exterminated within the time of men now
living.

Limulus lives on sandy and muddy shores below the

226

Dzit'llers of the Sea arid Shore

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A ^'Living Fossil'^ 227

low-water mark. The young, however, are often found
in considerable numbers on the less exposed floor of the
tide pool, where, molelike, they plow their tortuous
way through the upper part in pursuit of worms. The
adult animal when full grown is nearly two and a half -
feet long, and its rounded domelike carapace, or ceph-
alothorax, is about a foot wide. Half of the length
is taken up by a slender spinelike tail which is jointed
to the double-tipped abdomen. The abdomen is one
rigid piece, and is edged with a row of small spines.
Viewed from the top, the crescentic outline of the
creature compares favorably with that of the object
after which it receives its popular name. The head
region is strikingly similar to that of the trilobite, even
to the large compound eyes that are near each side at ^
the top. It has another pair of eyes, but these are
very simple in structure and there is no evidence that
they are of any use to the creature. They are located
at the base of the first spine on the middle ridge.
Indeed, it is very probable that the vision of the horse-
shoe crab at best is quite crude. Nor is. perfect seeing
in its case essential. In its underground life of dark-
ness— which is the greater part of its existence — there
is little necessity for the use of eyes.

Notwithstanding that Limulus is one of the oldest
inhabitants of the sea, it is a very clumsy swimmer.
When it does essay to swim, its efforts are usually re-
stricted to gliding in an uncertain manner over the
bottom, by a method of locomotion that is best de-
scribed as half running and half paddling. This ob-
servation applies to the adult; when young it manages
this thing far better. Whatever capacity the horseshoe

22 8 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

crab has for swimming lies in the leaflike appendages
under the abdomen. In this respect its walking legs
are very inefllicient, but they are eminently adapted

_{to the work they chiefly perform; that is, propelling
the animal through the sand and mud. If we
examine the under side of this quaint creature, a
confusing array of appendages confronts us, but a
brief though careful inspection will soon familiarize
them. Taking first the head region, we find this
forms a great cavity, or bowl, in which are contained
six pairs of chelate legs (having claws), and one pair
of broad horny plates called the operculum. The first
pair of legs is small and lies just in front of the mouth.
In the male the second pair of claws is larger than in
the female. The sixth pair of legs is composed of
large, strong segments like the four pairs immediately
preceding it, but its claws are of a diminutive size.
These latter legs are further peculiar in that they are
modified near the ends into a whorl of three flat or
oarlike expansions which spread out in use, thus apply-
ing greater surface to the yielding sand. The base of
this pair of legs has another process termed the

^ flabellum. With the exception of the first pair, all the
legs are set at an angle to the body which enables the
animal to bring the greatest power or purchase to bear
in forcing its way through the substratum. But there
is one extraordinary feature of the legs that will strike
the most casual observer; for in no other living animal
is there a similar adaptation. Nor for the particular
purpose it subserves, is there one quite so singular.
Like its ancient forebear, the trilobite, the horseshoe
crab carries its teeth on its legs. Excepting the first

./ ''Living FossiF' 229

and sixth pair, the base of each of the others is set
with sharp, bristhng spines, which, like jaws, macerate,
or tear the food before it is swallowed.

The operculum acts as a covering for the abdominal
appendages, of which there are five pairs and which
resemble it in form. These support the gills. The
pairs overlap each other to some extent, and each
appendage is composed of a broad, thin plate having on
its rear surface large leaflike and membranous folds to
which are relegated the function of respiration.

Before proceeding with the development of the
famous young of Limulus, it may be well for us to
observe what part the parents play in their destiny. To
this end, therefore, let us see what the beach has in
store for us. On my visits there, early in May, when
the waters of this latitude have lost their intense win-
tery chill, I find the horseshoe crab making its first
appearance. Throughout the season of cold, it has
sought the safety and seclusion afforded by the outer
floor of the harbor, where it lies dormant, not, it would
seem, buried underneath, but resting somnolently on
the bottom. This fact is evidenced by the inordinately
heavy growth of hydroids, barnacles, and plants which
cover the carapaces of so many returning migrants: a
condition that is impossible in an active underground
life. The little ones of the tide pool, also, have begun
to show themselves. They have, in fact, never left its
precincts. With the onset of winter, they dug them-
selves in on the spot; and now,Jn common with their
elders and many other creatures of the land and sea,
they are aw^akened by the arrival of warmer weather
into renewed activity. In the quiet enclosure may be

230 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

seen the devious course of many well-marked trails over
the mud, at one end of which the vigorous worker
reveals Itself by throwing up a miniature cloud of silt
as It uses Its gill plates to sweep the loosened particles
to the rear. The telltale trails are of various sizes,
ranging from the breadth of my little finger to the
width of my hand.

But most Interesting Is the behavior of the adults.
For them I must look elsewhere. On the wide stretch
of gravel, sand, and comminuted shells that lies between
the pool and the waters of the harbor, are sundry low
mounds scattered here and there. They are of the
usual size and general appearance that would be caused
by throwing up a shovel full of sand. They are not so
caused, however; they are produced by mating horse-
shoe crabs. Each tumulus denotes the presence of a
pair who, having been stranded here by the falling tide,
pushed their way underneath partly to make a deposi-
tory for the eggs, but also ostensibly to conceal them-
selves. Their efforts to conceal themselves, however,
are not often successful; they are suggestive of the
fabled ostrich, since In many Instances It Is the female
only who hides her head In the sand. She Is the larger
of the two, and her smaller mate may be seen Immedi-
ately In the rear with both his heavy claws tightly
gripping the two terminal points of her abdomen.

The mating couples do not all take advantage of the
tide to reach this strand. Occasionally a female, seem-
ingly unable longer to withstand the urgency of mater-
nal demands, will leave the water when It Is low, and
proceed up the shore, dragging after her an attendant
male with his hold firmly fixed on her abdominal tips.

A ''Living Fossil" 231

Sometimes several will follow her. Then occurs a
strange procession. Each male hangs on to his fellow
in front while she leads the gang to a suitable spot
where, after scooping up the sand with her broad head,
she at once deposits her eggs. The males then coven
them with milt. Whereupon the party breaks up ; some
of the members return to the water, some await the
rising tide. The eggs are some of them later carried
about by the action of the waves, but the majority soon
settles into the sand, or in the interstices of the gravel
to undergo a short — or long, as the case may be —
period of incubation.

It may appear from the foregoing incident that my
previous statement, concerning the probability of crude
vision in these creatures, is somewhat aside from the
evidence, that doubtful or imperfect ability to see is not
reflected in the facility with which they find their way
out of the water to a desirable breeding spot. Well,
then, here is my proof. The thing that first struck
me that they were practically insensible to surrounding
objects through the aid of vision was their utter in-
capacity to avoid any obstacle happening to be in their
way. In traveling over the surface of the bottom,
however well lighted, they would collide headlong with
stones and other prominent barriers in their path, and
only by repeated trial and effort did they chance to cir-
cumvent them and proceed in the general direction they
were bent. It was the same with the mating individuals
who came out of the water to spawn. I would stand
directly in the line of their approach, but they would
continue straight ahead, heedless of my existence, until
brought to a stop by coming into contact with my boots.

232 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Moreover, while in the water, these animals never
seemed aware of my presence until I actually touched
them; whereupon the merest contactual disturbance
was enough often to cause them to strike out for the
deeper regions. This is what gave me a hint.

I am going to put the cart in front of the horse,
somewhat, by saying at once that Limulus, after the
manner of creatures totally blind, makes its way by the
sense of feeling, and it determines its direction, or gen-
eral course, by the slope of the substratum. Let us
try an experiment. Taking for the purpose a full-
grown individual, we cover both its simple and com-
pound eyes with asphaltum or some other dense pig-
ment— an operation by no means distressing to the
animal since in this case the cornea is as hard and
feelingless as the carapace. Then placing the creature
on the hard-packed sand near the water's edge, we
watch Its movements. Does it grope about, uncer-
tainly, hesitatingly? Not at all. No matter in which
direction it is set — with its head pointed either toward
the sea or the land — it crawls unerringly toward the
water. In other words, it follows the declivity of the
sand, however slight this may be. But in this matter
it can be cieceived. If it be placed on the side of a
ridge that slopes away from water, it will amble to a
lower level, and not finding water it will force itself
into the sand. By removing the pigment and repeating
the process the result is the same. We may be sure
that it is by the same principle that the breeding ani-
mals are guided in their course up the beach when the
water is low. And these journeys are not infrequently
over surfaces sometimes comparatively slight in pitch.

A ''L'nincj Fossir 233

For, by covering the eyes of a pair which are obviously
about to leave the water, and turning them in the oppo-
site direction, we find that they soon arrive at their
destination regardless. .

That Limulus can detect light from darkness, there /
is, of course, no question. This is borne out by the very
structure of both the compound and the simple eyes.
But this is not seeing, in the sense that humans or the
higher animals see. Externally, the compound eyes ap-
pear to be divided into a number of circular facets, each
barely touching its neighbor. Every facet is the cover-
ing of a unit that is a complete eye in itself. In sub-
stance, the individual unit is composed of the cornea,
which is simply the crust specialized by becoming trans-
parent, and the cone, or crystalline lens. It is this lens
that in the eyes of most other animals forms the optical
image; but in Limulus it seems to be a very imperfect
affair. A continuation of the crust invests the cone
which is perforated at the apex, and this in turn is ter-
minated by a rod surrounded with nerve fibrils arising
from the optic nerve. The inside of the cone is lined
with an opaque pigment that prevents the rays of light
from passing from one facet eye to another. The
ocelli, or simple eyes, are still simpler in their construc-
tion. They are in truth quite primitive. Their pig-^^
mentation is irregular and they lack the nervous
organization of the compound unit. One peculiarity
of compound eyes in general should be mentioned here.
It is well known that many insects and crustaceans have
remarkable vision. Now, in all those cases in which
good vision Inheres, the facets of the eyes are arranged
in a geometrical pattern as if from compression; viz.,

234 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

hexagonal, rectangular. On the other hand, where the
facets are mere circular units unmethodically arranged,
such as is found in the so-called "silver fish" and certain
isopods, quickness of perception is lacking. The eyes
of the horseshoe crab are of this type. Just what is
the connection between a compound eye composed of
a loose aggregation of units and its want of acuteness
is hard to determine. Nor is it easy to say why Lim-
ulus, which seems to be neither crustacean nor Insect,
yet possessing two pairs of eyes, one pair actually con-
sisting of nearly two thousand smaller eyes, does not
make better use of its endowment. Nevertheless, if
one were to hazard the guess that here we see the
compound eye of higher animals in evolution, he would
probably be not far from the truth. For it is a sig-
nificant fact that all creatures distinguished by what
appears to be this primitive form of compound eye are
creatures of a very ancient type; they differ but little
to-day from their fossils which were formed millions
of years ago. Down through the ages which saw count-
less other forms appear and then vanish away, they and
our Limulus have survived practically unaltered in
form.

The eggs spawned by a large female horseshoe crab
number upward of ten thousand, enough almost to fill
a half-pint jar. They are spherical bodies measuring
about one twelfth of an inch in diameter. In color they
are green. Under the microscope will be seen in each
egg a large, smooth granular yolk nearly filling the
tough, transparent membrane that acts as a shell. The
rate of development of the embryo depends on tem-
perature and, to some extent, light. In a cool place and

A "Livrng Fossir 235

dark situation the hatching can be retarded for a year;
but under average normal conditions, such as will be
assumed to be the case in this account, the period of
incubation is far less.

About a week or so after the eggs are laid there
appears on the surface of the yolk an oval constriction
bearing six pairs of appendages in a row. They are the
merest sort of prominences and represent what will be
In the adult the legs. At this time, too, a faint indi-
cation of what is to be the abdomen can be seen toward
one end of the oval. The ovoid region now continues
to grow while the yolk gets visibly smaller until the next
stage of the embryo Is reached, wherein we find not
only an enlarged abdomen with four transverse sutures
denoting the formation of segments, but a distinct head
region on the back of which are strongly Indicated five
segments. This occurs about three weeks after spawn-
ing and by this time the cephalic legs have Increased In
size, are jointed, and are folded upon themselves, and
rudimentary gill feet have appeared on the abdomen.
It is now, for the first time, that the embryo shows
movement. The membranous shell has Increased In
size, leaving ample space within which little LImulus
continually revolves.

A couple of days later occurs the animal's first molt.
Increasing growth has caused it to outlive Its old skin,
and cast It off within the egg, just as it will continue to
do In Its larval and later stages. The body Is here quite
plump, or globular, and Is provided with two pairs of
eyes, simple and compound. From now on the body
gradually flattens. And when, a little later, or about
a month and a half after spawning, the egg Is due to

236

Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

hatch, a striking revelation greets us in the appearance
of tlie embryo. It has become ciistinctly trilobate in
character. As in the trilobite, a highly arched ridge
runs lengthwise over the middle region of the body, the
sutures between the segments of the hind body are
somewhat bent, and the outer edge, or lateral plate,
of each segment Is strongly convex.

^'^^•■'- ■:■■.'■■■■•■.■' ■ ■■'■ ■ — . ■ • • A-'' ■-■ ■;-;-<':^i;

./<?-;,

,.A??f;•^s^;:::■v\:.;.:.^ •■»

TRILOBITELIKE LARVA OF THE HORSESHOE CRAB.

Finally the membrane ruptures and liberates the
larva. The larva differs from the embryo in that the
abdomen is broader and flatter, and that the sutures
between the lateral plates have disappeared, leaving
segmented only a keellike middle ridge. It is now a
little more than a tenth of an inch in length and a trifle
less in breadth. Immediately it shows great activity
by vigorously striking out into the water and swimming
away. For about three weeks it lives a more or less
nomadic life, wandering widely in this period, when at
the end it molts and settles to the floor for good. Witii

A ''Lhing FossiF'

237

this molt it loses entirely its segmented appearance and
now more nearly resembles the adult. A short spine-
like tail adorns the abdomen; the abdomen is thin, and
this region, like the cephalothorax, is hollowed out
underneath, the whole forming an ample shield for the
legs and gill feet.

HORSESHOE CRAB MOLTING.

When Limulus is a year old it attains to an inch in
length; by then it has molted several times. But not
before it is in its fourth year does it reach sexual ma-
turity. In that event the male acquires the strong front
claws that distinguish his sex.

Thus, in following the development of Limulus, we
see revealed with remarkable distinctness its ancient
origin. It is not always so easy, however, to trace the

238 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

antecedents of our higher animals. The threads that
unite them with the past are often tangled and some-
times broken. But all such as we have been able to
guide ourselves by lead to the inevitable conclusion
that, like the horseshoe crab, every other living many-
celled creature had its beginning in a form which has
now long since perished forever. And it is to the story
of the unraveling of those strands and the uniting of
the broken ends that natural science owes some of its
most thrilling, most romantic, and most luminous pages.

Chapter XIV
MORE FRIENDS IN ARMOR

How "fiddler crab" came to be the popular name of
the crustaceans which forms the subject of this chapter
is not easy to determine. On consulting the books, I
find reasons as various as they are numerous. The
most likely explanation, perhaps, lies in the allusion to
the single enormous claw carried by the male. It is said
that the back-and-forth movement of that claw re-
sembles the act of fiddling. Well, this may appear so
to some people; but it seems to me a far-fetched peg
upon which to hang a name. The Japanese have a
more apt and much prettier term. They call it siho
maneki, "beckoning for the return of the tide."

Whether right or wrong, its common name is at least
definite and durable. It has never been known by any
other English name; and when one speaks of a fiddler
crab there is no misunderstanding as to what sort of
creature is meant. The nomenclature of science has
not been so happy. Since the fiddler crab has come
under the cognizance of the learned systematists, it has
paraded under at least four different formidable Latin
terms, and all of them of an even more doubtful sig-
nificance than that which Is born by its popular one.
An instance in point is Gelasimus pugilator. This name,

239

240 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

meaning "a laughable fighter," is given to a crab of
my region. But In my contact with it in the salt
marshes, where It honeycombs the ground with its bur-
rows, and where it is to be observed not in hundreds,
not In thousands, but In millions, I have not yet seen the
least display of pugnacity toward its fellows or toward

^ humans. Uca minax, "the threatener," the present
name of the species whose habits I propose to describe,
Is hardly less inept. It Is true that none among our
armor-bearing creatures wears so threatening a pan-
oply, but the male, in his possession of a clumsy and
apparently quite useless claw. Is far from a threatening
creature. This prodigious appendage is entirely want-
ing In the female, whose chelipeds are small and of
equal size. Just why the male, who generally carries
It at rest across the broad front of his carapace. Is thus
distinguished does not seem clear; for at no time does
It appear to be anything but an encumbrance.

Our fiddler crab {Uca minax) is not a large crab,

\ as crabs go, being not much more than an Inch and a
quarter over the breadth of its carapace. It likes to
live In a region of brackish water, on the open, sandy
reaches at the very upper limits of the tide near where
the marsh grass starts to grow. Here It depends for
food on the minute algal deposits left twice daily at Its
door by the tides. Vegetable matter is not Its whole
diet, however; it will greedily attack any bits of carrion
which chance to come within Its range. It prefers its
victuals fresh. Unlike the true scavengers of the shore,
its meat must have no suspicion of being stale. But
opportunities of this kind are rare, and it is perforce
obliged to subsist for the most part on what plants will

More Friends in Armor

241

suit its taste. Whenever It leaves Its burrow — and it
seldom wanders from it more than a few feet — it can
be seen picking about in the sand and silt, carrying the
all but invisible motes of matter to Its mouth. Some of
this matter is sand; mixed with it are the food particles
that It seeks. For this burrowing animal, In learning

FIDDLER CRABS. THE MALE, WHO IS READILY DISTINGUISHED BY HIS LARGE CLAW,
IS TOWARD THE LEFT OF THE PICTURE SITTING IN THE OVENLIKE ENTRANCE
TO HIS BURROW. THE OTHER INDIVIDUAL IS THE FEMALE. PELLETS OF
EXCAVATED SAND CAN BE SEEN IN THE FOREGROUND.

to live on land has learned the same lessons as the
earthworm: In the absence of more available products,
it eats the soil to live.

The burrow of our fiddler Qrab can readily be dis-
tinguished from those of other species by the archway,-
or ovenlike mound, over the mouth. Many of these
ovens will be found within the space of a single yard.

242 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

After the frosft have gone they begin to make their
appearance, and by the time the scorching heat of sum-
mer has set in they become so numerous along the edge
of the marsh that they are countless. The diameter of
the shaft varies; those of the young are less than the
thickness of a match, while the adults sometimes make
holes into which a hen's egg could be dropped. These
latter are sunk to the greatest depth ; they rarely reach
^ more than a foot. At the bottom a horizontal tunnel
less than a finger's length is often, though not invari-
ably, projected.

Excepting during the breeding season, only one crab
occupies a burrow. When the tide is out, this individual
can be seen sitting for long periods in the arched door-
way, without movement or any sign of life other than
an occasional twitch of its eyestalks. But it is fully
alive to what is going on around it; if the observer so
much as raises an arm, the creature disappears instantly
down the shaft. Then, if one waits for a while, one
will see it cautiously and slowly reappear to take its
place at the entrance.

Since the fiddler crab makes its burrow at or very
close to the high-water mark, its home is inundated for
only a short while at each flood. This allows it ample
opportunity to wander around. Yet it never goes far
afield, seeming to prefer its doorstep to the allurements
of travel. It is certainly not due to any inability to get
over the ground that it chooses to lead a sedentary life.
It is, in fact, a very nimble runner. When surprised at
its business of searching for food some few feet away
from its hole, it will rush to its retreat with remark-
able speed. And to intercept it, one must be more than

More Friends in Armor 243

ordinarily agile, for so alert is the aniiWal that, on find-
ing its way blocked, it will scamper down the nearest
of the neighboring burrows. Still, in spite of its
activity and the protection afforded by its place of
hiding, it is the prey of numerous enemies. These are
chiefly birds. The blue heron knows its habits well.
This long-billed and long-legged creature stands
motionless over the burrow waiting for the crab to
come out, and no sooner does the latter make its ap-
pearance than it is silently and swiftly snatched from
the ground and devoured.

Although the fiddler crab seems not yet to have
learned how to escape its enemies of the land, it has an -
inheritance that stands it in good stead in avoiding its
foes of the sea. But dangers from that direction are
few. It is extremely infrequent that the crab finds itself
unexposed on the bottom. When it takes to the water
at all it is in some shallow pool or equally safe and shel-
tered place right at its door. When the tide rises over
its burrow it rarely ventures out, but remains secluded
within until after the flood subsides. The peculiar
marbled pattern on its back, together with the trans-/
lucent appearance of the legs, make it barely distin-
guishable in the water from the sand on which it rests.
It has some facility in changing its hues from lighter to , ,
darker tones, according to its situation, and almost
every color of the rainbow is represented on some part
of its body: from the bright red of the joints on the
legs to the soft blues and greejis and buffs that beau-
tify its back, the range of tints is so wide and their
nuances are so exquisitely delicate as to make it easily
among all brachyurans the most charming to the eye.

244 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

This is to say, while it is in the water. Out of that
medium these features lose their delightful character-
istics. And, furthermore, it is on the dry land that the
creature spends the greater part of its existence; so, in
a sense, the beauty that is the fiddler crab's is attained
under unusual, if not unnatural, conditions.

Now it must by no means be assumed that the crab
is a terrestrial animal living in proximity to the sea,
that it could live, if need be, on the dry land. The
truth is quite the reverse. It can be kept continuously
in the water without harm. Nor will it long survive its
absence. In a way of speaking, water is to this creature
the very breath of life; but it gets all that is necessary
for its needs during the short time it is submerged by
the tides. Except for this temporary, but very vital,
contact, it has slight acquaintance with an aquatic life.

How does the fiddler crab breathe? How is it that
a creature possessing only gills, which we know are
strictly water-breathing organs, can with equal facility
breathe in the free air? Strictly speaking, it does not
breathe the air direct. Its gills lie in two large cavities
on the back just under the carapace. These cavities, or
chambers, are considerably larger than the gills them-
selves and are in reality receptacles for the storage, or
retention, of water. When the crab is submerged, an
opening to the front of the chamber allows a free cir-
culation of water to enter and bathe the gills, which
absorb the necessary oxygen to sustain the animal. Out
/of the water, however, the opening closes, and the re-
tained water absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere,
which in turn is transmitted to the gills.

When the rising tide reaches the level of the

More Friends in Armor 245

burrows, It finds every crab safely underground, 7
completely out of sight. More : it finds the ovens
demolished and the entrance to the shafts plugged up
with sand. In truth, our fellow knows well the time of
high water, it seems, for it anticipates its arrival by
having sealed its shaft within a half hour of the moment
it is submerged. For the purpose of stopping up the
hole, the crab uses the material of the archway and
scrapes up what is necessary from around the door.
This it gathers up in great pellets and packs solidly at y
the mouth, forming a plug an inch or more deep. The
advantage in thus stopping up the shaft is obvious. It
saves the inmate an enormous amount of labor. Were
this not done and the holes left open, the action of the
water would fill them with silt or cause the sides to
crumble in, and by thus burying the occupant cause it
no small inconvenience and hardship by obliging it to
construct its entire burrow anew after every inundation.
Even as it is, the crab Is put to considerable effart
when the tide lowers. For the seepage of the water
loosens the wall which in the first place Is none too well t
consolidated, and some sand Invariably falls away from V
the sides. To reopen the passage, it first pushes up the
sand that plugs the entrance. This loosened material
forms a mound at the top, and the crab works Its way
out at the base, which results In giving to the little
tumulus its ovenlike character. After which the animal
returns to the burrow and scoops up a load of sand,
compacting it into a pellet of about the size of a cherry,
and proceeds to carry it out and deposit it a few Inches
from the mouth. This performance is repeated several
tlmxCS until the tunnel is thoroughly cleared, the crab In

N.

246 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

its sidewise progress pulling the pellet along by holding
it in the hollow formed by the curvature of its rear-
ward legs. Every burrow has a number of these char-
acteristic pellets in its vicinity. At best, the burrow of
the fiddler crab is a temporary affair; the animal alter-
nately building and abandoning many homes during the
course of the summer.

I have alluded to the presence of more than one
individual in a shaft. With the arrival of summer
comes the call of love. The amorous pairs, whose
embraces last the greater part of a day, seek the seclu-
sion of the horizontal tunnel at the bottom for their
tryst. Throughout the w^hole of June, I find, on prying
into various retreats, many couples so engaged. At
this time, too, the male seems heightened in color, the
red patches on his ponderous cheliped becoming de-
cidedly garish. He affects his best raiment for the wed-
ding. The marital life is not for long, however; no
sooner have they relinquished their embraces than they
separate for good.

. During this month many females can be seen bearing
a large, dark-red spongy mass on the abdomen. It-
would not be hard to guess, even without the lens, that
this sponge is a batch of eggs. But the jars of my lab-
oratory will give us more information about them than
could possibly be obtained at the beach. So let us col-
lect a few of these fertile females: the thing is easy, a
thrust of a spade will quickly unearth any who have
disappeared in their burrows. Then transferring our
pretty creatures to a pail of salt water, we take them
home. One point should be noted here which may be
of value later in our observations : contrary to the usual

More Friends in Armor

247

habits of the fiddler crab, some of the sponjre-bearinjT
females spend quite as much of their time in the water
of the neighboring pools as under the archway of their

ovens.

With our captives installed in two-quart jars, half
filled with sea water and a layer of clean sand on the
bottom, we avxait developments. Each tank holds one

FEMALE FIDDLER CRAB. THE DARK MASS ON HER ABDOMEN IS A BROOD OF EGGS

AND IS KNOWN AS THE "SPONGE."

female, and her jar is kept nice and fresh by the
addition of a frond of sea lettuce. A cool, well-lighted
place at a north wnndow insures results more nearly
approaching those under natural conditions. In the
meantime a closer inspection of the animals may be
profitable.

It w^as pointed out in an earlier chapter that the true
crabs, or brachyurans, in contradistinction to the lob-

248 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

sterlike crustaceans, or macrurans, have a relatively
small hind body. In the fiddler crab, which is a typical
example of the Brachyura, the cephalothorax, or the
fore body, is flattened and broader than it is long. The
small, flat, segmented abdomen is folded under the fore
body and fits in a depression, making it appear to ordi-
nary eyes as if the creature's entire body were one rigid
piece without a division of hind or fore body. As a
matter of fact, the abdomen, though invisible from
above and inconspicuous when the animal is viewed
from underneath, is a very important part of the crab's
anatomy. In the male it carries the external parts of
the sexual organs, while in the female it has on the
under, or what may appropriately be termed the inner,
side four pairs of prominent hairlike appendages called
the swimmerets. It is to the swimmerets that the ex-
truded eggs are attached, forming the spongy mass. It
may be added that the hind body of the male is com-
paratively narrow, whereas that of the female is very
broad; a feature that readily enables the determination
of an individual's sex, which is not always obvious in
the case of the males, who ofttimes have lost their dis-
tinguishing claw.

f The eggs in reality are divided into eight clumps cor-
responding to the four pairs of swimmerets, but they
are so closely packed that they seem to form one
large group. The mass is flattish and seems to be
wedged solidly between the thoracic region and the
abdomen; its bulk is about that of a navy bean's. But
so small are the individual units that more than seventy-
five thousand are contained within this space. Herein
is the secret of the fiddler crab's persistence, who, de-

More Friends in Armor 249

spite its manifold enemies, succeeds in maintaining its
enormous numbers. The microscope, that third eye of
the investigator, tells us that each egg is attached to the
fine hairs on the inner branches of the swimmerets by
a stalk. The stalk is a continuation of a membrane
investing the egg and the hair to which it is fastened.
Numerous eggs are fixed to the same hair, and the
whole is not unlike a long stem supporting a cluster of
berries by short pedicels. The eggs are fertilized
while in the body of the female. When first laid they
are of a deep orange color, but soon turn dark
red; and as hatching time approaches, they become
a deep brown, due to the black eyes of the growing

embryo.

Within a fortnight after the jars of my laboratory
are established, my anticipations are realized. Every
one of the females has hatched her brood. My atten-
tion is first attracted to this event by a cloudlike haze
on that side of the tanks which is nearest to the light.
This observation may give us some idea of the length
of time the mother has been burdened with the eggs.

A dipping tube inserted into the hazy swarm takes
up hundreds of the young larvas, and a drop of water
released on a microscope slide brings several within
easy compass for observation. Under a low-power lens
the little creatures can be seen actively cavorting across
the field, their movements closely resembling the wrig-
gling progress of mosquito larvae. They are trans-
lucent throughout their bodies, ^except for the large,
prominent compound eyes, which are black. There is
no similarity to their parents. The head and front part
of the body are covered with a helmet-shaped carapace ^

250 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

having a long curved spine standing out from the
middle of the back, and another straighter one pro-
jecting, like a beak, in front. The hind body is much
smaller. It is narrow, segmented, and ends in a forked
tail, or telson. It is also very flexible, and can be bent
under the fore body or straightened out behind. There
are several pairs of delicate appendages on the fore
body, but the most conspicuous are the two pairs of
swimming legs ending in featherlike branches. Actu-
ally, the tw^o-branched swimming legs are appendages
belonging properly to the mouth, the real legs of the
crab being not yet in evidence, and, although the seg-
ments of the abdomen are distinct, they are devoid of
swimmerets.

This description of the first larval stage of the fiddler
crab applies with almost equal correctness to the newly
hatched larvae of every member of the marine Brachy-
X ^ ura, or crabs. It is a typical form and for that reason
N it is known as a zoea, a name which it received when it
was thought to be a separate and distinct species of
crustacean. Some land crabs differ slightly in their
earliest larval appearance. That the zoea were once
thought to be an independent species was due to the
fact that the development of the fresh-water crayfish
was known long before that of other crustaceans. In
that creature the young when hatched from the egg
are practically like the adult, and it was therefore
assumed that all crustaceans were developed alike.
Indeed, the larval stages of marine forms were known,
but their actual identity was not suspected. And even
after their true nature was discovered, after their
metamorphoses had been studied and described, many

More Friends in Armor

251

eminent naturalists "refused to believe in the possi-
bility of their occurrence."

The next and last larval stage, which is also peculiar
to the crabs, takes place in our animal about a month
later. In this stage the larva, known as a megalopa,
spends most of its time swimming about at the surface

y

ZOEA OF THE FIDDLER CRAB. (gREATLY ENLARGED.)

of the water. From the evidence of its behavior in the
tanks, it is plain that during this period of its life it
roams far and wide. Then it is that the necessary dis-
persal takes place to prevent overcrowding in one
locality. It has shed its zoeal skin, and now appears
with all its appendages. The spme on its back is miss-
ing, the one in front much shortened, and its eyes are
stalked and movable; except that the hind body is

252 Dzvellcrs of the Sea and Sliurc

extended straight out In the rear instead of being bent
under the fore body, it does not differ greatly from a
little crab. It is by means of the swimmerets on its
abdomen that it propels itself, and in view of the nata-
tory life led by the larva it is easy to understand the
predilection of the burdened female for the water.
Were her tender babes to burst their swaddling clothes
while she sat on the scorching sands, their lives would
be in grave peril. But just as frequently, she remains
In the humid retreat of her burrow when the hatching
is due to occur; the little ones later finding their way
out in the waters of the tide.

A week or so later the megalopa molts; this molt
bringing it directly into existence as a young crab. The
little creature, who is not much larger than the head
of a pin, immediately settles down in some likely area
near the high-water mark and starts to burrow.

From now on it will live like its elders, picking what
it can find to eat from the sand and silt. Without
going into tedious details, I can say that from what
deductions are possible from my tanks, and from
further observations at the shore, the probable develop-
ments in the future life of the fiddler crab are as
follows: Full growth is not attained until it is nearly
a year and a half old ; that is, in the fall of the following
year. This growth is signalized by successive molts
which occur at least twelve times. The castings of the
crust take place more frequently in the early than in
the late part of the animal's growing life. After it
reaches maturity, the moltings no longer occur. There
is evidence that pairing happens during, or shortly sub-
sequent to, the molting period of the female. Other

More Friends in Armor 253

evidence suggests that the female may have more than
one brood after a single meeting with the male, and
that she dies soon after her last bearing. The crab's
term of life is three years.

To say that the fiddler crab grows when it molts
would be to express the reverse of what is true. The
fact is, the creature molts because it grows. The soft
tissues increase in content, but the hard, rigid armor Is
incapable of expansion; therefore this must be cast off.
In the process of shedding, a crack appears in the crust
along a line at the rear edge of the carapace. The
crab literally backs out through the opening thus
started, and as it does so It forces the carapace up,
extending the fissure on both sides to the front, making
Its egress easier. This operation is performed by a
series of peculiar rhythmic tremors, and it takes about
twenty minutes to accomplish. When the animal is
finally divested of its shell, it appears soft and wrinkled
on the surface, and, although it can walk, it is truly a
quite helpless individual. Were It not for the fact that
this critical period is passed in the saturated precincts
of Its cell, it would, besides running the chance of suc-
cumbing to the first evil passer-by, be subjected to con-
siderable discomfort in the rays of the sizzling sun
But it soon fills out and the skin begins to harden. A
day or so hence finds it once more sitting in the door-
way or picking at the sand.

Molting has its advantages in other w^ays. If a
young crab has lost an appendage a new one appears
at the time of some successive casting of its armor. It
Is a common phenomenon among crustaceans to throw
off a leg or claw when the individual is seized by one

2 54 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

of those members. This Is an automatic process, which
is to say, it is not due to external force as such. Tech-
nically it is known as autotomy, meaning "self-cutting."
The separation of the appendage usually occurs at a
point on one of the segments close to the body, and
serious as it may seem at first sight there is little danger
to the animal; the tissues of the stump constrict, thus
preventing excessive bleeding, and the loss is often only
temporary. If it happens just after the crab has shed
its skin, another takes its place at the following molt;
if the loss is sustained a short time before the shedding,
the second succeeding molt will complete the regen-
eration.

From this it w^ould appear that the full-grown ani-
mal, having completed all the molts necessary to attain
its growth, is unable to regenerate lost appendages. So
far as my observation extends, this is actually the case.
Yet an old crab will as readily cast off a claw as will a
young one. It is plain, nevertheless, that in any event
this capacity is to its decided benefit; for, truth to say,
it is better to lose a limb than to lose a life.

PART THREE
THE OPEN SEA

Chapter XV
BEYOND THE HORIZON

It is a remarkable fact that there are few living
marine animals which are more constantly brought to
notice than those ranging the open sea, and yet there
are not many whose habits and life histories are more
completely unknown. The very nature of their haunts,
of course, makes it more difficult to observe them than
would be the case if they were associated with the
shore. What information has been obtained regarding
their food habits has been derived not so much by actual
observation as by the more indirect, but certain, method
of examining the stomach contents of captured speci-
mens. However, except in relation to a few forms,
positive information of the behavior and development
of the vast majority that roam the deep is extremely
scant.

Examination of the ingested food of oceanic ani-
mals, by the way, has revealed the existence of many
creatures hitherto unknown. Whales and large fishes
are particularly valuable in this respect; in their pred-
atory excursions they pick up more strange species than
do the nets of the naturalists.

Probably none of the sea rovers are as often con-
nected in the popular mind with the open sea as are the

257

258 DzvcUcrs of the Sea and Shore

whales and sharks. Much misconception, however,
exists regarding these creatures. Each comprises a
numerous group. Not all whales are the large, pic-
turesque animals romantically featured in stories; not
all sharks are dangerous.

The whales, in modern classification, belong to
that order of mammals distinguished by the Greek
name Cetacea, a word meaning "sea monster" and
once indiscriminately applied by the ancient mariner
of the Mediterranean to all large and strange oceanic
creatures. Now, as the cetaceans a ^e mammals,
and since w^e know that mammals are warm-blooded,
lung-breathing animals which suckle their young, it
will be seen that the whales are very far from being
fishes. In the whales, however, the hairy coat that is
usually characteristic of mammals has almost entirely
disappeared, its property of protecting the animal from
the cold having in this instance been assumed by the
thick layer of peculiar fat, called blubber, under the
smooth skin. The only reminder of a former hairy
coat is to be found in some very young w^hales, wherein
the presence of a few^ bristles about the lips indicate a
hirsute ancestor. Indeed, one of the striking charac-
teristics of these creatures is the total dissimilarity of
their outward appearance to other mammals. Even in-
ternally many modifications are to be found. The hind
legs have disappeared, but they have left within the
body remnants of the pelvis and thigh bones; in some
instances the leg bones themselves still remain. The
peculiarity of the fore limbs is quite marked in that the
arm bone is very short and broad; whereas in other
mammals all agree in having the same number of joints

Beyond the Horizon 259

in the finders and toes, In the whales these numbers
Invariably are exceeded. In some instances the fingers
have more than twenty joints, a feature greatly re-
sembling the many-jointed flipper of the extinct Ich-
thyosaurus and allied prehistoric marine lizards. The
flippers, usually small though sometimes of considerable
length, are not used to propel the animal in swimming,
seeming to be more for the purpose of maintaining its
equilibrium or keeping it on an even keel. It swims by
the sculling action of the flukes of its great tail which
is not placed vertically as In fishes, but horizontally.
This position is better adapted to the requirements of
the animal which must needs often seek the surface for
air to breathe.

Cetaceans, although having many features in com-
mon by which they are easily identified from other
mammals, nevertheless differ considerably from one
another. As I have alreaciy observed, one of these
differences is in respect to size. Some, the smaller dol-
phins, are less than a yard long; the other extreme is
found in the blue whale, or rorqual, which is said to
be nearly ninety feet in length. But there Is a more
fundamental difference than that of mere size; and it
is one which has caused them to be divided into the two
great groups that naturalists now refer them. These
are the whalebone whales, or the Mystacoceti, and the
toothed whales, or Odontocett.

Even the members of each of these groups exhibit
enough differences to make further divisions possible
The whalebone whales are split into two families which
in turn are subdivided into genera and species. In one
family are included the so-called "right whales," and

2 6o Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

In the other are the rorquals and the humpbacked
whales. But the difference between the families is one
of degree rather than of kind. In the right whales,
known technically as the Bahenidce, the whalebone is
very long; in the other whalebone w^hales, the Bahenop-
terid^e, the whalebone is comparatively short. Further-
more, the right whales have nc dorsal fin, while the
rorquals invariably are possessed of this appendage,
though in some specimens it is rather small. Another
means of identification for t^^os? w'^o chance to meet

GREENLAND WHALE.

with them at sea is by their manner of disappearing
under the surface. The right whales dive with the
great head almost straight down into the water, throw-
ing upward the flukes of the tail, while the rorquals, on
the other hand, sink out of sight gradually, much in the
way that a submarine boat disappears from view.

The most famous of the right whales is the Green-
land, or Arctic, whale. This is the true polar species,
seldom or never being found far from the Arctic ice.
It was at one time the object of a great luiropean
fishery. Holland, England, and France were chiefly
engaged, but a large Dutch settlement in Spitzbergen
employed no less than 260 ships and 14,000 men in

Beyond the Horizon 261

the profitable business of hunting and killing these crea-
tures. That was in the seventeenth century when the
whale fishery was at its height; to-day the Greenland
whale is practically extinct. It has entirely disappeared
from the region of Spitzbergen and the waters of
Greenland where it once existed in such plenty, and
now only a few small wandering herds may occasionally
be encountered in the neighborhood of Bering Sea.

This species {Balana mysketus) is the largest of the
right whales, reaching a length of about fifty feet.
Over the back and sides it is a deep blue black, under-
neath it is gray, while the neck and throat are white.
The enormous head fully exceeds a third of the crea-
ture's total length. Actually, the cavity of the mouth
is larger than that of the body. Yet as gigantic as are
the jaws of this animal, the gullet is comparatively
diminutive, being less than two inches in diameter, and
it subsists on nothing but very small organisms. Its
food consists principally of minute crustaceans and free-
swimming mollusks (pteropods), which swarm in im-
mense shoals in the colder seas. In the capture of its
food, the value of its inordinately large mouth becomes
at once apparent. It is thereby enabled to engulf at
one time a sufficient quantity of water containing the
organisms. When the creature closes its jaws, these
are held in by the straining action of the whalebone
which allows only the water to pass through and out at
the sides of the mouth. The whalebone blades in the
animal are not exactly as they appear in the article with
which we are all more or less familiar; they are here
frayed out at one — the inner — edge and at the ends
into long soft and silky but extremely tough hairs.

262 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

They hang in two rows from the upper jaw, a row on
each side of the mouth connected by a group of shorter
blades in front where the jaw arches down, but those in
the middle where the arch is highest are very long.
Sometimes they have a length of twelve feet. There
are nearly four hundred on each side, and the whole
quantity in the mouth of a large specimen often weighs
close to two tons.

Many species of right whales have been described,
but naturalists are not quite agreed as to their number
or distinctive characteristics. For instance the Bis-
cayan whale {B. biscayensis) is supposed by some to be
identical with the black whale {B. aiistralis). The
former differs from the Greenland whale in having a
smaller head and a correspondingly shorter length of
whalebone. This species frequents the colder waters
of the northern hemisphere, but its range is very wide,
havino: been found as far south as the Azores and Ber-
muda and even in the Mediterranean Sea. It was once
thought to be extinct; it has, however, been seen re-
cently in considerable numbers in the North Atlantic.
The black whale inhabits the southern hemisphere in
the neighborhood of Australia, New Zealand, and the
Cape of Good Hope, in the latter region of which I
have been so fortunate as to sail through several small
herds of them. That was more than twenty years ago,
and it would be nearly correct, perhaps, to say that the
black whale no longer inhabits the southern seas, for
owing to the wanton slaughter of the females as they
visited the coastal bays and inlets to breed, their exter-
mination is almost complete. Another right whale is
one [B. japonica) which ranges the northern half of

Beyond the Horizon 263

the Pacific Ocean from the Siberian Sea of Okhotsk to
Oregon. The Japanese from very early times have
hunted these creatures; however, in late years the
American and Russian whalers have made considerable
inroads on their numbers. Here, too, the specific dif-
ference from the Biscayan whale and the black whale
does not seem to be well marked. The condition in
which they are brought to shore does not make it easy
for thorough comparisons. It is probable, though, that
if any differences do exist, they are very slight.

RORQUAL.

The rorquals and humpbacked whales resemble the
right whales in their habits, and except for the presence
of a dorsal fin and having much smaller heads, they
correspond with the other in general structure. But a
peculiarity exists in the appearance of these animals
which is unique : the skin under the throat is lined in a
lengthwise direction with long parallel ridges and
grooves, or plications. As I have said, some of the
rorquals have been alleged to measure nearly one hun-
dred feet; they are larger than the right whales, and
indeed are the largest of all known animals, living or
extinct. Of all the whalebone whales they are the
most abundant and widely distributed, being found in
almost every sea. They live on minute organisms,

264

Dzicllcrs of the Sea and Shore

but some will {ctd on fishes, for they have often been
observed feasting among herring shoals and schools
of an Arctic species {Osmenis arct'iciis).

When we turn to the toothed whales, we find not
merely a difference in the dental equipment but there is
a marked change in the food habits and generally in
geographical distribution as well. This group, the
Odontoceti, is a numerous one, the most noteworthy of
which are the sperm whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
The largest of these is the sperm whale {Physeter
macrocephaliis) , known sometimes as the cachalot,

SPERM WHALE.

which attains to a length of over sixty feet. Its char-
acteristic gigantic head, with the straight, blunt fore-
head, is an enlargement caused by the presence of a
huge mass of waxy substance {spermaceti) in this
region. The mouth is on the under side of the head,
and is somewhat behind the end of the snout. The
teeth are large and conical, and confined to the long,
narrow lower jaw. They number about twenty-five
on each side, and are of a very good quality of ivory.
In comm.on with several of the other toothed whales
it lives mostly on squids and cuttlefishes; nevertheless,
fishes of considerable size are often a preponderant
part of its diet. It is likely that the cephalopods it

Beyond the Horizon 265

eats give rise to the peculiar product called "amber-
gris," the concretion of its intestine which usually
contains the beaks of those creatures. This substance
was formerly used in medicines but is nov/ a con-
stituent of the finer perfumes. It has no fragrance
of its own, but it has the property of enhancing
the scents with which it is combined. It is generally
found floating on the surface of the sea or cast up
on the shore, and, as it is one of the costliest articles
of commerce, it can bring its chance discoverer a hand-
some reward. The sperm whale is a native of tropical
and subtropical seas; but, in their breeding places In
southern latitudes, the old bulls in their fights for pos-
session of the cows drive from their haunts the young
males; and these, in wandering over the ocean after
defeat, may in a sense be said to have a cosmopolitan
range.

As might be inferred, the possession of a set of
powerful teeth Is not attended without a certain degree
of ferocity. Such, at any rate. Is the case with the great
killer whale, or grampus {Orca gladiator) ^ the fiercest
of the family. This beast is a dolphin and is the largest
of those animals. It measures some thirty feet long.
The conspicuous light-colored bands with which Its
body Is marked serve to emphasize its somewhat for-
bidding appearance. Seals and porpoises are not un-
common among its captures; and It will boldly attack
whales even larger than itself. One naturalist has
recorded that he took thirteen porpoises and fourteen
seals from the stomach of a single individual. The
grampus roams the northern seas. It sometimes hunts
in packs; and whales of goodly size have been known

2 66 Dzcellers of the Sea and Shore

to throw themselves ashore in their efforts to escape
these marauding hands.

To the dolphins, also, belongs that odd creature the
sea unicorn, or narwhal {Monodon monoceros) . In
this whale the teeth are undeveloped, save in the male
who has one long twisted tusk that projects straight
out in front fully one half the length of the body. As
the narwhal is twelve feet long from snout to tail, it
will be seen that this tusk, notwithstanding that it has
a narrow central cavity, constitutes a considerable piece
of ivory. It is, in truth, hunted only for this tusk, the
whalers seeming to attach little value to the carcass.
Despite the formidable aspect of the tusk, its use to the
animal is very obscure. Certainly the narwhal does not
— as does the swordfish — charge boats and pierce them
with its weapon. Nor has it been observed ever to use
it in any other manner, offensive or defensive. It is a
peaceable and even a playful creature; and this, to-
gether with the fact that it swims in small herds in the
icy waters of the North, where it feeds on small fishes,
crustaceans, and cuttlefishes, is about all that is known
with certainty regarding its habits.

Closely akin to the dolphins are the porpoises. The
fact is, between the two the fundamental difference
seems slight, and what does exist is to be found chiefly
in the dentition of these animals. The teeth of the
typical dolphin are conical and pointed, and in numer-
ous ways they strikingly resemble those of reptiles;
whereas in the porpoise the teeth are grooved and flat-
tened, or shovel-shaped, at the crowns. Porpoises are
without doubt the commonest of all the cetaceans. But
the majority of species frequent the coasts, bays, and

Beyond the Horizon 267

sometimes even rivers, rather than the open ocean.
Their average length is five feet. They are sociable
animals, usually traveling in herds, and can often be
seen sporting playfully. Indeed, the sight of these at-
tractive creatures is familiar to nearly every person
who has had occasion to sail the sea, for their distri-
bution is almost world wide. The bottle-nosed por-
poise {Tursiops tnincatus) is the most numerous of
those along our Eastern shores. It follows shoals of
herrings, on which it feeds, and is frequently caught
with them in the nets of fishermen. In the spring, when
the herrings make their seasonal run, the occurrence of
this porpoise in Hempstead Harbor is not uncommon.
To me there is something majestic in the motion of this
animal as it plunges forward, alternately rising to blow
and disappearing gracefully under the waves.

The so-called "spouting" or "blowing'' of cetaceans
has not been the least of their curious attributes; and
truly the spouting of a large whale is a spectacle never
to be forgotten. It is not, as is commonly believed,
even by many whalers, the discharge of water taken in
through the mouth; it is simply the natural process of
breathing. Bear in mind that cetaceans hold their
breath for longer intervals than do land animals ; there-
fore, in expelling it much greater emphasis is used. In
rising to the surface, they forcibly rid their lungs of
the air taken in with the previous inspiration, and this
outrushing air is charged with water vapor due to
ordinary respiratory changes; ^consequently, in the
colder regions where the spouting is really more evi-
dent, the vapor condenses and forms a conspicuous
column of spray. Now it often happens that the animal

268 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

will commence blowing just before it actually reaches
the surface, and in that event some water is carried
upward by the blast. It is quite possible, therefore,
that this illusory effect has confounded many observers.
The height to which the column ascends has also been
subject to much exaggeration; in the very largest
whales the spout does not exceed twenty feet at the
highest.

Most whales as a rule are peaceably inclined and
inoffensive; with the exception of the killer whale and
one or two other doubtful kinds, the greatest danger
from a close encounter with them lies in a cliance blow
from the powerful tail. A large individual can easily
splinter a small boat into fragments with one sweep of
its massive flukes, gravely endangering if not destroy-
ing the occupants outright. But for positive and pre-
potent danger to man, we must look to the sharks who
in this respect take precedence over every other crea-
ture, great and small, which lives in the sea.

Although sharks are found in all oceans, they are the
most numerous in the tropics. Since there are more
than one hundred and fifty described species of these
animals, it will become apparent to the reader that the
group is not so small as is commonly supposed. They
are gill breathers; hence they are true fishes. Some of
the sharks bear fully developed young; others lay eggs.
The eggs are large in comparison with those of other
fishes, and each one is usually contained in a tough,
horny, quadrangular case, the corners of which are pro-
longed into tendrillike processes apparently for the
purpose of entangling the object in seaweeds. These
egg cases are ofttimes carried by the waves to the

Beyond the Horizon 26()

beach, and are popularly known as "mermald's-purses."
Near the head of the embryo a slit in tlie case allows
the water to enter for its respiration, the water sub-
sequently passing out through another slit at the oppo-
site end. On issuing from its cradle the young shark
ruptures the end near its head, and carries with it a
yolk bag which it retains for nourishment until such
time as it is able to seek food. Its respiration at this
stage of its life is performed by the aid of filaments
projecting from the gills through the gill clefts. As it
gets older, which is to say, by the time it uses its teeth
efficiently, these filaments and the yolk bag disappear.
What in most fishes which are familiar to us is a
calcified frame — that is to say, a skeleton of bone — is
in the sharks, a tough, or cartilaginous, structure. This
shows that they are of a quite primitive nature, that
they had their beginning long before bones were in
evidence. But their claim to ancient ancestry is estab-
lished in other ways than this; their remains are pre-
served in rocks much older than those which hold the
fossils of bony fishes. From the abundance of teeth
which are found in the older deposits, it is quite prob-
able that the sharks were much more numerous in
former times than they are to-day. They were also
much larger; certain individuals of one genus {Carchar-
odon) being over ninety feet in length. There is
one existing species of this genus (C rondeletii) the
members of which are thirty feet long, but it is nearly
extinct. The abundance of sharks' teeth is so great, in
fact, that some of the beds in which they occur are
quarried to obtain the fossil remains for fertilizing
purposes.

270 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

The sharks that habitually live near the shore are
in the minority. They are of small size, and are
usually known locally as "dogfishes." Although feed-
ing on what fish they can catch, they are scavengers by
nature, taking almost any animal food that comes their
way. Some of the larger sharks of the open sea occa-
sionally come close to shore, but their stay is only tem-
porary as they merely make these visits in their hunt
for prey. Many are armed with strong, sharp, cutting
teeth with which they can do considerable execution
among the porpoises and large fishes that they hunt;
others, which are provided with very small teeth, feed
only on the smaller fishes, and invertebrates. Nearly
all of these oceanic types seem to be viviparous: in
other words, the young are born the same as are those
of mammals: they are incubated in the body of the
mother, not hatched from the extruded egg.

It is among the sharks that effect the open sea that
occurs the common white shark {Carcharias vulgaris)^
the most dreaded monster of the deep. The genus to
which it belongs is a large one numerically and in re-
spect to the length of some of the species. The indi-
viduals are generally recognized by their two large
dorsal fins and flattened snout. It is not uncommon for
the white shark to attain to a length of twenty-five feet
or more. A tough, hard skin covers the body which is
grayish brown above and white below. In the warmer
seas where it abounds, it quite often follows in the wake
of ships attracted by the edible parts of such refuse as
may be thrown overboard. Not always does it confine
itself strictly to digestible material, however; so vora-
cious is it that often it will seize indiscriminately any

Beyond the Horizon 271

object within its reach. In the stomach of a white
shark, it is said, was once found a woman's workbox;
while the papers of a slaveship, which had been jetti-
soned, were found in that of another. This creature
will not hesitate to attack humans, and it is capable of
tearing off a limb or even severing the trunk. Numer-
ous accounts have been given of instances where a man
armed only with a knife has gone into the water and
worsted a shark, usually a shore shark; but here is one
beast which man has probably never braved in its own
element; no one could successfully cope with a brute as
huge as this and provided with such a terrible apparatus
of saw-edged teeth. Still, it may easily be captured
alive. South Sea Islanders are said to use a curious,
though simple, device which consists of a floating log
with a strong rope attached to it. At the end of the
rope is a noose; and the animals gathering about from
curiosity, one of their number usually succeeds in en-
gaging its head in the trap, finally exhausting itself in
trying to get free. Sailors catch this creature by using
a great hook baited with a piece of meat. The hook is
fastened to a chain, since the powerful jaws and teeth
of the animal would bite through any ordinary rope
with ease.

Perhaps just as common, and even as much to be
feared, but considerably smaller is its near relative the
blue shark {Carcharias glaiiciis) . This shark is pro-
portionately more slender, and is seldom over seven
feet long. The upper part is blue; underneath, it is
white. Although normally a dweller of warm waters,
it often extends its range, for it has been observed as
far north as Long Island Sound, apparently coming in

272 Dzvellcrs of the Sea and Shore

pursuit of herrings. It frequently plays havoc with the
nets of fishing trawls, its sharp teeth cutting them to
tatters. This is the "man-eater" shark so often figured
in stories and tales of travel. Very likely its reputation
is well deserved. It seems to be absolutely fearless.
When it is captured with a hook and hauled on board,
the utmost care is necessary in order to avoid serious
injury from its mouth or tail. The deadly movements
of the latter are generally interrupted by a sailor's

.MAN-EATING SHARK.

springing forward and cutting the spine above the tail
fin with an ax.

The Greenland shark {Lacmargus borealis) is the
notable exception to the order. It inhabits the cold
northern seas, and is rarely seen elsewhere. The two
dorsal fins are small. In size it approaches that of the
white shark, but its head and teeth are smaller. Never-
theless, its ability to use its jaws with effect is testified
by many reliable observers. It is a truculent enemy of
large whales, these having been frequently found with
pieces bitten out of their tails by this animal. Whalers
have reported that while a crew was occupied in cutting
away the blubber of a killed whale, a Greenland shark

Beyond the Horizon

273

approached the carcass and tore off piece after piece,
and even after being badly wounded by them it per-
sisted in returning to the repast.

But — enough of the ill-reputed sharks. Now a few
words regarding one of a very different type. This is
the basking shark (Selache maxima), the largest of
them all — and, by the same token, it is the largest living
fish. It grows to a length of more than thirty feet.
The width of its mouth is extraordinary, thus giving it
an appearance of unusual ferocity. Yet, notwithstand-

BASKING SHARK.

ing its terrifying size and forbidding aspect, it is quite
innocuous. As a matter of fact, the creature is of a
very timid disposition, and will readily retreat if ap-
proached too closely.

What is the reason for this remarkable behavior?
The answer lies in its teeth. For a shark, they are
amazingly small, and it is very probable that they serve
no purpose whatever. The fish and other creatures it
lives on are diminutive in size, and are such as would
cause a regular man-eater shark to turn up its snout,
so to speak. As large as is the mouth of this animal.

274 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

It is capable of greater expansion, and with a single
gulp it can capture a prodigious number of these ani-
mals. Now, naturally, with the food that it takes in,
a considerable quantity of water is engulfed. The pro-
vision for the retention of this food and for the escape
of the water is as singular as that of the whales. In
each of the very wide gill clefts which this shark has,
the internal opening is guarded by a sort of strainer, an
apparatus formed by the hard supports of the gills. It
is this sieve which allows the water to pass out of the
mouth while holding in the organisms. Thus, in a
sense, the creature may be said to take in its food at a
breath.

As its name would indicate, it loves to lie In the sun.
It lives In the North Atlantic, and there it may be seen
In calm weather collected In companies, with broad lin
erect, basking motionless at the surface.

Chapter XVI

LIVING LIGHTS THAT NEVER DIE

The Impressions of youth are most profound — like-
wise its illusions. The gentle breeze from over the
harbor coming through the open window to my writing
table, the stillness of this early hour, the stars seen sus-
pended in the outer darkness, like sparkling motes of
metallic dust, all bring out in realistic relief the details
of an event now remote in time, in distance, and in the
potentiality of its circumstances, but one which has to
do w^ith a type of creature I presently propose to con-
sider. I once stood near the rail of a ship sailing a
tropical sea. It was night. There w^as no moon, but
across a glittering sky hung the luminous mist of the
Milky Way, while standing out sharply above the
faintly limned horizon could be seen the silvery radi-
ance of the Southern Cross. The reflection of that
ghostly stream and of every scintillant point shone with-
out a tremor on the unbroken surface of the watery
expanse like spangles on a field of sable velvet.
Steadily the ship pushed ahead, yet seemed to remain
motionless over that vast inverted image of the celes-
tial panorama. The dull throbbing of her engines
deep dow^n in the waist, and the swift swirling of the
w^aters below the forecastle head, where I was stand-

275

276 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

ing, as her sharp prow cut into the bhickness, were the
only sounds that lifted themselves in the profound
silence of the night. Peering over the side, I beheld
the foam streak past in the gloom. It was all aglow,
as if the boat in her progress had stirred the water
into a seething billow of molten glass. And far
astern followed the wake of the vessel — a livid path
of sulphurous light. Like a m.eteor lost in the mighty
reaches of the cosmos, she seemed to be traveling
through space, marking her course with a fiery trail.

Then came a change. A light wind arose and the
sea ran in ripples of fire. Coruscations of emerald and
azure and pale orange played over the radiant crests;
and the spray caused by the buffeting bow fell into the
sea like a shower of shining sparks. Dissolved from
the face of the w^ater was the reflex of every star.
The galaxy no longer loomed as a tremendous vapory
swing in the solitudes of the deep. Instead, as far as
sight could penetrate, the trembling surface gleamed
and flamed with a light of a far different kind; and the
colorful intensity paled even the brilliant spectacle of
those mighty suns that shimmered in the midnight sky.

What could be the nature of that mysterious light?
The impulse to examine the water more closely was
irresistible. So, tying a rope to the bail of a bucket,
I lowered it over the ship's side. But I was not pre-
pared for such a pull as I felt when that receptacle met
the surface, and was nearly jerked over the rail and
into the sea. The speed at which the boat was going
made it seem as if the bucket had caught up a load of
melted lead. However, I did not let go (the rope was
new and of considerable length — therefore, valuable —

Living Lights that Never Die 277

and buckets on that ship were scarce; besides, I did not
fancy an explanation for the loss, which would be cer-
tain to invite a suspicion of my sanity), but managed
finally to bring up the bucket with its luminous burden.
Setting it on the deck, it stood out clearly in the sur-
rounding darkness. By the glow of its bluish light, I
could easily see the freckles on my hand. Dipping some
of it up in the hollow of my palm, the escaping water
fell to the deck in sparkling drops and ran in shining
rivulets along the seams. Yet I could detect nothing
therein that gave it this remarkable and mysterious
property. Looking as closely as I could, I saw little
patches of pulsating colors, which swiftly increased in
brightness and then as swiftly died out again some-
what like the embers of a fire revived to topaz bril-
liancy by the passing breeze, and that was all. I
emptied the contents of the bucket overboard, and re-
mained for many minutes with my attention on the
waters below, watching and wondering. But the sea
did not vouchsafe its answer at that time. Indeed, little
did I think, as I stood there, stripped to the waist,
grimy, and still sweating from my turn in the hot stifling
air of the stokehold, that later I would be revealing
that and other secrets of the sea to curious readers.
It was my first voyage, and I had never seen the ocean
before. My knowledge of it was limited to what I had
read in stories of adventure and travel, while living in
a mid-Western hamlet. Of its animals I knew nothing,
save what every boy knows regarding the creatures
which are often called upon to lend color to the exploits
of fictional heroes. No, at that time my dream was
that I, too, would write the selfsame manner of tales

278 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

that had lured me to the sea. Such are the Illusions
of the young! Here am I, not engaged In romancing
about the ships and men that sail the surface of the sea,
but In detailing the lives of the lower creatures that
range Its depths.

The nightly phosphorescence of the sea — which was
the phenomenon just described — is as familiar to the
traveler In the tropics as are the flying fish in the day.
Yet not everybody knows that this Is caused by the
presence of billions upon billions of little animals each
so minute as often to be scarcely visible to the naked
eye. There are a number of forms which may produce
this amazing spectacle, but the largest here Is much
smaller than the head of a pin. This one Is Noctiluca,
the most numerous and most widely distributed of all
the light-producing creatures of the sea. In general. Its
shape may be likened to that of an apple whose stem Is
drawn out Into a w^hlplike lash. It Is with the aid of Its
large lash, or flagellum, that the tiny animal drives
Itself through the water. In structure, It Is transparent
and jellylike, and the entire organism consists of but a
single cell. Now, this animal, small as it is, lives upon
other organisms still smaller; and under a powerful
glass, it may be observed to take In Its food, selecting
such things as are suitable in the surrounding medium,
showing that it has Its likes and dislikes the same as
higher creatures whose bodies are composed of millions
of cells. Its mouth Is situated at the base of the flagel-
lum, and Is a groovelike orifice extending nearly half-
way around one side. From the mouth Issues a small
hair-like organ, a second flagellum. The little spherical
unit, like all cells, is made up of three principal parts:

Living Lights that Never Die 279

the nucleus, which here Is a small granular kernel near
the center; the cytoplasm, or cell substance, and the
cell wall. From the nucleus can be seen radiating
through the cytoplasm a number of branched granular
threads. This simple structure — that Is, the fact that
NoctUuca is a one-celled creature — places it in the very
lowest group of animals, the Protozoa.

NOCTILUCA. (greatly ENLARGED.)

In common with other protozoans, NoctUuca does
not die from old age; in fact, barring bodily injuries or
other accidents, it does not die at all. The reason for
this can best be understood by examining its mode of
reproduction. When the individual reaches a certain
stage In its life, a division of its nucleus takes place
which is soon followed by a constriction in the cell wall
right around the middle of the animal. This constric

2 8o Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

tion rapidly grows deeper, finally separating the crea-
ture into two equal parts, each part a smaller but exact
duplicate of its single prototype. Thus where there
was one adult mother cell, there follows in her place a
younger pair; and these twin daughters will in their
turn, when they get older, proceed to divide likewise.
In this manner the cycle continues. But it may be
pointed out that this method of ^reproduction by fission,
as it is called, does not always continue indefinitely
without a variation. During some succeeding genera-
tion two individuals will come together and a fusion of
their nuclei will take place, the flagella disappear, and
the pair seem to coalesce into a single body; reversing
the process of division, so to speak. Eventually, how-
ever, the fused nuclei split into numerous pieces and
pass to the surface of the sphere where they form prom-
inences, or buds, which ultimately become detached and
swim away as zoospores, or young Noctilucas. When
these grow up they will divide, and their descendants
for a greater or lesser length of time will also continue
to reproduce in this way.

The color of light emitted by Noctiluca varies with
the different species; still sometimes a single species will
be found to give forth light of different hues. The
beauty and intensity of the Hashes are marvelous,
coming from so small a creature, and their nature has
been the subject of much investigation. But man has
as yet vainly endeavored to capture its secret. He has,
indeed, been able to isolate the chemical compounds
which are the source of light, and has even given them
a name, but of their ultimate nature he is still very
much in the dark. The term "phosphorescent" ap-

Living Lights that Never Die 281

plied to light-producing animals owes its reason to the
fact that the illumination resembles the glow of phos-
phorus, but, in reality, it has nothing to do with that
element. Phosphorus, in its free and luminous state,
is highly poisonous to all living animal substance.

Contrary to popular opinion, the peculiar property
of phosphorescence is by no means a rare one or con-
fined to a narrow range of animals. The fact is, in the
animal kingdom, in groups extending from the proto-
zoans to the vertebrates, there are more than three
hundred genera containing one or more species which
are known to emit light. The majority live in the sea.
Of these, Noctiluca is the best known, but it is not the
most intensely luminous. That distinction goes to a
little ostracod crustacean bearing only the Latin name
Cypridena hilgendorfii, because it is known to few
others than naturalists. So powerful is the light from
this creature that one part of its luminous gland in
nearly two billion parts of water will give a visible glow
to that medium. If a person possessed an organ that
gave the same proportionate volume and intensity of
illumination, it w^ould be sufficient to light up the area
of a fair-sized city.

In the light of Noctiluca, experimenters have discov-
ered two very interesting properties. It has no heat,
and It has no light rays that are invisible to the eye.
The bolometer, a heat-measuring instrument so sensi-
tive that it can register the heat from the stars, has
revealed — as, in truth, it has revealed in the case of all
light-producing animals — that the phosphorescence is
utterly without warmth, that it is what is called "cold
light." My statement about the light rays may need

282 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

elucidation. It is well known that a beam of ordinary
sunlight actually consists of several different colors
which can be shown on a screen by first passing the
beam through a glass prism. This color picture is
called the spectrum and is composed of visible hues
ranging from deep purple through the blues and the
yellows to deep red. If, by some suitable arrange-
ment, a photographic plate be* placed at the plane of
the screen, excluding all other light, an image of the
color picture will be recorded. But, in addition to
those colors which are visible, there will appear on the
plate a record of colors which are invisible to the eye.
These colors are at each end of the spectrum, and are
known as the infra-red and the ultra-violet rays. No
artificial light has yet been devised which eliminates all
of these invisible rays. Now, as the light of Noctiluca
does not contain them, it will be seen that its illumina-
tion is about one hundred per cent efficient, no light-
producing energy being lost. However, what value
Noctiluca — and, indeed, many another sightless ani-
mal which could be named — derives from its power
of luminescence is not clear. It is probable that in
this instance phosphorescence is an incidental mani-
festation of some fundamental cause which has for
its end not the production of light but something much
more remote from our comprehension.

So thickly populated with protozoans is the sea that
hardly a drop of water collected near the surface will
fail to produce numerous individuals. They are, of
course, not all liglit givers, like Noctiluca ; but what
they lack in this respect they often make up in exquisite-
ness of form. Many of them secrete shells, and al-

Living Lights that Never Die

283

though some giants measuring more than an inch in
diameter are to be found in the warmer waters, most
forms are so small as to be practically invisible. A
wonderful work is performed by these shells in building
the crust of the earth. They are constantly settling to

globigerina; a protozoan, the shell of this minute animal is in the
center, and from it radiates stiff spines of lime. enclosing the
shell is a frothy mass of living substance from which extends
numerous fine threads.

the floor of the ocean. The dead shells are almost the
sole constituent of the material that forms the bottom
in many regions of the deep sea. They also compose
the platforms of coral reefs. The famous chalk cliffs
of England are made up of their countless billions
which long ago were dropped upon the floor of the

284 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

ancient sea, piling so high that some in the lower layers
were squeezed into a shapeless mass; then by some later
convulsion they were lifted out of the water high into
the air.

The numbers which float in the sea are utterly incon-
ceivable. The only proper estimate we can make of
them is not to count them but to weigh them. It Is
supposed that these minute (!reatures are as abundant
six hundred feet below the surface as they are at the
top; therefore, taking this as an index, it has been
shown that within this depth alone, every square mile
of the ocean contains upward of sixteen tons of their
skeletons. And this is to say nothing of the countless
other forms which have no shells.

In some of these creatures, the foraminifers, the
skeletal structure is composed of lime; in others it is
formed of silica, a transparent, glasslike substance as
hard as flint. The latter type is peculiar to the radio-
larians, without a doubt the prettiest of all protozoans.
The almost endless variety of forms is a constant source
of pleasure to the collecting microscopist, for in no
other group of minute organisms does beauty so con-
sistently prevail. Many are globular and perforated,
and the soft body substance of the animal can be seen
streaming through these apertures for food. Some are
like fairy baskets formed of the most delicate lattice-
work; some perforated spherical forms bristle with
long, slender, flinty spines; and some others still have
a crystallike sphere within an outer lacelike covering of
glass, resembling those curious balls of jade, carved by
the Chinese, wherein one graceful creation contains
another still more lovely.

Living Lights tJiat Never Die

285

The foregoing facts in this chapter convey some Idea
of that stupendous abundance of animal Hfe contained
In the sea, whose beauties and even whose very existence
are barely known to the world at large. But my men-
tioning the coral reefs prompts me here to add some-
thing In regard to another type of small creature, which,
notwithstanding the world-wide acquaintance with Its

SHELLS OF RADIOLARIANS. (GREATLY ENLARGED.)

skeleton, seems little known as it Is in life. All corals,
by the way, are not confined to the warm waters of the
tropics. Some colonial forms are found on our western
coast, and certain kinds grow In the Atlantic as far
north as Long Island Sound, where the water Is often
icy cold. Solitary species, like Fungia, flourish In the
cold water of very great depths.

The reef-buildlncr corals are of a different character.
They are rarely found below a depth of about one hun-

2 86 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

dred and seventy-five feet, and never do they live in
water the temperature of which is less than 68° Fahr.
In the tropics their great reefs extend for miles and
assume countless curious shapes, sometimes spreading
out like a fan, or branching in every direction, forming
figures and heads and limbs. This is characteristic of
the Tortugas Keys off the coast of Florida, but among
the coral reefs of the Pacific they form great circles, or
rings, called atolls. Many reefs are exposed and flour-
ish with vegetation, and the charm, the beauty, the
loveliness of these verdant isles can be realized only by
those who have passed them at sea.

It is a curious fact that although corals have been
familiar objects since very ancient times, their animal
nature was not known until the eighteenth century.
The discovery was made by an amateur naturalist who
had succeeded in keeping some specimens of red coral
alive in a tank. His discovery, however, was rejected
by the professional men of science, and it was not until
nearly twenty-five years later that they were compelled
to recognize the truth of his claims.

The coral animal is a coelenterate, a polyp. It re-
sembles an anemone with the difference that it has the
faculty of taking lime, probably from the water or from
the food it eats, and secreting it in the chambers of its
body, where it, the lime, forms partitions or cells, as
the case may be. Although they live in colonies, unlike
hydroids, each coral polyp is a complete individual in
itself, having no physical connection with its neighbors
other than the dead skeletal remains on which thev
make their home. The home of each individual is
called the coralUte, and a group of these corallites, such

Living Lights that Never Die 287

as make up a branch of coral, Is called the coralliim.
Corals reproduce by eggs, by budding, and by self-
division. It Is, In fact, due to the way In which budding
or division takes place that the characteristic shape of
the corallum Is formed In the various species. In
branched corals, the budding Is confined to certain mem-
bers of the colony, which results In that beautiful type;
but the formation of so-called brain corals Is caused by
the process of division. Now If we followed the devel-
opment of a growing coral, starting with the free-
swlmmlng egg, we should see It attach Itself to a stone
or some hard object and commence first to build a little
platform or base. Then a thin edge or rim would rise
around the periphery, Increasing dally In diameter and
height. At the same time, though unseen, the growing
creature Is building within the coralllte a number of
partitions that extend from the cuplike rim toward the
center but do not meet. If the coralllte be cut across,
the lime that forms the rim and radiating partitions
will have a rough resemblance to a cart wheel with the
hub removed. The vacant area In the center contains
the polyp's stomach. When full grown the soft tissues
are an olive brown, and with its expanded tentacles
looks like a tiny flower. If It should be a coralllte of a
branched coral, a bud will eventually appear on Its side
and the growth of an additional cup will take place.
These growths will proceed until the enlarging coral
branches out by further budding or by the division of
the individuals. Growth is falrly^rapld. Branch corals
will grow seven or more Inches In a year, and the brain
coral has been known to attain to an Inch or double Its
size in that time. Yet the reefs that they compose do

288 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

not progress on any such scale as this. For although
they are called reef builders they do not in any way
erect a permanent structure as living animals; it is their
skeletons, compacted in solid masses, but containing
material wrought by other agencies as well, that make
the reef. And it is very probable that the accretions do
not cause it to rise more than an inch in twenty years.

One of the factors causing the solidification of a reef
is the work of the horde of other organisms which
inhabit it. Such animals as crabs, moUusks, and sea
urchins reduce and perforate the coral by scraping and
boring and so weaken It that It breaks away In frag-
ments ; these are In turn ground to sand by the continual
washing of the waves, thus filling the interstices of the
reef. Many wonderful fishes and other creatures,
garbed in brilliant tints, make their homes in these
stony forests, and the picture they present In the clear
blue water of the quiet lagoons, poised among the
branches, is one of the rarest offerings of nature.
Occasionally one of the branches will have a group of
large polyps, each half an inch across, the whole
resembling a spike of pretty flowers. The colors of
the corals, too, are various and pleasing. Some have
red, white, or green polyps on branches of red or of
brown. Others may have their whole mass tinted pink
or lemon or bright blue.

Often in the same waters with the reef builders, grow
live corals of another type so different In appearance
and structure that few persons would be likely to take
them for corals. These are the sea fans and the sea
pens and the curious organ-pipe corals. They do not
always solely secrete lime like the madrepores {i.e.,

Living Lights that Never Die 289

brain corals, branched corals), but instead they some-
times form their framework of a more flexible material,
the chief constituent of which is chitin, the horny sub-
stance that composes the wing cases and hard parts of
beetles and many other insects.

gorgonia; a sea fan.

On the mud flats and coral reefs of Florida, and the
reefs that form the keys, can be seen the sea fans grow-
ing in vast fields, strange, exotic, and colorful. Tech-
nically they are known as Gorgonias. They are col-
onies of polyps having a calcareous or horny skeleton
branching profusely in one plane. The branches are
often fine and run together, forming a network of great
intricacy. Some of these structures are several feet in
length and in breadth, and are in the shape of an enor-
mous fan. Certain varieties of Gorgonias resemble
branching shrubs; and the shapes of others are rodlike,

290

D'wellcrs of the Sea and Shore

long, and without branches. Still others are unbranched
spirals, several feet in height. These are sometimes
known as sea whips. In all Gorgonias the horny axis
Is covered with a layer of living polyps so closely united
that they form a solid sheet of animal matter. This
contains numerous small spicules of carbonate of lime,
giving it a barklike, or crusty, appearance.

SPICULES OF GORGONIA. (GREATLY ENLARGED.)

The sea pens are so named because many of them
look very much like the quill feathers that are used for
pens. Some of the species resemble ostrich plumes.
The polyps are arranged along the upper part of the
lateral branches, separate from one another. The cen-
tral axis is naked below, and this part is burled in the
sand. Some sea pens are capable of great expansion

Living Lights that Never Die

291

and contraction. A specimen measuring about five
inches, when taken from the deep water, was observed

pennatula; a sea pen.

to expand five times as large when placed in a tank an
hour later. It was of a delicate pink by day, and by
night it shone with a brilliant phosphorescence, the light

292 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

flashing from branch to branch, and polyp to polyp.
Nearly all sea pens are marvelous light producers.

Among the corals of the East Indian seas is to be
found the most peculiar, perhaps, of all, the organ-pipe
coral. Its structure is very fragile and the cells of the
polyps are arranged after the fashion of a pipe organ,
from which it takes its name. The red tubular com-
partments are separated from one another, but are
connected at intervals by horizontal platforms. The
polyps contained in the tops of the tubes are green, and
save for their color, they resemble miniature daisies
when expanded.

The corals form much of the framework of the
globe. The great barrier reef of Australia is over a
thousand miles long, and in nearly every part of the
world are founci the fossil remains of reefs. One
underlies a section of the State of New York and is in
a way as interesting as that which now reaches out from
Florida in the direction of Yucatan. For in its history
is entailed the thrilling story of our continent, the story
of an era when our waters were much warmer than they
are to-day.

Chapter XVII

INTO THE DEPTHS

No ONE has yet been able to penetrate In person the
abyssal depths of the ocean, yet we have means of
knowing that those regions support a strange and won-
derful life. Nearly all parts of the sea have been
sounded; many areas have been dredged; consequently,
our views as to the relief of the floor and the types of
animals associated with It are gradually becoming
clearer. Of course this does not mean that we are
acquainted with the habits and histories of those ani-
mals; those things probably will take many years to
obtain, if, Indeed, such a thing Is possible at all; but
from the facts already collected, it would not be hard
to guess hew some of them live. When the vast extent
of the ocean Is considered, the number of soundings
seem comparatively few, and for that reason it has
often been pointed out that our knowledge concerning
the depths Is very fragmentary and limited. In a sense,
this is true. On the other hand, If the extent of the
ocean be great, the uniformity of conditions over vast
areas Is likewise great. A law seems to prevail that the
deeper one goes, the more identical are the species. If
one could walk around the world on the bed of the
ocean, he would find the same type of animals. The

293

294 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

main cause regulating this is temperature, which in all
seas is the same after the depth of a little more than
a mile.

The deepest place yet discovered in the ocean is the
Philippine Deep which has a depth of six miles. Some
conception of this terrific depth may be obtained when
I say that it could contain Mount Everest, the highest
mountain in the world, and still submerge it with more
than a mile of water over the top. The term "deep"
is one applied by marine naturalists to those parts of
the ocean that are shown by soundings to be 18,000
feet or deeper. There are known to be about sixty of
these deeps. Depths of more than 24,000 feet have
been recorded in ten of them, two of these abysses
being in the Atlantic and the remainder in the Pacific.
Between the dry land and the various deeps exists a
well-defined area known as the continental shelf, a com-
paratively shallow region, constantly swept by tides,
waves, and oceanic currents to a depth of 600 feet;
and it is separated from the deeps by an abrupt
declivity, where the depth of the water increases
rapidly, called the continental slope. No doubt many
portions of the continental shelf were, at no very re-
mote period, regions of dry land; for crossing it in
numerous places are deep ravines that are believed to
be submerged river valleys. In some places their con-
nection with still existing rivers can be traced.

In the abyssal realm, wave action no longer makes
itself felt, the oceanic currents are absent, and the water
is still and cold — almost freezing — and utterly without
any light from the sun. The darkness is relieved only
by the light of phosphorescent animals. The enormous

Into the Depths 295

pressure of the water — over three tons to the square
Inch — must make motion of all kinds extremely slow;
and such fishes as are found living there are adapted to
withstand this environment by having bodies so soft
and delicate in structure that when brought to the sur-
face they cannot be touched without injuring them.
Plant life, except, perhaps, bacteria or other low fun-
goid forms, Is entirely absent. The composition of the
floor is made up of the material that filters down from
above; these deposits, of course, varying according to
the nature of the organisms at the surface; thus, where
those protozoans known as Globigerina prevail, the
ooze at the bottom is composed of carbonate of lime;
where organisms which secrete silica abound, we find
the floor underneath consisting of radlolarlan or diatom
ooze. However, in the very deepest parts of the ocean
the calcareous organisms are removed by solution, and
In some places siliceous remains are partly removed.
In certain regions of the South Pacific Ocean far re-
moved from the continental land, naturalists have
brought up in their trawls hundreds of sharks' teeth
and numerous ear bones of whales, some of which
belong to species now extinct. Chondrites, too, which
are found only in meteorites, and, mixed with the clay,
magnetic spherules of metallic iron and nickel, and tons
of manganese nodules were among the hauls. This
abundance of teeth and bones and extraterrestrial ob-
jects in those remote depths is owing to the fact that
few other materials reach those regions to cover them
up, as In other deposits. From this may be gathered
some Idea of the slow rate at which the floor deposits
accumulate; probably not more than a foot since the

296 D'ivrllers of the Sea and Shore

time that the gigantic reptiles roamed the earth. Over
and above this, it appears from these indications that
of all portions of the earth's crust, the centers of the
great ocean basins have remained the most stable since
very ancient times.

It was once believed that as deep-sea explorations
became more extended, the unknown depths of the sea
would reveal some survivors of an earlier geological
period which would fill some of the gaps in the known
pedigree of the animal kingdom. But in only a few
instances does this expectation appear to have been
realized. The numbers of deep-sea species which have
been discovered are very great, yet, generally speaking,
they are not unlike the forms that inhabit the shallow
waters or else they have adapted themselves to their
changed conditions of life by special modifications of
their structure. In fact. It is not easy to point out any
fundamental feature wherein the deep-sea animals
differ from those of shallower waters; what differences
do exist are of degree rather than of kind. Therefore,
it is thought that because the animals of the deep sea
resemble those living in the shallow v/ater at the present
time, rather than those of a former age, the abyssal
creatures may have migrated to where they now are at
some era not long passed, comparatively speaking. Nor
has this migration ceased. There are indications that
the exodus from our shores, though gradual, is as
marked to-day as at any time in the past.

Yet, notwithstanding that the animals found in the
deep sea are as a whole not of a primitive type, certain
ancient crustaceans seem to have been harbored there
since times remote, or, what is more likely, they sought

hito the Depths 297

the refuge of those cold, unlighted haunts as the hist
resort from tlie too strenuous competition imposed by
the parvenues of the thickly populated shores. One
form Is a family of lobsterlike animals {Eryonid^e)
which have fossil representatives in some very old
rocks; another Is a group of crabs {Homolodromud<^) ^
which seem to be the most ancient of the existing
brachyurans. It Is also quite probable that certain
prawns {Penaida and A canthephyrid<£) found there
are of an older type than their shallow-water relatives.
Then, there are the Crinolds, or sea lilies. Their his-
tory, too, Is written in stone. They are often called
stone lilies on account of their close resemblance to the
lilies of the land. They are not plants, however, but
are related to the starfishes. The long-jointed cal-
careous stem Is supported In the ooze by rootlike
branches, and the top is capped with what has the
appearance of being an inverted starfish; literally, this
is a starfish sustained by a stem. Crinolds have existed
from early geologic times, and apparently were once
the only class of echlnoderms; traces of their evolution
into other forms can be followed to some extent
through successive geologic periods. Their fossil
forms are very abundant, showing that they once
thrived in enormous numbers. The fact of their pres-
ent existence is a modern discovery, for, although their
fossils had long been familiar, no one was aware that
there were living descendants until the deep sea was
dredged. But they are dying out, there now remaining,
perhaps, not more than twelve of the two hundred
genera which are known to have formerly Inhabited the
sea. One bed of Crinolds lies off the coast of Cuba ; but

298

Dzccllcrs of the Sea and Shore

a field of particularly fine, large specimens Is found In
the waters of the Pacific near Japan. The form rep-

THE STONE LILY; A FOSSIL CRINOID WHICH LIVED IN AN ANCIENT SEA.

resented by the genus Pcntacriniis remains perma-
nently fixed, but the ComatiiJa form separates from the
stem at a certain stage in its development, and swims

THE SEA lily; A LIVING CRINOID.
299

300 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

about by means of its arms. Tubular processes grow-
ing on its body at the point where it detached itself
enable it to fasten itself to other objects for support.
As a rule, the individual colors of the animals in-
habiting the depths are uniform in tone. Stripes and
patterns, such as mark the creatures of the shore, are
conspicuously lacking; in those Cimmerian solitudes
there is little need for colors that warn or hues that
hide. The echinoderms range from yellow through
orange and red to purple, while the crustaceans are

CERATIUS; A FISH WHICH INHABITS THE DEEP SEA.

mostly crimson or pink. Fishes are generally black,
and nearly all of them are phosphorescent. Many of
the animals are blind, as if they had long ago aban-
doned the effort to see; their organs of touch are often
highly developed; and they probably lead an inactive
life, burrowing in the soft ooze or clinging to sponges
and other low fixed forms.

Luminous fishes have, most of them, excessively
large eyes, seemingly adapted to catch the faintest ray
of light; and it is probable that these apparently more
active and predatory types are guided to their prey by

Into the Depths 301

Its own light, or seek It out by the aid of the light that
they emit themselves. The luminous spots or lanterns
of many fishes are developed in such a way that the
animals can use them to light their way in the dark
depths, and in some form.s these shining organs serve
as veritable searchlights. For instance, in one {/-Etho-
prora) the end of the snout is covered with a phos-
phorescent appendage that directs the light like the
headlight of a locomotive; another has a pair of great
flat eyes covering the whole top of the head, and the
eyes themselves are luminous. Of these predatory crea-
tures, many have enormous mouths and monstrous-
looking teeth, giving them not only a frightful, but a
fantastic appearance. And, indeed, some have been
known actually to swallow creatures larger than them-
selves. This seemingly impossible feat is owing to the
great distention that their soft tissues can effect.
Also, their vertebras lack specialization, and as a result
their bodies are elongate, showing more or less degen-
eration in those characters usually associated with sur-
face environments.

Although, as I have stated above, the color of deep-
sea crustaceans is usually crimson or pink, there is much
variation in the range of these shades. In truth, they
are very curious in this respect. The blanched appear-
ance that we might expect of creatures living in per-
petual darkness, such as is known to distinguish those
inhabiting caves, is relatively rare. More frequently,
their colors, though uniform, are- vivid, and, in some
cases, even approaching brilliant orange. In some
way not understood, the red color is associated
with the darkness. This has been shown by experiment.

302 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Green crabs, when kept In partial darkness, turned
brown; these, when kept in total darkness, turned red.
On this account it has been suggested that the colors of
crustaceans may be taken as an Index to the depths in
which they naturally belong. Thus, those of a pale hue
find life more enduring when farthest removed from
the sunlight; while the pink, red, crimson, and, finally,
purple, blue, green, anci heterogeneous forms are nor-
mal for each succeeding higher level. But this sup-
position cannot now^ be accepted without considerable
modification. And to speak of a bathymetrlcal (depth-
level) succession of colors in crustaceans would not be
quite true.

Deep-sea crustaceans which rest or move about on
the soft ooze of the bottom indicate by some very ob-
vious peculiarities of structure their manner of over-
coming the difficulties of that mode of life. The crabs
are mostly long-legged or spiderlike; and in a number
of instances the legs are fringed with long stiff hairs,
and others have spines on the body and legs, all of
which may prevent them from sinking in the yielding
ooze. The extremely long, slender legs of certain
praw^ns are undoubtedly used as stilts by their pos-
sessors when making their way over the floor.

Since the temperature is constant and uniform
throughout the world at certain depths, this renders it
possible for many crustaceans to live in the tropical
deep waters, which are identical with, or nearly related
to, the shallow-water species of the colder seas. Hence,
lobsters have been found in comparatively deep regions
of the Indian Ocean which were very closely allied to
a species known to occur along the shores of Norway.

Into the Depths 303

This to some extent explains why we find many sim-
ilarities In the species of marine animals inhabiting the
regions at the opposite poles of the earth. Certain
families, genera, and even species have been observed
In both the Arctic and Antarctic seas, yet they seemed

NEMATOCARCINUS; A DEEP-SEA CRUSTACEAN.

to be entirely absent In the Intervening tropical zones.
But when the latter depths were dredged, some of those
forms were found; the low temperature of the deeper
water offered them a connection between the North
and South.

In the deep sea Is found that very singular family of

304 Dzi'cllers of the Sea and Shore

hermit crabs, the PyJochelidce. I have elsewhere in this
work shown by internal evidence that the little hermit
crab, Pagurus, of our shores, at one stage of its evolu-
tion was the possessor of a lobsterlike hind body.
Well, here, in this deep-sea form, is one whose hind
body is segmented, perfectly symmetrical, and shows
no indication of ever having acquired the habit of liv-
ing in gasteropod shells. The truth is, these forms are
so primitive that it is somewhat difficult to find many
features by which to distinguish them from the true
lobsters themselves. No fossil representatives of the
hermit crab have yet been found; there can be scarcely
any doubt that the Pylochelida^ are closely connected
with the primitive stock from which other hermit crabs
evolved. After all, what seems most remarkable is, not
that the abyssal crustaceans — and all other deep-sea
animals, for that matter — are dissimilar to those of
shallow water, but that they differ so slightly. Cer-
tainly, it should seem from the physical conditions pre-
vailing in those great depths, the freezing cold, the inky
darkness, and the stupendous pressures, that their re-
actions would be strikingly different from those of crea-
tures inhabiting the shallow water; but, strangely, the
differences of function are in very numerous instances
accompanied merely by the most trivial differences in
structure.

From the fact that some of the free-swimming crus-
taceans of the deep sea have been found at, or near, the
surface, it has been supposed that they may do so for
the purpose of spawning, w^hich is not unlikely, con-
sidering the sensitiveness of young animals to cold ; but,
as shall later be pointed out, other urgent factors bring

Into the Depths 305

them toward the top. If, as it appears, those forms
remaining permanently on the bottom originally came
from near the shore, and the swimming forms de-
scended from ancestors who swam the surface reaches,
it may be that the young of the latter types still find in
the surface ancestral conditions favorable to their de-
velopment. Nor is the fact that they may come for this
purpose in any way remarkable. The toad returns to
the water to spawn; the land crab goes to the sea; and
the eel goes back into its ancient habitat, the salt water,
out of regard for the welfare of its young. It is note-
worthy that In many of the deep-sea crustaceans, the
eggs grow to an enormous size before they hatch.
From this, and from what we know of the development
of the crayfish and certain land forms, it would appear
that the young are born at quite an advanced stage,
ready to lead the same life as that of the adults. In
this connection occurs a curious thing. Blue and green
colors, although not uncommon among shore or surface
crustaceans, are almost never seen in the species inhab-
iting the deep water. Yet the eggs of a large number
of red deep-sea crustaceans are of a brilliant blue and
often green. It is thought from this, therefore, that
the blue pigment, common in the more familiar forms
living at the top, is not actually absent in the deep-water
representatives, but merely masked by the expansion
of the red cells under the influence of their dark
surroundings.

The feeding habits of deep-sea animals In general
have always been a matter of much speculation. They
are of necessity carnivorous ; but in the absence of vege-
tation, and all that it entails, it is clear that they could

3o6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

not continue mutually to subsist on one another In-
definitely. One source of food supply is in the rain of
dead organisms constantly descending to the bottom;
and in the material thus settling upon the floor, the
creatures burrowing in, or crawling over, the ooze no
doubt find suflficient for their needs, and they, in turn,
may serve as food for others. But there is not enough
derived from the source just mentioned to benefit the
whole of those myriads that swim the intermediate
depths; so they must obtain it elsewhere. As a matter
of fact, food is relatively scarce at the bottom of the
deep sea, and for that reason only small forms can live
there. Huge fishes and other gigantic creatures such
as are associated with the surface are unknown in the
depths, because there is virtually nothing there for them
to eat. It was only recently that the great feeding
ground, so to speak, c'^ the swimming forms in the deep
sea was discovered. It is near the surface. Strange
as it may seem, these creatures, though delicately built
to withstand pressure, are able easily to come to the
top, and they do so at night. When the sun goes down,
a great upward migration takes place; and during the
darkness of the night, within a hundred yards of the
surface, this hungry host can be found fighting and
feasting amidst the plenitude that populates the top.
With the breaking of the day, they return; for they are
afraid to face the sun; in the battle with the abyss, they
lost those weapons that would secure their safety in the
light.

Chapter XVIII
LIFE IN THE ANCIENT SEAS

What traveler has stood before the pyramids of
Egypt without having been thrilled by the thought of
their hoary age? One's first sight of these mighty
monuments is invariably accompanied by a feeling of
deep awe, by the tremendous consciousness of their
having endured since a time so remote in the affairs of
man that only the haziest history of their builders
remains. Nor is the significance of their antiquity lost
on those who have never seen them. Through printed
books, their forms have become familiar to all; and few
that read have failed to feel the majesty of their years.
Throughout those many centuries that witnessed the
ascent and decline and disintegration of one of the
greatest empires the world has ever known, that saw
the rise of rude and barbaric peoples to nations of the
highest culture, they have stood mysterious, seemingly
immutable, marking the passage of time.

And yet the years that have passed since those piles
were erected are but a breath In the bosom of geologic
time. Consider. If a small section of the stone from
which they are constructed Is put under a lens, it will
be found in many cases to consist almost entirely of
little shells. These shells are of considerable beauty,

307

308

Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

and are the products of very ancient animals called
nummulites. Nummulites were protozoans, and they
lived in the sea ; the shells they secreted were coinlike
in shape (hence the name). Internally these have a
spiral cavity divided by partitions into numerous cham-
bers. They seem to have no external opening, but the
chambers communicate with each other by small per-
forations. Now the nummulites became extinct a long
time ago; so long ago, in fact, that the earth has since

NUMMULITES.

been populated with other creatures, many of whom In
their turn have died out too. So it will be seen that
ages before the pyramids were built, perhaps before
there was dry land where they now stand, these minute
creatures were at work making the material out of
which those structures were finally formed.

It is by the fossils we find In the rocks, of course, that
we know what lived in the ancient seas. We also have
means of knowing what rocks are oldest; therefore, we
are guided by the creatures they contain in forming an

Life in the Ancient Seas 309

Idea of what types successively dominated the waters
of our globe. It should be borne in mind, however,
that all reliable evidence we have of ancient animal life
is in the nature of skeletons or other hard parts which
have been retained more or less intact or have left their
imprint in the rocks. Undoubtedly, there have existed
numerous forms whose bodies were so soft throughout
that they left no trace whatever. And doubtless, too,
many hard creatures lived whose parts have not been
preserved or which have not yet been found. Indeed,
when we come to study the land surfaces and the sea
floors of the present time, it becomes quite obvious that
there are so few favorable conditions for the preser-
vation of the remains of either terrestrial or marine
life that if former geological conditions were the same,
which is not unlikely, the occurrence of fossiliferous
remains may be looked upon as the result of fortunate
accidents.

In a preceding chapter it is mentioned that the trilo-
bites are among the oldest known fossils. But it is
quite certain that before they fairly had a good start
the cephalopods appeared upon the scene to dispute
their sovereignty. Among these, the nautilus and the
ammonite seem to hold a prominent place. Our pres-
ent living nautilus is the sole survivor of what in those
early times was a very numerous race. More than
2,500 species once swam the Silurian seas, a time in the
history of our continent when the waters of the Pacific
covered the western half of New York State. The
oldest forms have straight shells; but in the course of
time coiled shells became conspicuous; later, the race
declined, and then they are found sometimes uncoiled

3IO Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

or in baroque contorted shapes. Some were of gigantic
size, one species probably weighing several tons, and
lengths of five or more feet were not uncommon. Of
the ammonites more than 5,000 species are known, but
all disappeared from the ocean during the Cretaceous
period; that is to say, while the chalk cliffs of England
were still beneath the sea. The nautilus race declined
more slowly, until to-day we find less than a half dozen
species making their last stand in the depths of the
tropical Pacific. Contrary to popular belief, they do
not swim at the surface, but live near the bottom at a
depth of about 1,000 feet — seldom are they found in
water of less than 100 feet. To the inexpert eye the
shells of ammonites and nautili might easily be mis-
taken for one another, but there is a difference in the
partitions that separate the chambers, and the shells of
ammonites are usually more ornamented exteriorly
with ridges and projections.

Just about the time the stage was set for the moUusks
to appear, however, another creature called the brachi-
opod, had also established itself. And here, by the
way, is something curious. The brachiopod, although
not a moUusk, looks, superficially at least, strangely like
one. Considering the popular conception of mollusks,
I might go further and say that the brachiopod looks
more like a moUusk than do many of those animals
themselves. There are a few living representatives of
this ancient animal, and they are very much like the
ancestral type in appearance, being little changed in
that long stretch of time since they left their dead shells
just off the shores of the Cambrian seas. They live
below the low-water mark, usually in depths of 100 feet

Life in the Ancient Seas 311

or more, but their heart-shaped shells, generally known
as "parchment shells," are often cast up by the waves.
They are like the shells of bivalve mollusks, but with
this notable difference : the valves in a clam or mussel,
for instance, will be found on examination to be not
exactly alike in shape ; in the brachiopod both valves are
similar. There is no need here to go into the internal
differences; suffice it to say that in the brachiopod these
are so great as to make It more nearly allied to the
worms than to the mollusks. When it flourished In Its
pristine vigor, its numbers became enormous; and It is
one of the commonest forms among the oldest fossil-
bearing rocks. To-day it Is nearly extinct. It would be
interesting to know why this comparatively weak and
inactive creature has survived throughout that stagger-
ing lapse of time, while the sturdy trilobite, whose ap-
pearance seems to be contemporaneous, died out these
many millions of years ago. But this, like many other
secrets of the sea, is too profound even for speculation.
Now, if, as we are led to believe, the evolution of the
lower forms preceded in point of time that of the
higher forms, we should expect to find evidence of this
in the rocks. Well, that is precisely what we do find.
It is not until we reach the rocks merging Into those
which were formed In the period just preceding the
creation of the coal beds that we come across the first
fish. But this fish is far from looking like any that
exists to-day. In general shape it resembles that of a
tadpole rather than that of any modern fish. Its
comparatively great head Is depressed, projects out
on the sides, and is attached to a slender body the
length of which Is not more than twice that of the

312 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

head. Its complete outer covering Is granular, resem-
bling the rough, rasping hide of the shark. It was,
in fact, taken for a form of that animal when first
found. The deception was made the more easy on
account of its sharklike tail. But when this creature
was living, the time of the shark was not yet. In
tracing this animal through the next succeeding series
of rocks, we find it becomes more fishlike and the
rough skin has for the most part given way to tough,
horny, and in some cases bony, plates; in short, our
creature becomes a mailed fish. Then we find that it
becomes very numerous, many families can be recog-
nized, and in some of them the armor has become quite
highly specialized. Large overlapping plates invest
the head and trunk, and the flexible hind body and tail
are covered with hard scales. One dorsal fin was the
rule among these armor-bearing fishes, but appended
to the sides in the place of the pectoral fins of present-
day forms was a pair of ponderous flippers, not unlike
those of a sea turtle. Yet all this accouterment did not
prevent their extinction, if indeed they may be said to
have been exterminated by the attacks of enemies, for
they disappeared entirely when the sharks began to
dominate the waters of the sea.

The coal age unquestionably saw a remarkable in-
crease in the numbers and in the variations of the forms
of animals. This is as true of those that lived on the
land as well as those that inhabited the sea. Many old
types were dying out, but they were succeeded by others
better fitted to cope with the changing conditions of the
globe. In point of numbers of individuals, however,
the crinoids, corals, brachiopods, and shell-secreting

Life in the Ancient Seas 313

protozoans far outranked alT other forms; and in the
various localities in which they thrived, each of these
groups built up huge masses of limestone. Here, for
the first time in the history of our earth's crust, we find
the shell-secreting protozoans (Foraminifera) taking
a conspicuous place among marine animals. Dense sub-
marine groves of crinoids flourished then as probably
they never did before, and their remains to-day are
consolidated into deep beds of rock. Sponges grew in
the greatest profusion. The brachiopods reached a

PTERICHTHYS; AN ANCIENT FISH.

great size and their shells became exceedingly thick.
Hardly less in importance were the mollusks, the uni-
valve and bivalve types in particular growing increas-
ingly abundant. Crustaceans of the higher types now
began to assume some prominence, but they were for
the greater part represented by the shrimps and
prawns. Throughout this period until almost to the
very close the sharks were in undisputed possession of
their realm.

And then It was that those monstrous reptilian crea-
tures from the land Invaded the sea. Like the whales,
their structure was modified to suit their aquatic life.

314 Dzvi'llcrs of the Sea and Shore

But what forbidding shapes they had! In one remark-
able genus, the ichthyosaurians, the body was shaped
like that of a fish, the four limbs were developed into
paddles, and the tail was long and lizardlike but termi-
nated by a fleshy fin, as in the dolphin, save that it was
vertical. The large head was drawn out into a long
pointed snout, resembling that of the crocodile, and the
jaws were equipped with a series of powerful, conical
teeth set close together. The long and slender jaws
were strengthened to resist any sudden shock by being
composed of numerous thin, bony plates. These plates
also made the jaws light and flexible as well as giving
them great strength. A feature no less striking was the
pair of great eyes contained in the head. In some
species these organs were more than a foot in diameter;
and they were further remarkable from the fact that
they seem to have been fitted to accommodate them-
selves for vision in air or water as well as for changing
their focal distance while the creature was in the pursuit
of its prey. The apparatus, which could thus adjust the
sight to the needs of the moment, was in principle not
unlike that of a diaphragm in front of a camera lens.
It consisted of a circle of about twenty overlapping
plates surrounding the pupil, and as it was probably
capable of closing completely, it must have been of
service also in protecting the eyeball during diving.
With eyes like these, the ichthyosaurus obviously was
at a considerable advantage not only in discovering its
prey at great or little distances, but in the obscurity of
night and the depths of the sea. The masses of broken
bones and scales of contemporary fishes that have been
found under the ribs of these creatures make it plain

L/'/t' /';/ the Ancient Seas 315

that they lived almost entirely on those animals. That
they were very dangerous enemies of the other larger
forms which inhabited the seas with them is evident
from their structure; the powerful tail especially must
have made them active in their movements, and this
together with their predacious habits would tend to
make them unusually formidable. The largest known
ichthyosaurian had a head measuring about six and one
half feet long; when found, the greater part of the
body of this animal was missing, but it is probable that
the head represents a total length of more than thirty-
three feet.

In the same family as the foregoing creatures, and
living about the same time, was another genus of sea-
dwelling reptiles which left a considerable number of
well-preserved remains in the various deposits through-
out the world. These were the plesiosaurians. None
of them seem to have attained to the length of the
ichthyosaurians; but it is certain that they were quite
as voracious, if not so formidable. They lived on
fishes, cuttlefishes, and other animal prey. The fossil-
ized stomach contents of some of the later types show
that they swallowed stones for digestive purposes, just
as do the crocodiles of the present day. These strange
creatures are considered by some naturalists to be the
most singular in structure and in character the most
anomalous of any that have been discovered amidst the
ruins of former ages. Attached to a slender neck of
enormous length was a small head, the jaws of which
were filled with sharp gaviallike teeth. The snout was
short, but the mouth was capable of gaping very wide.
Its tall was somewhat short and apparently not used to

3i6 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

propel the animal; swimming was accomplished by the
aid of its four large paddles wliich grew out from the
trunk, and were covered witli integument, forming
simple undivided Hippers, as in the turtle. Although
nothing is known of its general habits, speculation has
not been wanting; and it has been presumed that it
swam on or near the surface, occasionally snapping up
any prey which happened to come within the compass
of its long snakelike neck; or that it may have lurked
in the shallow water along the shore, concealed among
the seaweeds, raising its nostrils to the surface from
time to time for breath. Both the ichthyosaurus and
the plesiosaurus and all their brethren that took to the
sea had perished from the earth before the British
Isles were raised from their oceanic crib.

From the time of the first trilobites, the Cambrian
age, to the era that was marked by the formation of
those isles, that is, the age of chalk, the lapse is so over-
whelmingly vast that there is absolutely no comparative
measure by which it can properly be appreciated. The
mind fails utterly in any attempt to conceive in their
relative light the stupendous number of years that it
must have taken to bring about what appear to be some
of the most transient conditions in the history of the
earth. Some day man may be able to determine quite
accurately, in round numbers at least, the age of organic
life on this globe; but, when all is said, the figures will
be meaningless to the imagination. In truth, there is
not anything within the province of language that can
adequately convey a conception of that awful span
which bridges the dawn of life with the chalk period.

And how tremendously removed from the present

Life in the Ancient Seas 317

must he even that period! We think the pyramids
are old. But ohserve; the stones with which they are
built are obviously ages and ages older. 71iey are com-
posed of shells that had fallen to the bottom of an
ancient sea; the compacted masses hardened and were
lifted above the surface forming part of a great con-
tinent. Yet as old as must have been the nummulites
which formed that stone, there is strong evidence that
when the saurians swam the seas, this species of proto-
zoan was not yet in existence.

Chapter XIX
OUR SALT-WATER WORLD

Every schoolboy knows, as Macaulay would say,
that the ocean Is one continuous sheet of water covering
more than three fifths of the whole surface of the earth.
And although no part of it is separated from the rest,
the intervening land areas mark it off in five great
divisions known as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic,
and Antarctic oceans. But of the general characters
and conditions of the sea, none of us is too highly
aware. So our final inquiry will be directed not so much
toward the geographical aspects of that great realm
whose inhabitants have occupied the major portion of
this work, but rather toward some of the physical and
closely related aspects of the element in which they live.

Oceanography, or the science of the sea, is a com-
Daratively recent development. When scientific inves-
tigation of the sea began we were obliged to get most
of our information from conditions prevailing near the
shore or from mariners whose reports of conditions far
from land were generally colored with marvelous or
frightful accounts. But WMth the later rapid increase
in the study of the exact sciences came the development
and invention of accurate instruments; and with the aid
of these, observations are now easy and common. Even

318

Our Salt-JFater JForld 319

the ship's logs of to-day have special headings under
which are listed the various phenomena as they occur
on the surface. But undoubtedly the greatest advances
in oceanography were occasioned by the researches of
those expeditions made in vessels especially equipped
for the purposes of exploration and Investigation. Ob-
viously, these are costly affairs and are not often under-
taken; but limited as have been these enterprises, their
achievements have been remarkable. Various govern-
ments and private individuals have by means of these
expeditions done much to further our knowledge of the
open sea; however, the most noteworthy expedition
may be said to be that of the Challenger^ which was
really the scientific pioneer of the seas. This vessel,
under the English flag, made a voyage starting In
December 7, 1872, and lasting until May 24, 1876. In
this period of three and one half years she several times
crossed and recrossed various seas; having covered in
the entire length of the cruise nearly 69,000 nautical
miles. From the time of this epoch-marking event
dates the beginning of oceanography as a science of
precision.

Not only is the area of the sea larger than that of the
land, but Its volume Is also greater. If the entire ex-
posed portion of the earth were dumped Into the ocean,
It would not take up more than one fourth of the space
occupied by the water; in short. It would be covered by
an ocean 8,700 feet In depth. The mean elevation of
the land above the sea level owtv the whole world is
less than half a mile; this is to say that If all the moun-
tains and high portions of land could be made to fill
the low parts the leveled earth would rise above the sea

320 Dzcellers of the Sea and Shore

almost exactly 2,300 feet. The sea, on the other hand,
has a mean depth of more than two miles. Nine tenths
of it is more than a mile deep, and two thirds of its
depth is more than two miles.

The ocean basin, on the whole, is very smooth and
stretches out in great level plains. All the greatest
depths seem to occur in trenches, rather than in gradu-
ally sloping valleys. Most of them are narrow, but are
quite long, and their steeper side is supposed to be the
result of a fracture in the crust of the earth. This is
indicated by the fact that deeps are more often asso-
ciated with regions of frequent submarine earthquakes.
But the great deeps, those of excessive depths, are not
nearly so extensive as is commonly imagined; the total
area where the depth is more than three miles is prob-
ably not more than one one hundred and forty-fifth of
that of the sea floor. Life has been found in all of
them, but at those depths any object is under a pressure
of five tons to the square inch.

It is in the Atlantic Ocean that the newer and trust-
worthy methods of sounding have chiefly been em-
ployed, and the contours of its floor may now be con-
sidered as fairly well known. The greatest depth is in
the Virgin Islands Deep, which w^as measured by the
Challenger, and it lacks 510 feet of being four and a
half miles deep. But over the greater part of the
Atlantic basin, the depth ranges between two and one-
half and three and one-half miles. Along the middle,
in a north-and-south direction, runs a great irregular
ridge on which the depth is less than two miles, and a
plateau of about the same depth extends almost con-
tinuously from Newfoundland to the British Isles. It

Our Salt-Jf\itcr JJ'orld 321

was the discovery of this phitcau that laciHtated the
laying of the telegraph cables, and it is known in the
charts as Telegraph Plateau. As this elevated plain
approaches the British Isles, the water becomes com-
paratively shallow; nowhere in that vicinity is the depth
more than 400 feet.

From the numerous islands that dot the Pacific
Ocean, one would be inclined to believe the waters in
their region to be somewhat shallow; but this is far
from w^hat is actually the case. The fact is that the
islands rise abruptly from very great depths, and some
of them are close to the deepest soundings that have
yet been made. In another chapter I have mentioned
the Philippine Deep as the deepest part of the ocean,
but there is another deep spot almost in the same region
which was famed for years as the greatest depression
in the earth's crust; this is the Tuscarora Deep, off the
coast of Japan, with a depth of slightly more than five
and one-fifth miles.

So far as soundings have been able to determine, the
Indian Ocean contains no such deeps as have either the
Atlantic or Pacific, but there are vast expanses of its
floor forming an almost level plain at a depth of three
or more miles. The deepest known region is the Sunda
Trench, south of Java, where a sounding of nearly four
and one-third miles w^as made.

Of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans, the latter is con-
ceded to be the deeper, although comparatively little
is known about either of them. North of Siberia, the
bed of the Arctic has a remarkably gentle slope, the
water in that region being less than 100 feet in depth
at a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from the

322 Dzvellers of the Sea and Shore

shore. From this It is generally concluded to be by
far the shallowest of all oceans.

The deep transparent blue of the ocean has been
celebrated in the literature of every age. In just what
way the sea assumes its remarkable color does not seem
to be well understood. That the depth of the water is
in some manner associated with this phenomenon
would appear from the fact that the purest blues are
mostly far from land, whereas, it is well known, the
shallows of the tropics are always green. On the other
hand, it may be pointed out that the Rhone, at its
emergence from Lake Geneva, and indeed the lake It-
self, exhibits an Intensity of blue which surpasses that
of any sea. Then, there is also no doubt but that a
distinct relationship exists between the color of the
water and Its purity, or transparency. Water that con-
tains fewer small floating organisms is more blue than
Is otherwise the case. An Increase In the turbidity Is
generally accompanied by an increasing cast of green.
The transparency of sea water has often been measured
in different parts of the globe, and It was found that
great differences exist between various regions. In the
Sargasso Sea a white disk six feet in diameter could be
observed 216 feet below the surface; the same disk in
the equatorial currents and the cold currents of the
north was visible only in about half that depth. The
purest oceanic blues are found In the warm regions of
the Pacific and the Indian oceans and In the Sargasso
Sea of the Atlantic. The optical property of sea water
is of considerable biological importance, as it affects
the penetration of sunlight and Its consequent Influence
on the growth of vegetation. Every plant, of course.

Our Salt-JVater World 323

needs light to reduce the carbonic acid required for its
existence. Some require more, and others may want
less; without it, however, no vegetation can live. The
actual depth to which light penetrates obviously would
vary in different localities, but generally speaking it may
be said that at depths of 600 feet no light can be re-
ceived from the sun, and even at depths considerably
less the amount that filters through is so feeble as to
have little or no Influence on life.

Every year approximately 475,000,000 tons of salts
and other chemicals dissolved from the land are carried
into the ocean by the rivers of North America alone.
There exists at present in solution in the sea, 4,800,000
cubic miles of salts; this quantity is more than enough
to cover the surface of the United States one and one-
half miles deep. Of the eighty odd known elements,
thirty-two have been proved to exist in sea water; and
It Is quite probable that as the analytical methods of
chemistry become more refined, the presence of nearly
all the rest will be revealed. Seaweeds and corals
contain many of the metals, but gold and silver have
actually been found in solution. It has been estimated
that nearly one fifth of a grain of silver Is contained
In a ton of sea water; there is, then, dissolved in the
sea nearly fifty thousand times as much of this precious
metal as has been mined throughout the world since
the discovery of America. But this is Insignificant
as compared with the quantity of gold it is presumed
to contain. Gold is estimated to be five times as plen-
tiful as silver in the sea. Needless to say, man has
constantly and unsuccessfully attempted to extract the
gold from the water.

324 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Of all the elements, sodium chloride, or common salt,
exists in the largest amount; this heing present in the
proportion of 27.2 13 per 1,000 parts of water. Other
salts exist also, though in minor quantities ; still they are
sufficiently voluminous to Impart a distinctly bitter
taste; and they, together with the sodium chloride,
make the water unsuitable for drinking or domestic
purposes.

The specific gravity of sea water Is correlated with
Its salinity, or saltiness. This Is merely to say that salt
water is more buoyant than is fresh water; objects will
not sink so readily In the sea as they will In fresh
water. But the comparatively greater buoyancy of the
sea Is not so marked as Is generally believed. It Is so
slight, in fact, as to be ordinarily Imperceptible; assur-
edly, the difference Is not great enough to be detected
by the bather, as has been frequently maintained. The
specific gravity of pure fresh water at a temperature of
39.2° Fahr. Is i, the standard unit to which the spe-
cific gravities of all liquids and solids are referred.
The specific gravity of the sea, out of reach of such
exceptional Influences as those of the melting snow,
rain, or river water. Is 1.02655 at a temperature of
62° Fahr. Slight variations In the saltness of the
ocean occur In different localities, and these necessarily
produce corresponding changes In Its specific gravity.
On the north and south limits of the torrid zone the
mean specific gravity appears to be less than that of the
equatorial calm belt; and it shows a tendency to dimin-
ish as the latitude Increases.

Where the sea Is not affected by currents from
warmer or colder regions. Its temperature corresponds

Our Salt'JVater World 325

with that of the normal temperature of the latitude.
However, this is true only of the surface water. It has
been shown that the temperature diminishes very rap-
idly with the depth, in tropical and temperate latitudes
particularly, till at great depths the ice-cold tempera-
ture of 35° Fahr. everywhere prevails. At the equator,
where the surface temperature is about 80°, the de-
crease with the depth is so rapid that at 360 feet from
the top the temperature is less than 61°; at 190 feet
it falls to 50°; at 4,200 feet it again falls to 40°; and
at a little more than one and three-fourth miles it is
36°. Below this depth it falls at a much slower rate,
till in some regions it approaches very close to freezing
temperature, which, for sea water, is about 28.6°. In
the equatorial belt the solar heat affects the water of
the upper four hundred feet; but it is a remarkable
fact that immediately beneath this sun-heated stratum
the water in the North Atlantic as far as the fortieth
latitude is warmer than that at the same depth at the
equator.

In a peculiar sense the ocean has its rivers and
lakes as well as the land, its mighty cu'^rents and
areas of distinct specialization. The rivers cross
and recross, they diverge and come together, and in
many cases they do so without mingling their waters
to any great extent. The lakes, or little s'^as, are
no less distinctive in their characteristics. They are
not distinguished by the character of their currents
or margins, however, but by the floating vegetation
they contain.

The nearest of these tracts to our shores is the Sar-
gasso Sea in the Atlantic, between Bermuda and the

326 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

Virgin Isles. It consists largely of great drifting fields
of the fucoid seaweed Sargassum, commonly called tiie
gulfweed. It is the same plant which composes similar
"seas" in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Although its
quantities are enormous, and although it has never been
found otherwise than while floating, there is reason to
think that this seaweed grows originally on the bottom
of comparatively shallow parts of the sea. Its presence
in the north Atlantic is regarded by voyagers as a cer-
tain indication of the Gulf Stream, by which it is car-
ried northward and eastward.

Of all the great oceanic rivers, the Gulf Stream is the
most important and the most widely known. Starting
in the Gulf of Mexico, from which it derives its name,
it flows between the coast of Florida on one side, and
Cuba and the Bahamas on the other, and passes north-
east along the American coast until it reaches the
island and Banks of Newfoundland, when it veers
across the Atlantic and divides into two divergent parts,
one of which swings east toward the Azores and the
coast of Morocco, while the other washes the shores
of the British Isles and Norway, and continues in its
onward course past the southern coasts of Iceland and
Spitzbergen, finally losing itself in the Barents Sea
and the Arctic Ocean. As it leaves the Florida Straits,
which is its narrowest portion, it is fifty miles wide;
here with a velocity of three and one-third miles an
hour it sweeps along majestically like an immense tor-
rent. As it proceeds its speed diminishes and its cur-
rent gradually grows wider. By the time it has passed
the Newfoundland Banks its width has expanded for
hundreds of miles.

Our Salt'JVater JVorld 327

The waters of the Gulf Stream are of a deep sap-
phire blue, and they show a sharp contrast to the light
green of the seas through which they pass in their early
course. As this mighty river leaves the Gulf of Mexico,
it has a temperature of 84° in summer, which is four
degrees higher than obtains in the ocean at the equator.
Even in mid-Atlantic, off Nova Scotia, its temperature
at no season falls more than 15°; while the northwest-
ern coasts of Europe are laved by its warm waters,
waters which were heated more than 1,400 miles away
under a tropical sun. As a result their winter tempera-
tures are raised about 30° above the normal tempera-
tures of the latitudes. To its beneficent and genial
warmth, England ow^es its humid climate, and Ireland
its perennial green. Scotland, graced with verdure
throughout eleven months of the year, is in the same
latitude as is the bleak and frozen coast of Labrador.
And even Lisbon, though in the mild region of the
Mediterranean, is not unaffected by the flow of its
southward course. Here, too, a parallel may be drawn.
In the same latitude Washington is subject to blizzards,
and the Potomac sometimes freezes in a single night;
Lisbon scarcely knows a frost.

For the cause or causes of the Gulf Stream, we must
turn to the trade winds. These winds prevail along
the equatorial belt, and blow steadily all year from east
to west. Their strength and impetuosity may vary, but
they are always in evidence. They encircle the globe,
and are the primary cause of every other great oceanic
current. Westward in the Atlantic Ocean, their con-
tinuous action sets up a flow of water just north of the
equator; and this water, encouraged by these winds,

328 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

starts slowly toward the northeast coast of South
America where it is deflected into the Caribbean Sea,
flowing thence between Yucatan and Cuba into the Gulf
of Mexico. The Gulf acts as a great reservoir, and
the waters thus wafted into it raise its surface several
feet above the level of the Atlantic. As there are but
two straits connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the out-
side ocean — the Yucatan channel through which the
trades are continuously forcing more water, and the
passage between Florida and Cuba — the Gulf is obliged
perforce to discharge its pent-up waters through the
opening that offers the least resistance. Therefore, it
pours out its mighty volume through the narrow pass-
age in the east, where they round the Florida keys and
turn to the north. Until the Gulf Stream passes Cape
Hatteras, North Carolina, it clings to our coast rather
closely; beyond that point it stretches out into the cold
waters of the north. As a result the seaboard below
the cape is not exposed to any cold currents, and the
temperature of the adjacent region is modified from the
heat of the Gulf Stream. The shores to the north of
the cape, on the contrary, are exposed to a great cur-
rent from the Polar Seas, which runs inside and counter
to the Gulf Stream, and comes freighted with ice from
the northern latitudes. In midwinter, off the inclement
coasts of our continent, between Cape Hatteras and
'Newfoundland, ships beaten back from their harbors
by fierce northwesters, buffeted and loaded down with
ice and in danger of foundering, turn their prows to the
east, and find relief and comfort on the bosom of the
Gulf Stream.

Althougli the Pacific Ocean has its great equatorial

Our Salt-JVater World 329

or trade-wind current, It has no great basin like the
Gulf of Mexico to store the waters of another Gulf
Stream; no other ocean but the Atlantic contains a
current of such energy and volume. And no other cur-
rent affects so large a part of the surface of the earth.
At first sight It seems Incredible that a current of water
should force Itself through the ocean with distinct
boundaries and with a different color, temperature, and
even Inhabitants (for the creatures which live In its
tropical warmth seldom stray into the colder seas),
like a mighty river between Its banks, flowing for thou-
sands of miles against counter-currents which some-
times actually cross its course, passing under by their
greater density, until It loses Its momentum on the
shores of far-off continents or spreads out In the dis-
tant north to temper the frigid seas. But all this, as
closer observation will soon convince us, Is in accord-
ance with the physical laws of fluids. It Is well know^n
that great Inland streams, such as, for Instance, the
clear waters of the Mississippi and the turbid currents
of the Missouri, do not unite at once at their conflu-
ence, but continue side by side for many miles before
they mingle. And all great rivers running Into the
ocean are rivers still, far out at sea. The Rio de la
Plata, which drains the southern part of South America,
continues to flow after It leaves the land, and can be
perceived in Its course two hundred miles from the
shore. The Amazon runs far Into the Atlantic, though
it is there gradually bent to the north by the trade-
wind currents, and helps, with the waters of the Ori-
noco, to swell the Gulf of Mexico. From this It will
be seen that the Mississippi, the Rio Grande, the Ori-

330 Dwellers of the Sea and Shore

noco, and the Amazon all contribute to the waters of
the Gulf Stream.

Such, in brief, is the nature and capacity of the Gulf
Stream — preeminently the most potent factor for the
progress of civilized man. Without its influence, the
greater part of cultured Europe would be a cold and
cheerless waste, uninhabited save by such rude races as
the Eskimos and Lapps. Over a large part of our own
salubrious land would descend long and dreary winters,
and desolation would prevail throughout what are at
present the fairest and loveliest portions of the earth.

INDEX

A

Acanthephyridoe, 297
/Ethoprora, 301
Aglaophemia strut/iioides, 177
Ammonite, 309
Amphineura, 46
Antenmdaria antennina, i-jj
Aphrodite, 27, 216
Archilenthus, 199
Arctic whale, 260
Asterias, 50
Asteroidea, 50
Aurelia fla-vidula, 78

B

Balcena biscayensis, 262
B. japonica, 262
B. mysicetus, 261
Baloenidoe, 260
Baloenopteridoe, 260
Barnacles, 9
Basking shark, 273
Biscayan whale, 262
Black whale, 262
Bladder wrack, 131
Blood worm, 214
Blue crab, eggs of, 108
Blue shark, 270
Blue whale, 259, 262, 263
Boring sponge, 166
Bottle-nosed porpoise, 267
Brachiopod, 310
Brittle star, 51
Brown anemone, 113

Cachalot, 264
Callithamnion, 134

Campanularians, 172, 174

Cancer irroratus, 72

Caprella, 9

Carc/iarias glaiiciis, 271

C. rondeletii, 269

C. 'vulgaris, 270

Carrion beetles, 146

Cephalopods, 46, 199

Chalinopsilla arl^nscula, 166

C. oculata, 165

Ceramium, 134

Cetacea, 258, 259

Cicindela dorsalis, 149

Cladophora, 120

Clava leptostyla, 97

Cliona sulphur ea, 166

Clytea poterium, 174

Coelenterata, 83

Comatula, 298

Comb jelly, 74

Comb worm, 212

Comet jelly, 75

Coral, 285

Coral Una officinalis, 133

Corallines, 132

Crinoids, 52, 297

Ctenophora, 74

Cuttle fish, 198, 206

Cyanea arctica, 79

C. fulva, 76

Cypridena hilgendorfii, 281

D

Devil fish, 198, 199
Diatom, 295
Dolphin, 259, 264

331

332

Index

E

Echinoidea, 50
Eel grass, 138
Enchytraeids, 146
Enteromorpha, 120. 125
Erax rufiharbus, 148
Eristalis, 148
Eryonidoe, 297

Feather star, 52
Fiddler crab, 138, 240
Flat fish, 18
Flat worms, 209
Flesh flies, 146
Flounder, 18
Fucus, 127

Fundulus ma'jalis, 196
Fungia, 285

Gasteropoda, 46
Glass prawn, 193
Globigerina, 295
Gorgonia, 289
Grampus, 265
Grantia ciliata, iS-j
Greenland shark, 272
Greenland whale, 260
Griffithsia, 133
Gulf Stream, 326

H

Hermit crab, 72, 87
Homolodromiidoe, 297
Humped-back whale, 260, 263
Hydractinia, 180
Hydroids, 171
Hydrozoa, 171
Hypnea, 133

Ichthyosaurus, 259, 314
Idotea metallica, 150

K

Kelp, 130

Killer whale, 265

Lacmargiis horealis, 272
Laminaria, 121, 130
Libinia dubia, 191
L. emarginata, 191
Limulus, 217, 225
Littorinidoe, 46
Lyngbya majuscula, 125

M

Man-eater shark, 272
Mason worm, 212
Meckelia ingens, 209
Mermaid's hair, 125
Metridiiim marginatum, 113
Microiiona prolijera, 166
Mneminpsis leidyi, 74
Mollusca, 46

Mnnodon monoceros, 266
Moon snail, 32
Mud snail, 95
Mummichog, 196
Mussel, 29, 35
Mystacoceti, 259

N
Narwhal, 266
Nassa, 95
Nautilus, 201, 309
Necrophorus, 146
Nereis, 27, 216
Noctiluca, 278
Nummulites, 308

O

Obelta commissuralis, 175
Octopus, 198, 202
Odontoceti, 259, 264
Ofua gladiator, 265
Orchestia, 24, 146
Organ-pipe coral, 292
Oscillaria, 125
Osmerus arcticus, 264

Index

333

P(i(jurus lont/i( (ir/>iis, S7
PaLfmorictes vulyaris, 193
Pelecypods, 43, 46
Penoedoe, 297
Pentacrinus, 298
Periwinkles, 46
Philippine Deep, 294, 321
Phyllophora, 133
Physalia arethusa, 182
Pliyseter macrocep/ialiis, 264
Plesiosaurus, 315
Pleurohrachis r/iododactyla, 75
Plumularians, 172, 176
Polycirrus cximius, 214
Polynoe, 88
Polysiphonia, 133
Porpoise, 266

Portuguese man-of-war, 182
Pseudopleiironectes am eric anus,

187
Pteropods, 261
Ptilota, 133
Pylochelidoe, 304

R

Radiolarians, 284, 295
Rainbow jelly, 74
Razor clam, 44
Ribbon worm, 209
Right whale, 260
Robber fly, 148
Rorqual, 259, 262, 263

Sand crab, 72
Sarcophagus, 146
Sargasso Sea, 325
Sargassum, 120, 326
Scale worm, 88
Scaphopoda, 46
Sea cucumber, 52
Sea lily, 52
Sea pen, 290
Sea unicorn, 266
Selaclie maxima, 273
Serpula, 212

Sertularia artjetiiia, 172
S. cuprrsMfia, 172
iS", piimilla, 172
Sharks, 268
Shipworm, 55
Sow bug, 150, 223
Spartina, 138
Sperm whale, 199, 264
Spider crab, 71
Spirulina, 125
Squid, 86, 195, 198, 199
Staphylinids, 146, 147
Stone lily, 297
Sunda Trench, 321

Tabanus costalis, 147

Talitrus, 146

Telegraph Plateau, 321

Teredo, 55

Thamnocnidia spectabilis, 178

Tides, 17

Tiger beetle, 149

Toothed whales, 264

Trade winds, 327

Trilobite, 223

Tubularians, 172, 178

Tursiops truncatus, 267

Tuscarora Deep, 321

U

Uca minax, 240
Uca pugilator, 138
Ulva, 120, 125, 137
Urn sponge, 167

Virgin Islands Deep, 320

W

Whalebone whales, 259
White anemone, 27
White shark, 270

Z

Zostera, 138