AND]
U8RARY
Of
SAN WCGO
TOPSFIELD
TOWN
LIBRARY
1875
THE WALKS ABROAD
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS
FROM THE FRENCH OF
^
CHARLES BEAUGRAND
DAVID SHARP, M.B., F.L.S., F.Z.S.
-Tour MMTKTY: AXI. MKMI'.KK or TIII: KNTOMOUIGIOAI,
ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWEI.L & CO.
13 ASTOU PLACE
PREFACE.
THOUGH the majority of mankind are firmly convinced
that " The proper study of mankind is man," yet they
are also generally disposed to admit that some devia-
tion from the various beaten tracks of existence is
advantageous. Not very long ago one of the most
accomplished of our medical men, Sir James Paget, in
opening a session of the Working Men's College,
delivered an address on " Eecreation." In eloquent
words he declared this to be an absolute necessity for
our system, and he laid stress on the great value, in
this capacity, of hunting fishing, shooting, and even
of games of chance.
There is probably no change more recreative to the
mind and body, fatigued by long continuance of daily
routine, than natural history. In its pursuit, physical
exertion in the fresh air vies with change of mental
pabulum, and the wonderful variety of inexhaustible
nature brings to the mind a feeling compounded
of astonishment and satisfaction that is highly
recreative.
iv PREFACE
Unfortunately, few can undertake the pursuit of
natural history without some kind of assistance. A
certain amount of book-knowledge is found to be
indispensable, and yet, to the mind not accustomed to
them, preliminary definitions and statements about
unfamiliar objects are apt to prove so dry as to
smother the nascent interest instead of stimulating
and encouraging it.
The author of this book has endeavoured to meet
this difficulty and to give a certain amount of intro-
ductory information in an attractive manner. Calling
to his aid the interest we always feel in human
character, he has attempted, by intertwining this
with a certain amount of more or less authentic
information on natural history subjects, to produce
a book that shall foster an interest in zoology.
Without pretending that his dramatis personce are
equal to those of Shakespeare, or that his scientific
attainments are on a par with those of Owen and
Huxley, we think it will be admitted that he has
succeeded, at any rate "indifferently well," in his
task ; and his book, which it appears has had a con-
siderable success in France, has therefore been
thought worthy of an introduction to the English
leading public by means of a translation.
The "science" in the book is but slight, but it is
hoped that it will be found sufficiently interesting to
induce the reader to look for himself or herself at
PREFACE,
some of the objects alluded to, to test by observation
the truth of some of the statements, and to seek in
other less elementary works additional and more
precise information.
The classifications mentioned in the book are chiefly
those of Cuvier, and though now somewhat old are
still valuable, for the work of this renowned, savant,
though necessarily incomplete, was rarely erroneous.
The translator has occasionally introduced information
of a more recent date, and he has also ventured to alter
a few passages that, in the original, appeared to him,
for one reason or another, to be defective. For so
doing he hopes he may receive pardon from the
author and approval from the ever-gentle reader.
D. S.
CONTENTS.
The reader is introduced to several persons whom he •will frequently
meet with in this narrative — Doctor Bob and his son — Mutual
anxieties — Leon and Rene ; dissimilar but affectionate — The arri-
val— Black — The cottage— The new comer promises to completely
belie certain unpleasant anticipations
IL
Disenchantment — What one can do at Villers when there is nothing
better — A new and peculiar definition of zoology — The labora-
tory—Chestnuts without chestnut-trees — A new arrangement in
teeth— An individual with 3,840 feet— How to fish for the launce or
sand-eel — A sea-worm and its mode of breathing — Animal plants —
A very badly educated creature — The way one should adopt to grow
— The four branches of the animal kingdom .....
III.
The beginning of conversion — The star-fish — A curious invasion — A way
of eating and a way of running, by no means proper — Absorption,
and afterwards — Numerous posterity — Animals that double them-
selves by division — What may be seen on a shell — An aquarium in
miniature— Fail yland in a glass of water — What may be found in
oyster-water — Uncle Bob himself asks to see — Excursion in a new
world — A fantastic waltz — By what means the infinitely small
manage to play an infinitely large part — A good thing from Michelet
— The conversion becomes decided . ... 27
viii CONTENTS.
IV.
PAOB
A new character— How a man sometimes looks like a Mister — Father
Lucas— His start in life— He had been several times round the
world, without thinking much of it — Eeturn to the native land —
What Father Lucas calls his shepherd's round — Why Leon enter-
tained so high an opinion of the old fisherman — Unexpected news
— Uncle Bob does not say all he thinks 40
V.
A Taried harvest— The sea-mouse— A microscopic array— Tricks of the
chase and of war — Crustaceans and Kabyles — Changing armour —
The danger of disarmament— Science disconcerted — Sacculina and
its wonderful transformations — Ophiura — Holothuria — Chinese
cookery — A suicide — The hermit-crab — An unedifying biography
— An invitation .... 43
VI.
Start «or the fishing-The surprise of Black-A chameleon of the
,ters-Two lines from Deroulede— The cuttle-fish's gift of tears—
A strange locomotive apparatus— Black dyed afresh- An ink used
riting by the ancients -- How Cuvier wrote and drew the
figures of his "Memoir on Cephalopoda"— The cuttle-fish bone—
Jawfication of the Mollusca-The spoils of the net ; sea-scorpion,
•frog— Stomach fishing— Twice eaten— A singularly placed
carpenter's tool— Progressive wryneck— A demented one— Sad
accident— Ken6 wounded. .
vn.
Symptoms that may arise from th, wound of the weever-fish-The
-
*~™l I \* breakfast> ^cording to Muller-More
'-Why hshes that live near the surface in the water
™
61
78
CONTENTS. IX
vin.
PAOK
An uninviting form of cookery — Light talking and good working— A
constant sign — Curious anatomical point — An eye consisting of
many thousand eyes— A magnificent preparation — Three stomachs
to a single individual — The classification of insects — Queer names
again — Aptera — A flea's jump — Unexpected maternal instinct — The
reputation of the flea restored — Diptera— Number of strokes of a
gnat's wing in a second— The hot-flies and Helophili — Trans-
formations of a gnat — Hemiptera — Lepidoptera — Butterflies have
feathers — Depredators — Xeuroptera — Devastating hosts — White
ants — Coleoptera — Our friends and enemies 110
IX.
Congratulations are the order of the day — Ineffectual strategy —
Some respectable insects — Ants and their flocks — Dairy-farms of
blight — Men, women, and workers — To be an ant is no sinecure
— Destruction of a home — An eastern legend — Tamerlane— In
what way a mere ant may sometimes decide the fate of an
empire — How Mr. Leon increased his collection on this occasion . 127
X.
More Hymenoptera — Republic and monarchy — Bees — Expulsion of
the swarm — A swarm in a letter-box— Preparatory measures —
House-cleaning and repairs —Propolis — Wax, honey— Saint Bartho-
lomew's day in a hive — Egg-laying, larvae — Regal food — A mortal
duel— Orthoptera— Cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, &c. — Ear-
wigs—Undeserved censure — Extraordinary increase of locusts and
Blattae — A supposed omission — Out of the ranks of insects— The
Epeira diadema — How tlie spider spins his web — The trap-door
spider, navvy, mason, and upholsterer— Argyroneta— A tent under
water — The struggle for existence 138
XI.
A sailor's marriage at Villers— Titles of nobility— A strange vessel —
Good folk— An acceptable gift— The Albatross . . . .157
XII.
A letter — Logical inferences — Pietro Franceschini — The Odysseus of a
gendarme — An account of the acquaintance of Franceschini and
Uncle Bob — The two barometers — A false prophet . . . . 163
CONTENTS.
XIII.
PACK
The Road to Touques on a fair-day— Reptiles— An example to be
imitated by tbe market-gardeners of France— Doubtful forms— A
reptile with a strong anatomical resemblance to a bird— Birds
provided with teeth— Uses of reptiles— Barometer No. 2 seems
likely to be right 17°
XIV.
A village inn at Touques in the year of grace, 1884 — At the fair — The
g-r-r-r-rand menagerie— A trade truly requiring a natural calling-
Two anecdotes of tamers
XV.
Return to the cottage— Two or three words about mammalia— The
stomach of a chewer of the cud — A well-applied mythological
name— Terror of Dame Theresa— Disgusting ! but a benefactor-
Uncle Bob releases a criminal condemned to death . . . .192
XVI.
Continuance of bad weather— Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes — A book
of wonders— Rotifers — Artificial death and revival — Tardigrades,
Kolpodes, Monads, and Vorticella — How to obtain a desired
infusorian — Mineral, vegetable, or animal P — Diatomaceae — To
wh»t the colour of some seas is due — Foraminifera — Polypes,
Hydra — Experiments of du Tremblay — How a single animal may
be made into several, and several into one — A naturalist never
211
XVII.
With Franceschini— Another barometer—" Good-day, Major ! "—A
mysterious voice —Uncle Bob begins to fancy the keeper's house
must be haunted— Jacob— A fable of La Fontaine realised— The
Norman character m«kes itself evident even in birds— Rene's
classification— Honest men and brigands — Day thieves and noc-
turnal prowlers — The waders and web-feet — Climbers — Gallina-
ceous birds- Passerine birds— Jacob sadly out of place- Frances-
chiiii insists on a new classification 222
CONTENTS. xi
XVIII.
Three great categories of birds— Injurious birds — Birds of mixed quali-
ties— Useful birds— Certain birds not to bu proscribed at first
glance — Some conclusive facts— Frederick the Great and his cher-
ries—Curious observation made in Paris — Those that eat insects —
Some figures — An unjust and odious persecution — The worst enemy
of rats, field-mice, and other rodents — Birds as protectors of sailors
—An English law— Cormorant-fishing in China— A possible cure
for the Phylloxera— A proposal from Franceschini
XIX.
In the wood — Interment of a field-mouse— The population of an oak-
tree— Gall-fly — The origin of gall-nuts —Parasites of parasites— The
surprise prepared by the keeper — A park for insects — New treasures
for the collection of Leon — Arrest of an assassin — Ocypus olens — A
little-known way of butterfly hunting — Wedded couples should be
well-matched — Saint Francis of Sales might have become an excel-
lent entomologist — The grebe — A difficult problem solved by a bird
— The return — A conj ugal drama 253
XX.
On board the cutter Albatross — At sea — Medusae — Ren6 is again a
"martyr of science" — Physalia — An old tale by Father Lucas — A
sailor's fancy that cost its author dear — Phosphorescence of the
sea— How the Medusae grow— Alternation of generations— Arrival
at Etretat 275
XXI.
Villers and Etretat — The cliffs of Normandy— The power of a drop of
water — How shingle beaches are formed — A ''water-cat" — Way
of getting rid of an octopus — Every nook occupied — The popula-
tion of a rock — A new fauna— The various zones of the tidal region 283
xii CONTENTS.
XXII.
PAOB
The retnrn from Etretat— Inventory — A serious culprit — The worst foe
of the Dutchman— A selfish rascal — The sponges of the Channel —
Homeric combat between a negro and a sponge — Clams — A China-
man in a shell — Signs of had weather— A recollection of tome
martyrs of duty— Old mariner and true sailors .... 291
XXIII.
Epilogue 300
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.
"AN ANIMAL! THIS LITTLE BALL OF SPINES AN ANIMAL? " . . 14
SAND-EEL (Ammodytes tobianus, Cuv.) 17
LUG OR LOH-WORM (Arenicola piscatorum) 18
"THE SPINES OF THE SEA-URCHIN HAD FALLEN OFF*' ... 21
SPIDER CRAB (Maia squinado, Lat.); PRAWN (Pal&mon serratus, Penn.);
SHRIMP (Crangon vulgarly Fab.); HEKMIT-CRAB (Pagurus bernar-
*<*, L.) 23
STAR-FISH (Asterias) 29
RADIATES (Serpula, Ophiura, Ehizostomn, Star-fish, Sea-urchin) . . 31
ZOOPHYTES (Stony Coral, Sertularia, Cellularia) 33
BRYOZOA (Mois-animak) 34
SKRPULA 36
ANIMAL^ULJE IN WATER 37
' ' QUITE A WORLD OF POLYPBS ON THEIR CARAPACE " . . . .50
DROMIA (Dromia vulyaris, Edw.) 51
SEA- CUCUMBER (Holothuria) 55
"A HYPOCRITICAL OLD FELLOW ". . 59
GASTEROPOD MOLLUSCA (Murex, Haliotii) 68
ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSC. RAZOR-FISH (Solen ensis) .... 69
FISHING-FROG (Lophius piseatorius, Lin.) 70
THE PRAWN (Palawan serratus) 72
COMMON CUTTLE-FISH (Sepia officinalis, Lin.) 73
COMMON SHRIMP (Crangon vulgaris) 75
WEEVER-FISH (Trachinus draco, Lin.) 76
GURNARD (Trigla, Cuv.) 77
HEAD OF THE WEEVER 80
SECTION THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE SPINE 80
SECTION OF SPINE AT THE BASE 80
COMMON STURGEON (Acipenser sturio, Lin.) ...... 81
SEA-LAMPREY (Petromyzon marinas, Lin.) 83
SHARP-NOSED RAY (Raja oxyrhynchus, Lin.) 84
SWORD-FISH (Xipfiias gladius, Lin.) . ...... 85
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THB TUNNY (Scomber thytinua, Lin.)
TUB RUFFE (Perca cernua, Cuv.) • • - .87
COMMON CARP (Oyprinus carpio, Lin.) 88
SOLM (Pleuronectes solea, Lin.) 88
SBA-HOKSES (Hippocampus ffut/atus, Cuv.) 89
PIPK-FISH (Syngnathus aquoreus, Lin.) 89
TUHBOT (riwonectes maximus, Burbo.) 91
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THB Talisman. SPONGE (Holtenia] . 92
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS or THB Talisman. SPONGE (Askonema) . 93
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OP THE Talisman. Eustomias obacuitts, DIS-
COVERED AT A DEPTH OP 8,800 FEET 94
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OP THE Talisman. (Macrurus australis] . 95
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OP THE Talisman. (Macrurus globtceps],
FISHED FROM A DEPTH BETWEEN 4,500 AND 10,000 FEET . . 96
SUBMARINE EXPLOBATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Euripharynx pekcan-
oidet). COAST OF MOROCCO, AT A DEPTH OP 8,000 FEET . . 97
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Melanocetus johmoni).
BETWEEN THK AZORES AND EUROPE. DEPTH, 16,000 FEET . . 98
FOUR FACETS FROM THE EYE OF A COCKCHAFER .... 105
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF A CARNIVOROUS INSECT (Carabus) . . . 106
HEAD-LOUSE, MUCH MAGNIFIED 107
THE FLEA : NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT, AND LARVA . . . 109
TWO-WINGED FLY (Musca) 112
RAT-TAILED WORMS (LARVJB OF Helophilw,). AND THE SAME INSECT IN
TUB PERFECT STATE 113
METAMORPHOSES OF A GNAT • . 114
UNDBK SURFACE OP THE PHYLLOXERA OF THE VINE. WINGED FORM.
MAGNIFIED ABOUT SIXTY TIMES . \\§
PEACOCK BUTTERPLY H«
SCALES FKOM BUTTERFLIES' WINGS, GREATLY MAGNIFH.D . . .119
DRAGON-FLY (Libellula) .121
MAY-FLY (Ephemera) : NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT 120
WHITE ANTS (Termites') : DIFFERENT FORMS 122
COLKOPTBRA: THB BROAD DYTISCUS (Dytiscus latisvmus), THE GREAT
HYDROPHILUS (Hydrophiltu piceus) .... . 123
EGYPTIAN SACRED BEETLE (Searaixfut) .124
TTJHNIP-FLY : NATURAL SIZE AND MUCH MAGNIFIED .... 1-25
CORK-WEEVIL, MUCH MAGNIFIED .126
WIRE-WORM : LARVA AND PERFECT INSECT .... .126
DERMBSTKS LARDARIUB ' 126
ANT-LION nc ITS PIT: THE BORN ENEMY op ANTS . . 130
RBD Axr (Formica rufa, Latr.) ' 131
AKTS AND APHIDES * ,„„
WASPS' NBST, WITH PART OF THE EXTERNAL COVERING REMOVED TO
BHOW THE CELLS .
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv
PAGB
SWARM OF BEES 139
FRAGMENT OF COMB. WITH BEES AT WORK ON IT .... 141
DRONE, OR MALE OF THE HONEY BEE 142
COMMON EARWIG 143
FIELD-CRICKET (Gryltus campefris) 144
A MIGRATION OF LOCUSTS. BENEATH AB.E IMMATURE LOCUSTS . . 147
BLATT.E (COCKROACHES), COMMONLY CALLED BLACK-BEETLES . . 148
TRAP-DOOR SPIDER ( Cteniza fod iens) AND ITS NEST . . . .151
ARGYRONETA AND ITS AQUATIC BALLOON 152
WATER-SPIDER 153
COBWEBS AND SPIDERS 154
A CHEAP BAROMETER 167
TORTOISE 173
FROGS' EGGS AND TADPOLES PARTIALLY DEVELOPED . . . . 175
MEXICAN AXOLOTL (Siredon mnculatus} ....... 177
CAPILLARY NETWORK OF THE FROG'S FOOT 179
AFRICAN- LION 185
POLAR BEAR 189
QUADRUMANA: CAPUCHIN MONKEY . . . . . , .193
CHIROPTERA: LONG-EARED BATS 195
CARNIVORA: PANTHER OB, LEOPARD . 196
RODENTIA: SQUIRUEL 196
MARSUPIALIA: TASMANIAN KANGAROO (Macropus lennettJ) . . . 197
SKULL op A RODENT 199
TEETH OF AN INSECTIVOROUS ANIMAL 199
INSECTIVORA: SHREW-MICE 199
INSECTIVORA: HEDGEHOG 200
STOMACH OF RUMINANT 200
RUMINANTIA: ONE ASD TWO-HUMPED CAMELS 201
BKAVERS AND THEIR DWELLINGS 203
PACHYDERMATA : ELEPHANT 204
EDENTATA: TATOU, OR ARMADILLO 205
CETACEA : GREENLAND, OR RIGHT WHALE 205
MoNOTREMATA : SPINY ECHIDNA . ....... 206
EDENTATA : THE GREAT ANT-EATER 207
OuNITHORHYNCHUS ANATINUS. AUSTRALIA 209
THE TOAD. " SCARCELY VENOMOUS EVEN WHEN TOUCHED " . . 210
ROTIFER VULGARIS 213
KOLPODA CUCULLUS 214
BELL VORTICELLA (V. convalaria) 214
GROUP OF MONADS (Monas crepusculum) 215
Enchelys pupa 215
VEGETABLE INFUSORIAN ( Volvox globator) 215
DIATOM, GREATLY MAGNIFIED ..... . 216
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAOK
FORAMINIKBRS ORBATLT MAOMFIED
FRESH-WATBR HYDRA ... 219
WADERS: WHITE STORK (Ciconia alba, Briss.), HERON (Ardea einerea,
Latr.), RARE HERON (Ardea lineata, Latr.), RED FLAMINGO (Phceni-
eopterut ruber, Lin.) ......... 227
" THESE HOOKHD BEAKS AND RAPACIOUS FIGURES " ... 230
WOODCOCK (Scolopax ntsticola, Lin.) 231
GALUNJB : REEVE'S PHEASANT, UURASSOW, SILVER PHEASANT, PEACOCK,
GOLDEN PHEASANT . . 233
WADING BIRD : AVOCET (Eeeurvirostra avoeetta, Lin.) .... 235
A DESTROYER DESTROYED 239
COAST BIRDS 242
STORK 243
PALMIPEDES : COMMON CORMORANT, PELICAN 245
LONG-BARED OWL (Asia otus, Lin.) 247
A TIT FAMILY 249
NECROPHORI 256
HEMIPTERON (Pentatoma ornatula) 257
THR PROCBSSIONARY MOTH AND ITS LARV.S, THE LATTER ATTACKED
BY A BEBTLE, Calosoma sycophanta, AND ITS LARVA . . . 259
CYKIPS AND GALL-NUTS, OH OAK-APPLES 262
STAO-BKETLK (Litcanus cervtu) : LARVA, PUPA, AND MALE AND FEMALE
OF THE PERFECT INSFCT 263
CARNIVOROUS BEETLES . . . . . . . . • . . 267
TIGER-BEETLES 270
COCKTAIL- BBBTLB (Ocypus olens) 271
CICADA 273
JELLY-FISH (Rhizottomn axruka) 280
OCTOPUS OR POULPB (Octopus vulgar**} 285
LIMPET ( Patella vulgata, Lamarck) 287
S«A-8NAiL (Purpura lapillus, Lamarck) 288
SUBMARINE FORMS OF LIFE FROM THE TROPICAL SEAS . . .293
PIECE or WOOD PERFORATED BY SHIP-WOKMS . . 296
.THE WALKS ABROAD
OF
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
-o-
I.
The reader is introduced to several persons whom he will frequently meet
with in this narrative — Doctor Bob and his son— Mutual anxieties — Leon
and Rene ; dissimilar but affectionate — The arrival — Black — Thecottage —
The newcomer promises to completely belie certain unpleasant anticipa-
tions.
" Is the train from Trouville signalled ? "
" Not yet, Doctor, but the Paris express has reached
Trouville, and in a quarter of an hour, or twenty
minutes at most, your travellers will be here."
" That will give me time to look at the cuttings
you have just made, and perhaps I shall be able to
find in them some interesting fossils neglected by the
navvies ; supposing, sir, that you have no objection,"
said a young man who accompanied the doctor, and
judging from the resemblance between them, evidently
his son.
This conversation took place on the 18th of August.
B
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
1884, at six o'clock in the evening, close to the
station, then in course of construction, of Villers-sur-
Mer.
The station-master, smiling, made a bow of acquies-
cence, and returned to the duties of his office. The
young man was on the point of availing himself of the
permission he had obtained, but looking at his father
he stopped at once. The doctor appeared to be suffer-
ing from some scarcely concealed anxiety, and under-
standing immediately the unspoken question conveyed
by the eyes of his son, decided he would no longer
restrain himself.
"You can scarcely understand, dear L6on, how
impatient I am to see if what I have heard about your
cousin Rene be not exaggerated. The attacks of
intermittent fever have caused him to cease his
studies abruptly some weeks before the holidays, and
his unusual delay this year in coming to our sea-
side abode causes me a good deal of anxiety about
him."
And as Leon was about to reply he continued : " I
know what you are going to say to me, and it is true
that I examined him before I came away and found
nothing seriously wrong. But then, unfortunately, a
doctor's prognosis is by no means infallible, and in the
weeks that have passed since then he may have got
worse. However, in ten minutes we shall know what
to think," he added, as if desirous of concluding and
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
at the same time played with his walking-stick
amongst the gravel where they were pacing.
Doctor Boberral, shortened to Uncle Bob by his
family, and to "the Doctor" by the people of Yillers,
although there were at least eight doctors in the
neighbourhood, is a fine specimen of an old gentleman :
pale, with long white hair, scrupulously shaven chin,
and a kindly but somewhat bantering expression.
His very restless grey eyes sometimes gleamed with
remarkable force through his bushy eyebrows, as if to
interpret the soul of his patient and penetrate to the
very seat of his malady, and sometimes by a sudden
change melted into an expression of extreme sweetness.
With a toilet always unexceptionable, he wears a hat
with wide border, the usual white cravat wound
three times round the neck before being tied, and in
his button-hole the rosette of the Legion of Honour.
In fact he is the best and most benevolent man I
know.
His visit to Villers for a short time every year,
was looked upon in the neighbourhood as a real
blessing.
Having been left a widower while still young, the
doctor had devoted himself more entirely than ever to
the cultivation of science and to the education of his son,
and had by these means been able gradually to assuage
his grief, though not to quite forget it. Considered
one of the first practitioners in Paris, he now carried
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
on only a small practice so that he might be able to
leave to his sou a few select patients, whose number
the latter might himself increase when sufficiently
experienced to succeed him. At the same time Dr.
Boberral did not stint his devotion when it was
required. It is a matter of history that during the
dreadful period of the siege of Paris in 1870, he
arranged an ambulance for the wounded and also
maintained a separate hospital for cases of fever. This
charitable inclination had cost him much, but it had
also procured for him the well-deserved distinction of
the red ribbon, and contributed more than a little to
the renown and confidence with which this really
learned man was regarded.
Leon, who had withdrawn a few steps, in reality less
to look for fossils than to compose his countenance,
could not help sharing to some extent the fears
expressed by the good doctor. He too had conceived
a very great love for his cousin, perhaps because of
the law of contrasts, for it would be difficult to imagine
a greater difference than that which existed between
these two young people. Leon was dark, thick-set,
proud of his tender moustache. An unwearied worker,
he had inherited the scientific tastes of his father, and
was devoting to the study of natural history the few
hours of repose that he could obtain from the serious
studies required during the last year of preparation for
liis
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Bene, whom we shall soon see, fair and tall, and
excessively slender, apparently only maintaining his
upright position by some sort of permanent gymnastic
feat, — Parisian to the soul, playing the sceptic, and
careless by nature, was never so pleased as when
"masters" and professors would allow him to work
or dream in his own fashion, according to the caprice
of the moment. He was quite unattracted by the
study of either the exact or the natural sciences.
According to a favourite expression of his own, he
could not understand how any one could seek con-
verse with plants, animals, or stones ; and he pre-
ferred the boulevard to the country, a scene at the
theatre to a beautiful view, and could disconcert
with a single word his dear cousin, Leon, who
had often tried in vain to convert him to his own
ideas.
In the midst of the reflections of our two friends
there was heard the long metallic note sounded by the
horn of the distant signalman, repeated nearer and
nearer like a reversed echo. Leon, the doctor, and
others who had scattered themselves while waiting
for the train, now gathered together with eagerness.
Soon a prolonged rumbling was heard, a cloud of
smoke appeared in the cutting, spreading its broad
grey flakes over the blue sky, the whistle sounded
twice, and the train was in the station.
" Here I am at last," cried a gay voice, and at the
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
same time two arms embraced the doctor. "This
confounded train was delayed — an accident on the line
near Lisieux — three-quarters of an hour's waiting in
the middle of the fields. Are you really quite well,
Uncle Bob ?— by the bye, I have brought Black with
me. And you, Leon, how are you ? Are you always
collecting and dissecting?"
It is unnecessary to say that this human hurricane,
incessantly talking and gesticulating, was none other
than our friend Rene, who was thus making up for
his time of compulsory quiet and prolonged dumb-
An old-fashioned omnibus with high wheels, and on
its yellow and dusty exterior bearing, like so many
others of its sort, as if it were the maker's name, this
inscription: " Correspondance du chemin de fer,"
was waiting. Three places were reserved in this
ancient vehicle; but the new comer having declared
that he was " tired of being seated," the conductor, a
colossus with rubicund visage, wearing, in spite of the
season, a thick otter-skin cap, placed with a single
effort the luggage under its cover, and the three
friends quitted the station preceded by Black, a superb
spaniel, who profited by his newly regained liberty to
inspect as they went along the stock-grounds at the
barriers, to run after and yelp at the fowls in the
back yards, and to roll himself in the grass with
thorough enjoyment.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
The road from the railway station at Tillers has
fine trees on each side and forms a magnificent avenue
extending as far as the commencement of the village.
All three sauntered leisurely along it under the in-
fluence of that indefinable feeling of satisfaction that
one experiences in the country on a fine evening,
speaking of the absent friends in Paris that Rene had
quitted only that morning. As they went by, the
peasants leaning against their door-posts respectfully
greeted them by lifting their hats. When they came
to the houses Black went ahead like a dog who knows
his whereabouts, and a few minutes afterwards they
followed him into the cottage on the sea- shore.
"At last!" was the greeting of the old housekeeper
Theresa, who knew from long experience, that a dinner
kept warm is never enjoyed. The table had long
been spread, and showed an inviting display of bril-
liant crystal, and plates with blue flowers, while
conspicuous in its centre was a capacious soup- dish of
most appetizing appearance.
uNow," said the doctor, addressing his nephew,
" take off your bag, and to table, young men, if you
please." Rene wanted little pressing, and drew one
after the other from his game-bag, a book, three
papers, and (mothers are the same all the world over)
the remains of a cake, which must have been of
very respectable proportions when he started; and
although it had greatly diminished this did not
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
prevent the young Parisian saying as he unfolded his
serviette —
" I don't know whether it is the country air, but I
feel already most immensely hungry."
"Ah ! ah!" thought the old savant, as he rubbed
his hands together, ** he certainly is not so ill as I
feared he might be."
II.
Disenchantment — What one can do at Villers when there is nothing better—
A new and peculiar definition of zoology — The laboratory — Chestnuts
without chestnut-trees — A new arrangement in teeth — An individual
with 3,840 feet — How to fish for the launce or sand-eel — A sea-worm
and its mode of breathing — Animal-plants— A very badly educated
creature — The way one should adopt to grow — The four branches of the
animal kingdom.
THE following morning before Rene awoke the sun
had long since cast its beams through the curtains of
his apartment, but he soon arose with the contented
air of one who has slept well, opened his window, and
took a look at the sea.
There was already a considerable stir near the house
and on the beach. An old sailor had fastened a net
to some nails on a wall, and was mending its torn
meshes with great strokes of a shuttle. Beyond was
the immense expanse of blue water, infringed on near
its edge by the fishers for shrimps, who went back-
wards and forwards in the water up to the middle of
their bodies. Some fishing-boats, locally called "plates,"
were returning with difficulty, and with much assist-
ance by oars and sails, to the port of Trouville. In
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
the far-off distance Cape Heve was seen, looming
vaguely as if half-effaced by a purple mist. The
young man from Paris, half-dressed, gazed on the
scene and breathed freely the air impregnated with
the saline odours wafted by the morning breeze.
After a few minutes of speechless admiration, " Upon
my word," said he, "I could almost believe one
breathes more freely here than in Eichelieu Street."
After a quarter of an hour he went downstairs
to the breakfast-room. His uncle and Leon were
there before him.
Naturally the question under discussion was, what
is the best thing to do for the day ?
" Suppose we make out our programme at once ? "
said Rene to his cousin. u First there is the casino,
entertainments and farces, players from Paris. By
the way, is the orchestra as alarming as it was last
year?"
" The casino, or rather the wooden shanty you saw
last year, is gone : it was demolished by a hurricane
during winter. They are building another, which is
intended to be superb, and will be opened in three
years."
Rene's face grew serious.
" I hope our companions and the friends we knew
last summer remain ? Colonel D , the unwearied
maker of pigeon- shooting matches and of rally-papers ;
Count T , the patron of polo and lawn-tennis; our
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
friends L , with the ' three charming young
daughters,' as we used to hear repeated regularly
every Saturday by an ' echo of the shore.' "
"No, all gone," replied Leon. "The three charm-
ing young daughters are passing the season at Biarritz;
Count T is detained in Paris by a domestic
calamity and will not appear this year ; and as for
Colonel D , we shall not see him again : he has
been promoted and is gone to Tunis."
The Parisian's face became more and more serious.
"But your Tillers is really a country of Hurons
and Apaches, then ! " But immediately aware of his
rudeness he added : " Never mind that ; we two
are together- — all three together," he said, looking
at his uncle. " We shall be sure to find something
to do. Come now, make a proposal, you the elder.
Mr. Le*on," added he with comic gravity, " I call on
you ! "
"Well, to tell the truth, I don't see much, unless
we occupy ourselves with natural history, zoology."
On hearing this word the other started as if he had
received an electric shock.
" Is that all .you can think of? " cried he. " Zoo-
logy, natural history — that is you all over ; and you
think that is amusement ! tardigrades, plantigrades,
digitigrades, and other grades that I have forgotten.
Now see, and I will give you once for all a definition
of your science : Zoology is just like botany, which a
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
great writer, I forget who " (and as L6on could not
help smiling), "yes, a great writer" (measuring his
syllables with emphasis), "has denned botany as the
' art of calling plants names in Greek ! ' "
u Come, come ! " said Leon, now laughing openly.
" This is a regular philippic, a denouncement, an
impeachment of us by the public prosecutor."
Rene was not disconcerted, on the contrary, he
continued more confidently —
"I will allow you as much as this: suppose we
were living in one of those far-off countries where
extraordinary plants and wonderful animals are met
with wherever one goes, then I would be your faith-
ful companion, your Friday ; but here we are only
four hours from Paris — four hours, when the train
is not delayed at Lisieux, be it understood. I
really do not see what sort of studies you can even
pretend to make here : I suppose you do not intend
to demonstrate that at Villers there may be seen
oxen, horses, dogs and cats, as specimens of domesti-
cated animals, and as ferce naturce, partridges, hares,
and rabbits, until the shooting season commences,
of course. You may add that the natives wear ear-
rings and cotton hats, and I believe then your work
is exhausted."
" And suppose I prove to you exactly the opposite,"
said L6on. " Suppose I show you that at only four
hours' distance from Paris, yes, even at Paris itself,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 13
there are things of much interest in natural history to
see and to study ? "
And as Kene made a gesture of thorough incredu-
lity he added, " Meanwhile we will take a turn on the
shore. I take possession of you by authority, and we
shall see who is right, who wrong. Allow me a
couple of minutes to go to my laboratory and get my
botanical box and some bottles."
"I go under compulsion," said Eend, in a tone
worthy of a martyr on the way to the stake.
Leon's workshop, to which he gave the imposing
name of laboratory, was a small square apartment,
whitewashed and facing the garden ; on some tables
various kinds of chemical and physiological apparatus,
retorts, bottles, glass tubes of various sizes and dimen-
sions glittered gaily in the rays of the sun. Farther
on there were books, a series of carefully-labelled
phials, specimens of the minerals and fossils of the
district, and hanging on the wall here and there,
boxes and bags, with quite an array of fishing-lines
and butterfly -nets. In the middle of the room stood a
large working-table with a microscope covered by its
shade. A variety of nets were drying in front of the
door, and Leon took possession of the first that
was handy.
" We shall not see much to-day ; the tide has been
coming in for an hour already. However, we shall
have been, shall have made a beginning."
i4 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
Two minutes brought them to the sands.
" Stop a minute, what is this ? " Rene* called all at
once, as he was stooping down to pick up from the
sand a little ball of the size of a sweet chestnut, and
covered, like that fruit, with green spines. " So
chestnuts grow in the sand at Villers ! "
ANIMAL ! TIIIS LITTLE BALL OF SPINES AN ANIMAL i
" Yes, chestnuts, but not chestnut-trees," said
Leon. " And in fact you are not the first who has
noticed the resemblance ; almost everywhere this
curious animal is called a sea-chestnut, though natu-
ralists call it a sea-urchin."
"An animal! that an animal ! a little ball covered
with spines y Perhaps it, is a fish. It might possibly
TWO FOUNG NATURALISTS.
be so on the first of April, but this is not the time of
year for such jokes. Moreover, if it be an animal,
show me its mouth."
"Here it is," said Le'on, pointing out in the middle
of the flattened part of the urchin, a cavity closed by
five little pointed bones interlocked in one another.
" The jolly creature has good teeth, as you may see.
It has indeed in this an advantage over ourselves, for
its teeth, like those of the rodents, never wear out; or
rather, they grow up from the root just in proportion
as they wear away at the top."
" And so they have no need for dentists. Wonder-
ful ! And yet their lot does not appear to me an
enviable one. To begin with, they cannot do much in
the way of making excursions, as they have neither
fins, nor legs, nor feet."
" Completely wrong again ! Sea-urchins do have
legs and feet, not quite after the same fashion as our-
selves, certainly, for they have several hundred, dis-
tributed over all the surface of the body. On a
moderate-sized urchin 3,840 feet have been counted
by a patient naturalist, or rather, to use the scientific
term 3,840 ambulacral feet." *
"Not more than that! But I sincerely pity the
creature, for if I may judge from myself, who possess
only a single pair, it must be impossible for it to
remain quiet a single minute anywhere."
* The sea-urchins possess, moreover, " ambulacral brains.''
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" Their arrangement permits the urchin to progress
in any direction. If it were still alive you would be
able to see a multitude of contractile tubes terminated
by a sucker. At the base of each tube there is a
sac acting as a reservoir of water. If our urchin
wishes to march, this sac contracts, the ambulacral
foot is distended with water, something like the
fingers of a glove if you blow into it ; the sucker
at the end is fixed on to the ground, the other
ambulacral feet repeat the operation, and the urchin
is out for a walk.
" I must not forget to add that this creature, so
fragile in appearance, is nevertheless able, on rocky
coasts where the surf is very violent, to pierce the
hardest stones, and to excavate a lodging for itself
even in granite."
Kene' had, without thinking, put the urchin in his
pocket and was no longer listening.
His attention for the last minute or two was directed
to two fishers. One of them, armed with a fork hav-
ing slender teeth, was walking backwards tracing a
deep furrow in the sand, while the second, attentive,
followed him step by step, then suddenly stooped
down, and, capturing something, put it in a box.
" What a singular occupation ! What can they be
doing ? " said Bene*.
Then drawing a little nearer he saw that the box
was filled with small fish of elongated form, like eels.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Directly one of these eels was brought to the surface,
it again buried itself in the sand with incredible
rapidity.
" These are sand-eels," said Leon. " Their muzzle
acts as a spade and digs for them retreats in the sand
SAXD-EEL (Ammodytcs tobianus, Cuv.).
where they are perfectly safe, supposing no fishermen
come to dislodge them."
"And is it edible?"
" Yes, you gourmand, it is edible when you can get
enough of it. The fishers, however, prefer to use it as
a bait for their lines."
"And that old man yonder, making holes in the
sand with a spade, surely he cannot get very much all
alone ? Ah, what a nasty worm ! Perhaps that too
is for fishing."
A score or so of worms were wriggling in the old
c
,8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
man's receptacle. It was singular to notice that each
one had a constriction near the middle of the body,
and the second part was not so thick by one -half as
the first part was. In fact, it looked like two worms,
a large one and a small one, fastened together end to
end.
" And what in your scientific jargon may be the
name of this monster ? " asked Eene.
" Arenicola piscatorum"
"A fine name, certainly — euphonious, and easily
understood: arenicola, an inhabitant of the sand; pisca-
LUQ OE LOB-WOKM (Areiiicola piseatorum).
torum, sent into the world for the special benefit of
fishers. You see that at the proper moment I
can be an etymologist. But tell me what are these
tufts of small hairs disseminated over their bodies ?
It can scarcely be to prevent them from taking
colds."
" No, the tufts of hairs are not the furs of the lob-
worms ; they are really their branchiae, or respiratory
organs, if you prefer that term."
" How droll ! So that, according to you, these sea
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 19
worms breathe through the sides of their bodies and
by means of their hairs ! "
Le*on might have replied that in many creatures,
especially in worms and gasteropod mollusca, the
respiratory organs are placed in most peculiar posi-
tions— in Tritonia, Glaucus, and Scyllaea, on the sides,
in Aplysia on the back, and in Doris on the end oppo-
site to the head. He would probably have made
this learned dissertation, but was deterred by the
fear of some ironical or sarcastic reply from his
cousin.
But the latter was at the moment occupied with an
interesting experiment. He had taken a worm from
the fisherman and had placed it on the damp sand.
The worm, extending its proboscis, rapidly buried
it in the sand, then, by contracting the proboscis at
the bottom of the hole, the rest of the body followed,
and in a few seconds the worm had entirely disap-
peared.
" A pleasant journey to you ! " said KeneV Then in
a lower voice and with a sententious air he added,
"And, really, it seems appropriate that an animal that
buries itself by means of its proboscis should breathe
through its sides."
The rising tide was gradually covering the sands,
driving the fishers before it. From under every stone
little crabs made their appearance, directing their side-
long courses towards their special element. Kene",
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
while walking, stooped from time to time to look at
them, and, his curiosity being sharpened, he plied his
cousin with questions.
" Are star-fishes animals ? "
" Yes, of course."
" And how do they live ? "
" Come along, I will tell you afterwards."
"And this pretty plant, without any stalk, with
coloured petals, blossoming in this pool of water? "
" This plant is an animal, and the animal is called
a sea anemone. But come along, or you will see that
we shall be caught by the tide."
"Really, really? Well, now, I have a great mind
to pluck it."
" Well, pluck it and see ! "
But as he stretched out his hand to take it the
anemone quickly closed itself, leaving externally only
the appearance of a gelatinous shapeless mass, not,
however, without having first squirted a jet of liquid
into the face of the young inquirer.
" Not polite, dear beast, not at all polite ! " And
laughing at his misfortune, the two young men quickly
made their way towards home.
Uncle Bob was waiting for them at the door. " Eh,
well, have you had a successful fishing to begin with ? "
he asked.
"A very poor one," said Eene, "three crabs, one
star-fish. Ah ! but I was forgetting ; we have also
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
captured a sea-urchin, a beast which possesses on its
own account almost as many feet as a whole squadron
of cavalry, horses included. Where the deuce have
I put it ? Oh, here it is, but the feet are left behind
on the road."
And indeed, owing to the friction of the pocket, the
••THE SPINES OF THE SEA-URCHIN HAD FALLEN OFF.
spines had fallen off. At their point of attachment
series of tubercles were left like lines radiating from
the summit to the base of the creature.
The sea-urchin being itself a little smashed, some
parts of its interior could be seen, formed of small
pieces arranged side by side.
"It is an ill-wind that blows nobody good," said
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
the doctor. "This fracture will enable us to learn how
sea-urchins are able to grow."
The two young men drew near with an air of
curiosity.
" All these plates," said the old doctor, " are main-
tained, as you may see, by a very thin pellicle ; this
skin constantly secretes a calcareous substance round
the plates, which on this account all increase in size
together. It is by a similar, though much more
complicated process, that the growth of animals and
man is carried on. A small quantity is unceasingly
being added to the existing material, and the young
animal, or the young man, as the case may be,
grows from one year to another without being aware
of it."
" In my own case, I may frankly admit," said Bene*,
" I have hitherto grown somewhat after the same
fashion as that in which M. Jourdain wrote prose —
without knowing how."
Le"on, for some moments, had been meditating.
" What are you thinking of ? " asked his cousin.
" Nothing of importance ; a strange coincidence :
we have seen in our short excursion the principal
types of the animal kingdom."
"How, then?"
" You shall hear : the fishes, ourselves, and the
sand-eel are representatives of the branch Verte-
brata."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 25
" Are the representatives ! " cried Rene. " I really
think you do the sand-eel a great honour."
" We have seen the Annulosa in two of their chief
forms: crabs (Crustacea), marine worms (Annelida).
"The shells on which we walked, and which make
up a large portion of the sands, belong to the Mol-
lusca.
"Finally, the star-fish, the sea-urchin, and sea-
anemone are clearly and unmistakably radiates. So
that you see the collection is complete." *
" I see that I do not yet see. How are the radiates
distinguished ? "
"By the fact that their organs, instead of being
arranged on either side of the body in pairs, are
grouped round a central axis, so as to give rise to a
radiate Or globular form."
"Yerygood. And the Annulosa?"
" The Annulosa have a higher structure : their
organs are arranged in pairs, they have no internal
skeleton, but their body is made up of a series of rings
placed one behind another, sometimes soft, as in the
case of the worms, but more often hard (in insects),
even shelly (in most of the Crustacea)."
* The four branches here indicated as composing the animal kingdom are
those proposed by Cuvier, the great French naturalist. Modern zoologists
have divided some of these groups, considering them not to be sufficiently
natural, and nine primary divisions of the animal kingdom are now accepted,
viz., Protozoa, Coalenterata, Echinodennata, Vennes, Arthropoda, Mol-
luscoidea, Molluscs, Tunicata, and Vertebrata. Some, however, do not
adopt the division of tho Mollusca into three groups, and accept only seven
sub-kingdoms. — TBANSLATOB'S NOTE.
26 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
"The vertebrates, to which we ourselves have the
honour to belong," added Kene" himself, not wishing
to pass for a complete ignoramus, " possess all of them
an internal skeleton, of which the most important part
is the vertebral column, or spine."
"All, or nearly all."
" What ! are there then vertebrates that have no
vertebrae?"
" Only one kind : an unfortunate little fish, the
Amphioxus, is in this anomalous condition, as if to
prove that all classifications are artificial — made, in
fact, by learned men for their own convenience, and
that in nature the transition from one type to another
is never abrupt, but occurs in a gradual manner."
" As to Mollusca — But I am afraid we must not
attempt to study them to-day, for want of examples."
" On the contrary, here are some splendid speci-
mens," said Uncle Bob, opening the door of the din-
ing-room, and pointing to a pyramid of oysters, with
their ponderous shells, heaped upon the table.
III.
The beginning- of conversion — The star-fish — A curious invasion — A way oi
eating and a way of running, by no means proper — Absorption and
afterwards— Numerous posterity — Animals (hat double themselves by
division — What may be seen on a shell — An aquarium in miniature —
Fairyland in a glass of water — What may be found in oyster-water—
Uncle Bob himself asks to see — Excursion in a new world — A fantastic
waltz — By what means the infinitely small manage to play an infinitely
large part— A good thing from Michelet — The conversion become
decided.
DURING the repast Rene* spoke but little. This
strange world, of which he had just caught a glimpse,
could not but more or less disturb his mind. A little
ashamed of having hitherto scarcely even suspected
its existence, he felt his usual carelessness opposed by
the desire of knowing, and of being himself able to
explain.
That unseen enigma, that insoluble problem — life,
in its wondrous manifestations, was already attract-
ing him with its mysterious power. There was then
after all in natural history something more than a
mere glossary of queer words, and it might be possi-
ble to inquire into the lives of the beings that surround
us with the same sort of interest that one feels in
following the plot of a play at the theatre.
28 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" At any rate," he mentally concluded, "as there is
nothing better to do I can but try it, and if it should
prove that I have not in me the stuff of which a
naturalist is made, I can forget it all when I enter the
express train on my way back to Paris."
In this state of mind he went out into the garden,
accompanied by his friend Leon.
Almost directly his foot touched the star-fish that
they had recently brought from the shore, and that
now lay motionless near the door of the workroom.
" You told me that this what-do-you-call-it was
a radiate animal. Cannot you tell me something more
about it ? "
" Why trouble yourself about it ? " said Leon, smil-
ing. " You have already learned that it is not for
eating."
"We do not eat it, I understand well, but I should
suppose it must eat for itself."
" Undoubtedly, and in a most curious fashion."
" As if there could be fifty ways of eating. I am
myself only acquainted with one — the true, the only
way, as in point of fact we have just exemplified :
putting food into the stomach by introducing it to the
mouth, and if you are greedy or in a hurry, doing it
by two mouthfuls at a time. "
" The star-fishes know better. The stomach itself
adopts the plan of coming to the food. Notice in the
centre of the fish, in the white part, an opening. Press
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 29
a little. Good ; there is the stomach. At first sight
it has the appearance of a transparent mass divided
into five equal parts; and yet I am not acquainted
with a gizzard of greater power than it. Last year
I had an opportunity of observing the devastation
committed on a bed of mussels by star-fishes. They had
settled on them by millions ; all the rocks were covered
with them, and from a little way off appeared quite
red. When an Asterias wanted its breakfast, it came
dragging along by the aid of its ambulacral feet and
rested its stomach on the hinge-joint of the shells of a
mussel. In a few minutes, by the action of the gastric
juices, the muscles of the hinge were dissolved, the
stomach penetrated between the shells of the mussel
and carried on there a suction so powerful that in a
brief time nothing remained of the mussel. The foot
itself, although so difficult to detach, shared the same
30 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
fate as the other parts. The stomach of the ogre then
returned to its normal situation and the Asterias made
a fresh move to satisfy its appetite. So thoroughly
was this done, that in the course of a few days all the
mussels in the locality were exterminated. "
" "What an appetite! This suggests to me another
question, not a very delicate "one. I understand
now how they eat, but — what happens afterwards ? "
" The sequel is of primitive simplicity. The stomach
having come out to take its meal, comes out again,
when digestion is completed, to free itself from the
residue. In this way it is never troubled by dyspepsia
or digestive pains. The star-fishes, I may say in
passing, have not taken out a patent for their diges-
tive process, or the sea-anemones do the same thing.
Another peculiarity I must show you: each star-
fish is a real Mother Gigogne. Look," and with a
stroke of his knife Leon opened one of the rays of the
star-fish.
The inside was filled with eggs, not larger than a
pin's head.
" How many eggs do you think there are in this
one ray ? " asked Leon.
" At least two or three thousand."
" About that ; there are ten or fifteen thousand in
the whole animal. But all the creatures of this kind
have another and still more curious way of increasing
their numbers. Sometimes one of the rays of the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
33
Asterias becomes detached, or a portion of a sea-ane-
Stony Coral.
mone is broken off. At the end of a short time the
D
34 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
wound heals, a new ray is formed, and no trace of the
accident remains. In due course the amputated
part, instead of drying up, throws out buds, and
completes itself so well that the end of the injured
BBYOXOA ( Moss-animals] .
Asterias is that it is replaced by two whole and
healthy individuals.
" From this you may guess something of the prodi-
gality of life in the bosom of the ocean. Do you wish
another example of it ? Here, then, is an entire
aquarium formed by a simple shell."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 35
In a small glass vessel, the bottom of which was
covered with sand, there was to be seen one of the
valves of a St. James's shell. On its rough surface
this shell bore a strange population: some Escharae,
like stony concretions of rounded form, projected their
almost innumerable arms on every side, and these
moved themselves in all directions in order to seize
their unseen prey ; sertularians and cellularians, with
finely divided branches, erected their miniature fronds
in the water, covered with polypes like little flowers ;
while fixed to the shell some of the tube-dwelling
worms, twisted Spirorbis, Serpulae of whimsical iorms,
displayed their many-coloured branchiae at the extrem-
ities of their calcareous coverings.
Some other more fragile annelids were lodged in
the sand — Terebellse, Sabellae ; these had no calcareous
covering, but grains of sand and fragments of shells
agglutinated round their bodies formed a mosaic cloth-
ing that almost entirely concealed them. Kene*, as-
sisted by a powerful lens, examined all these details
minutely.
" Do you know what I shall call that," said he.
" It is really fairyland in a glass of water."
" Would you like to see now fairyland in a drop of
water ? Here is some water from the oysters that you
found so good. Let us look for a little at what it
contains after it has been kept a few days."
The microscope was brought out, and placed in a
3 6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
properly lighted spot. Leon put a drop of water
on a glass slide and arranged it under the object-
glass.
" I also should like to see/' said the doctor, " for
this is among the sights of which one never
tires."
It was indeed a marvellous exhibition. In this
drop of water, scarcely larger than a pin's head, there
was quite a world of animalcules, in a state of activity
like a Parisian crowd on the boulevards during a
holiday. Owing to their transparent bodies, the
organs of these singular animals could be seen, and
these microscopic beings, veritable protei, constantly
changed their shapes, sometimes elongating themselves
extremely, and sometimes becoming as round as a
ball, and the whole twisted and whirled about, with-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 37
out apparent object, and as if engaged in a fantastic
waltz.
"The infinitely small," said the doctor, "perhaps
more bewildering than the infinitely great. These are
among the largest of the beings invisible to the naked
eye ; and what lies beyond them ? However much our
optical instruments are improved, however much the
field of our investigations is extended, always and
ANIMALCULE IN WATER.
always new beings are discovered whose existence
was before scarcely suspected, and we find ourselves
still on the threshold of a world that we know not
yet.
" And none the less this unknown universe surrounds
us closely, penetrates into ourselves, and develops
itself even within us. It sometimes forms the very
ground we tread on. I was reading only to-day that
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
at Biliii, in Germany, they have discovered a bank of
tripoli more than forty feet thick and extending over
a considerable distance. Well, this tripoli is almost
entirely made up of diatoms. Ehrenberg, the micro-
scopist, has succeeded in measuring them, and calcu-
lates their number to be about forty millions in a
cubic inch.
" That is something striking, is it not, my friends ?
Does it not almost make you dizzy, and affect your
imagination with a sort of awe — the sentiment, in fact,
expressed in this profound saying of Michelet : ' In
fathoming so profoundly the depths of life I expected
to meet with physical necessities, but what I do find
is justice, immortality, hope ! '"
While speaking, the countenance of the doctor was
gradually transfigured ; his eyes beaming, his head
slightly thrown back with the effort of thought, he
was standing leaning on the table, not like a scientific
man making an investigation, but rather a poet in-
spired.
Justice, hope, immortality ! These, then, are the
supreme lessons of nature. This sayant, who had so
often contemplated the implacable working of death,
still spoke of immortality ; this aged man still spoke
of hope ! The two youths listened meditating, deeply
affected by his tremulous voice.
A complete silence prevailed. Leon was the first to
break it.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 39
" And are you always longing for the casino or some
pigeon-shooting ? " said he to Rene.
" How soon shall we make our next excursion ? "
was the only reply.
Le'on was on the point of speaking, when a vio-
lent ringing of the bell was heard at the garden
gate.
VI.
A new character— How a man sometimes looks like a Mister — Father
Lucas — His start in life — He had been several times round the world,
without thinking much of it — Return to the native land — What Father
Lucas calls his shepherd's round — Why Leon entertained so high an
opinion of the old fisherman- — Unexpected news — Uncle Bob does not
say all he thinks. .
A MAN past middle age, stout, and notwithstanding
his years still hale, of serious aspect, and somewhat
embarrassed in his movements, owing to his best Sun-
day costume, presented himself at the door.
The country folk, who are sometimes as apt as the
professors themselves in distinguishing genera and
species, are well aware of a profound distinction exist-
ing between a man and a sir or mister. The latter, who
may be at once identified, even by an unskilled eye,
usually wears a suit of cloth of more or less elegant
cut, and is invariably crowned with a hat.
The equipment of the man, on the other hand, is
made up of a blouse or stuff jacket, a cap flat or
peaked, or a wideawake hat, wooden shoes or nailed
boots, more or less thick according to his occupation.
Our new acquaintance might have been defined as
" a man dressed like a mister." His trousers of blue
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
cloth, far too large, flapped about his legs, which were
kept wide apart from the habit of accommodating him-
self to the rolling of the ship, and under his dress coat,
the large tails of which commenced almost at the
shoulders, there could be seen a thick vest of brown
wool.
He wore a felt hat pushed down as far as his ears,
as if to guard against the wind, and his thick grey
hair was coarse and rigid, like the coat of the wild
boar.
Add to this, that, as a curious bit of vanity, he wore
in his ears small gold rings, from each of which there
was suspended a little anchor, and that his countenance,
tanned by constant exposure to the sun, was sur-
rounded by whiskers and a beard almost completely
white, and you will have a tolerably faithful portrait
of the new arrival.
The doctor took some steps towards him. " Father
Lucas ! " he said, and gave his hand to the old sailor
as if to encourage him. "But you are rigged out in
your best and got up in grand style ! Something
unusual and important must be going on."
" Yes, Mister Doctor," replied the old man, turning
his hat round by twisting it between the fingers in
which he now held it. "I would even venture to say,
sir, by your permission, something very serious."
" Let me hear about it," and Uncle Bob opened the
door of his study.
42 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" Well, what I wanted to say—" The door then
closed.
"Who is this old sea- wolf?" asked Eene, some-
what surprised at seeing his uncle receive a common
sailor with so much familiarity.
" A brave and noble-hearted man," replied Leon.
This old sailor was indeed a brave man : on great
occasions he wore on his breast several medals, dearly
bought by his courageous acts.
A cabin-boy from his cradle, like the other sailors
of this coast, and apprenticed amongst his father's
crew, his earliest memories were those of a fisher's boat,
where he slept amid the damp nets, the spare sails, or
the empty hampers. At sixteen years he was per-
fectly familiar with the navigation of his native
coasts, and when a little later he entered his country's
navy, the bluejacket had soon become a thorough
sailor.
Such countries as Australia and China, seemingly
most likely to cause astonishment, had been seen by
the young sailor with an uninterested eye and without
any feeling of surprise. The old sailors, during their
yarns in port on Sundays, or on evenings at sea, while
the nets dragged slowly through the depths, had
spoken of such things and many others. His educa-
tion had begun and ended in the year of his con-
firmation. Naturally he had but little imagination.
Thus the many nations, black, yellow, or bronzed, he
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 43
became acquainted with during his voyages interested
him but little. "Skin, more or less dark, clothes
of a little different fashion : except that, people like
you and me," these were all his ethnographical
ideas.
And yet, notwithstanding his apparently unemo-
tional disposition, the love of his native soil had
gradually made itself felt, and had ended, as is so
frequently the case with sentiments of a painful
nature, by becoming a fixed idea by which he was
completely possessed. He continually remarked, " All
that is not worth Trouville." In his childhood his
curiosity made excursions into strange lands ; now
that he had the lands themselves before his eyes he
saw them almost without notice. His thoughts went to
and fro continually between Courseulles and the bay
of the Seine, the two spots that he knew so well but
should perhaps never revisit. Often and often, when
he sailed amidst the verdant isles of the interior sea
of Japan, some touch of landscape, some tree, some
trifle, would lead him back to his favourite idea. If
some pagoda reared in the distance the outline of its
quaintly sculptured roof against the azure blue, it
recalled to him the great tower of Ouistreharn or the
twin steeples of Delivrande, and instinctively his ear
would endeavour to catch the sounds of the evening
hymn that the land breeze wafts to the sailor's ear.
And often of a night, during the long hours of his
44 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
watch, while the vessel, with lights aloft, cleaved with
its prow the phosphorescent waves, and was followed
in its wake by a track of fire, Quartermaster Lucas,
his elbow resting on the stern, his eye losing itself in
the distance, would seek the two white lights of Heve^
that gleam each night sweet and clear like the looks
of a friend.
With such ideas, it will be understood that our
acquaintance would prolong his time in the navy no
more than necessary, and in fact he hastened, when
his dismissal was obtained, to cast off the blue jacket
and the lettered cap, to take up as in the past hia
interrupted fishing, to marry and found a family of
sailors : it would be strange to see a sailor's son who
was not himself a sailor. His prayers, however, were
not at first all granted. Lucas had to begin with five
daughters, and only after ten years had he the great
satisfaction of seeing at last a son and heir.
At the time our narrative commences the five
daughters are all married to fishermen. The wily
Norman has them all established in different localities,
so that almost wherever the chances of his seafaring
may take him he is sure to find a good lodging and
supper, besides the pleasure of seeing his child. This
he calls his " shepherd's round."
His son had terminated this very year his service
to the State.
Leon sketched in a few words these details for his
TWO YOUNG NATURALISES. 45
cousin. He had certainly the best of reasons for
holding the old fisherman in high esteem, having
been himself brought back by Father Lucas one day
when a treacherous current had carried him too far
from shore. Although an excellent swimmer, Leon
could no longer struggle, and was hastening, or rather
floating, to a certain death, when Lucas in his clothes,
just as he was, leaped into the water and brought
him safely back, with considerable danger to himself.
All the efforts of the doctor had not availed to induce
the old sailor to accept any reward for " so natural a
deed," but from this day forward the saviour of Leon
had the free run of the cottage.
When the interview was over the doctor opened
the door and Father Lucas said to Le*on' —
" By the bye, 1 have stranded my boat between the
baths and the cliff, and I think you will find some-
thing to collect there. I was obliged to do it, for it
is my last trip."
The young naturalist looking at him with an air of
astonishment, he added, half closing his eyes :
" Yes, it is settled. I am to part with my busi-
ness."
" Is it possible ! And who is to be your suc-
cessor?"
" My son, thank heaven ! "
In this "thank heaven," there was an accent of
fatherly pride as well as a touch of regret.
46 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
To give up after half a century of efforts his
unceasing wanderings on the ocean, no more to leave
the dry land, was a trying change of habits for the
old sailor, and a sacrifice rather than a relief.
The poor old man seemed already to foresee that
while his son would be afar off, and himself fixed at
home like a useless being, he should often feel a long-
ing for the sea, and would miss the waves with their
spray striking his face and seasoning and hardening
his countenance.
Again, and this not the least of his regrets, he
must give up seeing so frequently the numerous
descendants who loved to clamber on his knees, for
paid voyages cost much, and by a strange anomaly
there is no one in the world more stay-at-home than a
sailor compelled to give up seafaring.
As soon as father Lucas was gone, the doctor made
his way to the railway station at Trouville, while the
young folks, following the advice of the fisherman,
went on board the Emily, stranded on the shore, to
obtain a supply of molluscs and crustaceans.
When the doctor returned in the evening, the two
cousins were not a little surprised at hearing him
make a long dissertation on the subject of fishing-
boats, and at his explaining the differences between
" a tub " and " a plate," a clincher-built yawl and a
plain yawl, with the thoroughness of one to the
manner born.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
47
TVhat can Uncle Bob be thinking of? Is it possi-
ble that the doctor has somewhat tardily decided,
now that Father Lucas has retired from the sea, him-
self to leave the hospitals of Paris and drift along
without any special occupation ?
V.
A varied harvest— The sea-mouse — A microscopic prray — Trick* of the chase
and of -war — Crustaceans and Kabyles— Clanging armour— The danger
of disarmament— Science disconcerted— Sacculina and its wonderful
transformations— Ophiura — Holothuria — Chinese cookery — A suicide —
The hermit-crab — An unedif ying biography — An invitation.
THE collection made on board the boat had been
superb, and in the receptacles that the cousins had
taken care to provide themselves with, there accumu-
lated one after another sea-mice with brilliant and
silky fleeces, Chitons with imbricated carapaces, that
is, coverings formed by scales arranged after the
fashion of the tiles on a roof. Then various kinds of
shell-fish : Oxyrhynchi with delicate bodies and spider-
like legs; hermit crabs of greedy movements, only
half covered by their shells ; Dromiee with grey and
velvety shell and rosy claws ; spider-crabs, whose
curious carapace contains amongst the inequalities of
its surface quite a world of seaweeds, of polypes, and
of moss-animals — a marvellous sight when well exam-
ined with the aid of a glass; and in addition a
strange collection of the lower animals. Holothurians,
called by the fishermen sea-cucumbers, because of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 49
their elongate shape ; radiates* masquerading in the
form of molluscs ; ophiurians with long slender arms
radiating from a central disc ; Solasters, great star-fishes
with twelve broad rays, and of a yellow colour, thus
looking like so many suns.
In less than a quarter of an hour their receptacles
were filled, and, well- contented, they retraced their
road to the laboratory.
A sea-mouse was the first specimen that found its
way on to the table.
As Rene was examining its varied tints with much
delight—
"Look," said Ldon, "how formidably this annelid
is armed ! "
And with a pair of curved scissors he cut off some
hairs from the Aphrodita, and placed them under the
object-glass of the microscope.
Everything in the way of harpoons, of pointed
instruments, of straight and curved sabres, of cutting
and perforating arms, that an armourer could imagine,
was there represented — a microscopic panoply.
u Your annelid is quite a walking arsenal," cried
Rene. " But what a singular mania for a villainous
grey crab " (this far from flattering epithet related to
the Dromia) " to make himself an overcoat with sea-
weeds."
* The sea-cucumbers belong to the Echinodennata, and are now, therefore,
removed from the Radiata by naturalists, though they -were united therewith
by Cuvier.
5o THE WALKS ABROAD OF
And in point of fact the Dromia, like the spider-crab,
"QUITK A WORLD OF POLYPES ON THEIK CARAPACE.
is frequently covered with living animals and seaweed
that it carries about on its shell. There is, how-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 51
ever, this difference between the two : the Uromia is
said to be provided with special claws for planting the
creatures on its own back, where they grow and some-
times completely cover it, while in the spider-crab the
growth may be due to natural causes. The result,
however, is the same, and enables stratagem to supply
the place of agility, for thus covered they are able
DBOMIA (Lrontia rulyaris, Edw.).
to remain concealed and motionless until some prey
shall venture within reach of their claws.
In connection with this it will be recollected that
during the conquest of Algeria the natives on several
occasions made use of a similar stratagem, and that
1 walking bushes ' glided unharmed during the night
into the midst of the advanced guard. These children
of the desert were no doubt proud of their invention,
and had no idea that they were merely imitators of the
miserable crabs. There is nothing new under the sun !
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
Eene* had been reflecting for a few minutes, and now
made up his mind to speak.
" I was thinking— Ah ! but you know I am only a
stupid fellow, and know nothing of these things. You
won't laugh at me ? "
" Speak out, and you will see."
" Very well. Uncle Bob explained to us the other
day the mode of growth of animals — of everybody, in
fact. But how do the Crustacea, as you call them, all
this series of creatures with rigid carapace, clothed as
it were in armour, manage about this. It strikes me
they must feel remarkably uncomfortable when their
costume becomes too small for them."
"And it so happens that these armour-bearers do
not grow in the same manner as other animals. The
metamorphoses of insects with their unyielding inte-
guments, and of the crustaceans with their rigid cara-
paces, are in fact a peculiar mode of growth : they grow
by stages.
" Thus the lobster before it becomes large enough
to grace our tables, and to undergo the posthumous
honour of la mayonnaise, has had to pass through about
a score of moults. This is the reason why you have
never met with a really infant lobster. Their appear-
ance quite changes as they grow up ; indeed, this
occurs to so great an extent, that up to the fourth
moult they swim by whirling about, and they are
thirty or forty days old when they first fall to the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 53
bottom and become walk-about animals for the rest of
their days. Other crustaceans, before attaining their
final form, pass through analogous metamorphoses.
"The moulting time must be, I should think, a
most disagreeable moment in the existence of these
creatures. As a rule, the crustacean with his armour,
like a knight of the Middle Ages, fears, so to say,
no thing nor person. It sometimes happens that he
leaves a claw or a leg on the field of battle, but he
accepts his loss like a Stoic ; it grows again, and he
knows it. But as soon as he has shed his armour the
position is quite different ; while awaiting for his new
cuirass to attain the necessary solidity, this creature,
who was himself quite recently an insatiable Gar-
gantua, becomes a dainty mouthful for all sorts of
creatures, including occasionally some of his own
kindred. Crustaceans have not the conscientious
scruples of wolves, who, so they say, do not eat one
another. It is worth seeing, at the moment of moult-
ing, how carefully they conceal themselves for fear of
having to submit to the same fate as that to which
they have submitted so many others."
"A fair requital, as things go here below/' said
Bene" philosophically. " If it were not for that the lot
of a crustacean would be a too happy one. "
While saying this he was amusing himself by turn-
ing over on the table a great crab, whose hind-body
was covered to a considerable extent by a sort of
54 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
transparent moss, something like agglomerated soap-
bubbles.
" Sacculina," said Le*on ; " a singular parasite of
the crab, and one that has for a long time defied the
perspicacity of the learned. Indeed, it was only last
year that its exact history was discovered."
" Something new, and yet true ! Let me hear it."
" With pleasure. The Sacculina, whose entire body
is not represented by this moss that you see, com-
mences by being a microscopic crustacean, a Cypris,
who comes quietly, and as if meaning no ill, and fixes
itself by one antenna to the still tender hind-body of
the quite young crab."
" Capital ! And what next ? "
" Then it undergoes a change. As the habitation
seems to suit it, and it has no desire to seek its fortune
elsewhere, it establishes itself in this position, casts
off its legs, no longer of any use to it, and replaces
them by a hollow needle of peculiar structure. And
it is by the aid of this organ, which is a perforator,
though itself pliable, that the heretofore Cypris, turn-
ing its outside inside, like a glove or stocking, glides
gradually into the interior of the crab.
" After this it can give up active life and live like
a lord. It finds in the interior of its host both bed
and breakfast, and this new arrangement suits it so well
that you may almost see it waxing fat. This it does
so thoroughly that its apartment soon becomes too
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
55
small for it, and it is obliged to leave some part of
its person out of doors ; this part you see, and this is
what the learned term Sacculina. I must not omit to
mention that this discovery is due to a French pro-
SEA-CUCUMBEK \Hoiotlntrio,).
fessor, M. Delaage, and that it cost him three years
of observation and experiment.
"Let us now pass to another;" but as he was
taking out of the box a magnificent Ophiura, the
creature unfortunately all at once became broken.
" Confound the animal ! Would you believe," added
he, addressing his cousin, "that I have collected at
least thirty specimens of this creature, and that I
56 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
have not yet secured an unbroken one. Sometimes a
ray detaches itself, sometimes the disc breaks up.
Ophiura fragilis is a well-applied name. Let us hope
I shall do better with the Holothuria.
" This is another extraordinary being, with retrac-
tile feet and a mouth armed with tentacles disposed
in star-like fashion. But the internal organisation
is the most curious feature in this creature. For
example, the digestive canal, in which the stomach
is represented by a very slight swelling, ends in the
Holothuria in a small bladder containing — you will
never guess what — the breathing organs.
" In this country holothurians, or sea-cucumbers,
are known only to fishermen and naturalists, and no
one suspects that they are the objects of a considerable
commerce in the far East."
" Do you mean to say any one buys such a thing as
that? And, gracious heavens, what for?"
" For the manufacture of confectionery that sells at
improbable prices in China and Japan. It is a special
feast of the yellow-faced mortals. But, between our-
selves, even I must admit that, all things considered,
I should prefer something else/'
While he was speaking, the cucumber, possibly
disgusted at the depreciatory remarks that were being
made about it, suddenly expelled with violence all
the fluid it contained, as well as a portion of its ali-
mentary canal.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 57
" Alas, another suicide ! " said Le'on, " and I
believe it was our last remaining specimen."
But as he turned his botanical box over, a large
hermit-crab concealed in a corner fell out of it on to
the table.
"The last is the best," said the young naturalist ;
and, taking hold of his captive by the shell, he con-
tinued: " Here we have the most depraved, the most
immoral, the most cynical, of all the banditti and
corsairs of the sea."
" And yet bearing a venerated designation," said
Kene* timidly.
"Yes, but very inapplicable, unless you are willing
to imagine that the stolen shell it bears upon its back
is a hermitage."
" Stolen ! Is the shell, then, not its own making ? "
"It is completely incapable of making anything
whatever. This hermit is the personification of lazi-
ness, and a shameless parasite, living at the expense
of all about him. However, we must not forget (for
justice is a good thing even in the case of shell-fish)
that nature has been a little unkind to it. Its body
is, in opposition to that of all its allies, soft and
undefended by armour, except on the head, legs, and
claws. Now look."
And lighting a match he slightly warmed the shell.
The effect of this proceeding was soon apparent :
annoyed by the heat, the hermit hurriedly left its
5 8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
abode and shuffled about on the table in a most
awkward fashion.
" That is the best way of forcing it to give up
possession," said Le*on. " Treated in any other way it
is so obstinate that it would allow itself to be torn in
pieces rather than quit. Obstinacy, however, is one
of the least of its faults.
"It makes its debut, when still young, by an
assassination. Scarcely out of its cradle, it seeks a
shell of fitting size and instals itself therein, after
having as a fit preliminary devoured the owner. Then,
undeterred by any remorse, it starts to seek its fortune,
pillaging on all sides after the manner of the troopers
and freebooters of the good old times."
" A hermit certainly very like a vagabond ; but,
when his shelter becomes too small, what happens ? "
"He settles the matter at once by stealing another.
Probably at first he took possession of a Turbo shell ;
now that he is stronger it is probably the shell of a
whelk or Buccinum that he seizes. The hermit does
not allow himself to be embarrassed by so trifling a
matter. I am acquainted with a collection in which
there is a hermit that was found in the tropics, and
has taken up his abode in. a great helmet shell, such
as you may see in the window of a natural history
dealer. The claws of this hermit measured more than
eight inches.
" The animal is by no means one of restricted tastes,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
and if you place at its disposal in an aquarium some
snail-shells of suitable size, it will take advantage of
the opportunity and instal itself in one of them with-
out the least bashfulness. In the soundings made at
great depths in the Atlantic, hermits were met with
that, probably because they could do no better, had
OLD FELLOW.
excavated lairs for themselves in the bodies of sea
anemones.
" Now you have an account of these hypocritical
old fellows, and you will admit it is far from edifying.
So we will change the subject. To-morrow I propose
that we make a party for some shrimp-fishing at low
60 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
water, and if Neptune and the west wind favour us, we
shall have a harvest. I say no more at present."
Meanwhile Uncle Bob had entered, and with a happy
face.
" All is going well," said he, as if talking to himself.
"By the way, do you know what Father Lucas told me
a little while ago ? His son is to be married next
Wednesday, and requests us in due and proper fashion
to be present at the nuptial ceremony. You may be
sure I have accepted for myself and for you too."
VI.
Start for the fishing — The surprise of Black — A chameleon of the waters —
Two lines from Deroulede— The cuttle-fish's gift of tears— A strange
locomotive apparatus— Black dyed afresh — An ink used for writing by
the ancients — How Cuvier wrote and drew the figures of his "Memoir
on Cephalopoda " — The cuttle-fish bone. — Classification of the mollusca
— The spoils of the net : sea-scorpion, fishing -frog — Stomach-fishing —
Twice eaten — A singularly placed carpenter's tool— Progressive wry-
neck— A demented one — Sad accident — Rene wounded.
PUTTING into execution his project of the previous
day, Le"on, carrying a net, and taking with him his
cousin who, like himself, carried a basket slung over
the shoulder, gave the word for an early start. As
they left the cottage, Black, without waiting to ask
for leave, raced on in front and appeared to thoroughly
approve of this morning- walk.
The two young men were dressed nearly alike : flat
woollen cap, jacket closed in front, knickerbocker
trousers — equipments showing, in fact, that their
fishing intentions were of a serious nature.
A keen observer would not, however, have failed to
notice an evident difference between them. Le"on,
looking browner than ever in his well-set-on red
bonnet, was provided with a basket of refreshments,
62 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
and in addition, like a true naturalist, had not forgotten
to take some large flasks, whose necks stuck out from
the pockets of his jacket.
His somewhat heavy net was well constructed, " a
net for a true fisherman," said Father Lucas, who had
been entrusted with its manufacture ; but our young
enthusiast did not appear in the least encumbered by
its weight.
Rene* somewhat pale, in a blue bonnet, gave the
idea of an operatic Masaniello, and to complete the
resemblance, he carried by his side a very miniature
fishing basket suspended by a red ribbon, and flourished
about with grand gestures a net with long handle, but
itself only about the size of one's hand, the smallest, in
fact, that he could find.
The Parisian liked fishing but detested fatigue.
Suddenly Black who, as we have said, was somewhat
in advance began to run r.ound a small lake left by the
ebbing tide, and to bark vehemently.
" What can the dog be doing ? " said Rend, " can
he too be making discoveries in natural history ? "
They approached, and what they saw might well
astonish any dog, or even one who was, like the owner
of Black, in search of strange fish. In this novel
aquarium there was an animal of strange form swim-
ming about, and vainly endeavouring to find an exit
to the open sea.
Figure to yourself a bag about three inches long,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 63
surrounded by a broad border ; from this grey and
gelatinous body a short tube came out, and above this
a head of a shape defying definition, but recalling
somewhat the head of an elephant, with two square
eyes, whose iris gleamed like molten gold.
The trunk (if we may so call the curious appendage
at the end of the animal) was abruptly divided, form-
ing eight short elastic arms, furnished with suckers.
Two other processes, longer and more slender than
the rest of the arms, each terminated in a swelling or
dilatation covered with suckers.
The animal was no doubt greatly disturbed by the
evolutions and barking of Black, for it continually
changed its colour in an abrupt manner, at once remind-
ing Bene* of the two well-known lines of Deroulede —
" II devint tout bleu, de bleu devint rouge,
De rouge violet, et de violet, mort ! " *
" This introduces you to the cuttle-fish or Sepia,"
said Le"on. " It is, like its cousin the Octopus, a great
destroyer of crabs and small fish. These it seizes with
its suckers as they pass, or perhaps destroys them by
the stroke of its two clubs. Its beak you cannot see
at present, as it is concealed behind its arms, but it is
very hard and cutting (I speak from experience), and
in shape is not very different from the beak of a
parrot."
* ' ' He turned quite blue, from blue became red.
From red, violet, and from violet, dead ! "
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" Very good ; but that does not explain by what
means the Sepia can so change its colour."
" The method is very simple. In the interstices of
the skin there are globules of different colours. And
in accordance with the impressions made on the
animal, these globules are expanded or contracted,
and so produce the strangest effects.
" But the most curious point is that not only can
the Sepia become pale and change its colour, but it
appears also to have the gift of tears. At any rate, their
eyes, like our own, are well supplied with lachrymal
glands ; but as for telling you what sort of event
would be likely to bring tears from the eye of a cuttle-
fish, I must admit I cannot, for I have no trustworthy
information.
" The tube which ends at the edges of the sac
serves — But wait a minute, the creature itself is
going to show us its use."
The Sepia was just then close to the edge, and Le'on
stooped as if to take it up, and seeing this the
cephalopod contracted the tube and ejected the water
it contained, and the rebound caused by this was
sufficient to take it to the middle of the pool.
"A most singular way of walking backwards,"
said Kene*, and then going roundabout he adroitly
caught the Sepia in his net and laid it on the sand.
Black, who had watched all his movements, at once
ran two or three times round the quiescent creature,
t
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 65
then suddenly stretching his legs, he leaped forward
in order to seize it.
But the Sepia, too quick for him, ejected by its tube
a thick black ink, that completely inundated the un-
fortunate Black.
The dog fled howling away, and without looking
to right or left, made straight as an arrow for home.
The two cousins were ready to die with laughing.
"Ah, ah!" cried Kene, "a useful lesson. That
shows what one may get by quarrelling with those
one does not know! Poor Black, discomfited and
dyed by a cuttle-fish. However, come here, doggy,
and I will console you. Black, Black ! "
But the dog did not hear him. Continuing his head-
long course, he was already disappearing amongst the
first houses.
"I must not say much about it," added his master,
" for I must admit I might have been similarly taken
in myself. Who could have guessed that such a crea-
ture contained in its inside a syringe full of ink, ready
for use against any rash person ? There must have
been at least a shilling's-worth. But I should like to
know whether one could write with it."
u So well," replied Leon, "that in point of fact, the
ancients scarcely knew of any other ink. It is only
since their time that the progress of chemistry has
enabled us to obtain other means of a more accessible
and less costly nature for use on paper. Cuvier, I
F
66 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
believe, was the last to put the sepia ink to an impor-
tant use. As a fit whim for a scientific man, he made
use of it to write his memoir on Cephalopoda, and to
make the drawings. But I say, we are not making a
bad bag to-day. I had already some calamaries and
squids, cuttle-fish allied to the Sepia, in my collection,
and this specimen, after it has been prepared so as to
render the organs visible, and placed in alcohol, will
make a splendid specimen. The only portion of a
Sepia I previously possessed was their flat bone, with
which you are no doubt acquainted."
" What ! do you mean to tell me that the flat
biscuits given to birds to sharpen their beaks on are
obtained from these fish ? "
" The Sepia is not a fish."
" And yet it is not a radiate ; still less an annelid;
nor a mollusc."
" Why not?"
"Well, because the Sepia is far too knowing a
creature, and far too complicated in structure, to take
a place in the family of oysters and mussels; as I
am sure Black would confirm if he could speak. And
besides, as you know, the cuttle-fish have no shells."
" That is true, but their near relatives, the argo-
nauts, have. Moreover, on such grounds the great
slugs would also not be mollusca."
" Quite so, although I admit that it did not occur to
me before. But then you neglected to tell me the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 67
other day how the mollusca may be recognised and
into what categories they are divided."
"The mollusca are, as their name indicates, creatures
with soft bodies and without either external or internal
skeleton, for it would be going too far to call the one
bone of the Cephalopoda a skeleton. Some of them
are uncovered, others are protected by a shell. They
are divided into four classes : first, the Cephalopoda,
which have the feet placed around the head. To
these belong the Octopus, the Sepia, the squid."
"These certainly ought to be the most fleet of
animals," interrupted Eene.
" ? ? ? ?"
" Because they have always their legs on their
neck." *
" Is it impossible to induce you to be serious ? The
second class is that of Pteropoda, a not very numerous
group of animals inhabiting the great seas, having a
fin placed on each side of the mouth : examples, Clio
and Hyale. We shall not meet with any of them in
the waters of the Channel, so I pass them by.
" Finally, the last two classes are named respectively
the Gasteropoda, from the mode of progression of the
animals that compose the group, the lower part of the
body forming a sort of sucker or fleshy foot, by the
aid of which they drag themselves hither and thither.
* Rene's joke is lost in translation. To " have the legs on the neck " is
in English to take to one's heels. Thus the Cephalopoda are, in French,
always taking to their heels, but in English this is not the case.
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
To this belong snails, top-shells or trochi, the cowries,
the helmet-shells, and the buccini or Triton's shells.
It is in this group that we find the mollusca of
greatest beauty and most varied forms. Lastly, the
JL-S
Murex.
ilaliotis.
GASTEEOPOD MOLLUSCA.
Acephala,* or if you prefer it, the molluscs that have
no head."
" Animals without a head ! How absurd."
" I am not joking. Have you ever seen the head
of a mussel or of an oyster ? "
" You are right," said the Parisian, a little abashed
at his own boldness, "but I admit this did not occur
* The name Acephala has suffered many vicissitudes since the time of
Cuvier, and the group of mollusca without heads is now usually termed
Lamellibrauchiata, or by some Conch if era.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 69
to my mind before. For this reason the Acephala
may really be the most molluscous, the most stupid
of all the mollusca. And indeed to pass one's entire
existence in a closed box can scarcely be productive
of much intelligence. But we have lost a good quarter
of an hour between our mollusca and the Sepia, and
the shrimps await. Advance, and let us try the fortune
of the net."
And the two young men, up to their waists in the
water, plied their nets on the bottom. The first
attempt was successful ; Eene brought up from the
ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSC. RAZOU-FISII (Soldi CIISIS).
bottom, besides a handful of lively, leaping shrimps,
a fish with broad, spiny fins, and body covered with
thorns. An enormous mouth was the accompaniment
of an extremely broad head.
It was a bull-head, or sea- scorpion (Coitus scorpius),
a veritable Quasimodo in the watery world. This fish
is rejected by the French fishermen on account of its
small size and very oily flesh. But in some parts of
Norway, where the Cottus is very abundant, an oil is
extracted from its liver, and is probably credited to the
cod and sold as such.
Both in France and Norway the sea-scorpion, as
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
depraved in morals as it is unprepossessing in appear-
ance, belongs to the detestable fraternity of loiterers
and prowlers. Lying in ambush behind some bunch
of seaweed, like the parties in question concealed in a
doorway, it throws itself suddenly on some fish who
may be passing near unsuspicious of any danger ; and
its multitudinous misdeeds have earned for it the
cognomen of sea-devil, a name which it shares, how-
ever, with the fishing-frog (Lophius piscatorius, L. ).
" This again is another wily and knowing fellow.
You must often have seen this large fish in the
markets; it has a repulsive appearance, a very broad
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 71
body with an enormous mouth surmounted by two
long filaments terminating above in bright, shining
surfaces. Possibly even you may have asked yourself
what means a fish of such awkward form and appear-
ance could adopt to satisfy its hunger.
" Well, it is done by counting on the faults of
other fish, in the same way as man himself only
too often takes advantage of the vices of his kind.
The fishing-frog spreads its snare, relying with good
reason on the greediness and inquisitiveness of its
neighbours. Buried in the mud, it vibrates the fila-
ments above its head, until some fish thoughtlessly
comes loitering around this novel bait. Then —
you may guess the sequel. The capacious maw opens,
entombs the victim, and the game is recommenced.
"The market-women sometimes speculate on the
voracity of the fishing-frogs, and purchase them at a
low price, on the strength of what they may contain.
The fishing-frog swallows its prey in a gluttonous
fashion without any mastication, and they often find
in its stomach fish but little damaged, and sell them
to customers who are not very observant."
"And is this done frequently ?" asked Kene*, for
the idea that he might have eaten a sole fished from
the stomach of one of these rascals did not at all please
him.
" Possibly oftener than you think," replied his
cousin. "But let us now see what my luck has been.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
No doubt the bottom not far from here is rocky, for I
have found a rock-shrimp, or as it is commonly called
prawn, the scientific name being Palcemon serratus,
the saw-bearing palcemon.
" You would never guess where the prawn carries
his carpenter's tool ; it is, if you please, on its head,
and does not use it as an instrument to work with,
but as a defensive weapon. The saw is so placed that
THE PRAWN (Palecmon serrattts).
a fish cannot swallow the prawn head-first without
running the risk of being choked. The PalaBmon is
well aware of this, and thus from fear he keeps his
face to the enemy."
Leon was on the point of dipping his net into the
water again, when Rene* stopped him by a gesture.
"Wretch, that you are; why, you are throwing away
a whole dish of fish ! I suppose, however, it would
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
75
not be right to kill these little plaice and liliputian
dab-fish, for a little fish grows to be a great one."
And he pointed with his finger to five or six little
Pleuronectes, about half an inch long.
" Look at them well,'* said Le'on, holding them in
his hand, " and tell me how their eyes are placed."
" Like the eyes of other land-plaice — I beg pardon,
I should say, other plaice from the sea. I fancy,
COMMON SHKIMP ! f','*/ <></(»! nt
however, that these have their eyes placed in not
quite so straight a line as their larger relatives. .To
what is that due ?"
" To their peculiar habits. When born, they are
symmetrical in shape, like other fish ; then gradually
the habit of resting on the sand compels the fish to
carry the head on one side, which thus becomes
deformed and then quite fixed."
"A sort of permanent wryneck, then! It is cer-
tainly very strange. But now it is my turn. Another
76 THE WALKS ABROAD Of
fish ! It has a rather mischievous appearance, with its
black spines, and its eyes on the top of its forehead.
Is it also a devil of a third sort ? "
" Let it go, let it go ! " cried Le"on. " It is a crazy
fish." (The fishermen of the Boulogne region fre-
quently designate the Trachinus vipera, or lesser wee-
ver. by this name.)
Kent', however, put his hand to the bottom of the
WEEVEE FISH (TracMnw draco, Lin.).
net, but as soon as he touched the fish he rapidly
withdrew it, uttering a cry of pain.
"Wounded! and I had warned you," said Le"on.
" Fortunately I have brought with me some ammonia,
as I usually do."
And after rubbing the wound, he took his hand-
kerchief and bound up the injured hand.
"It is of no importance," said Kene, making, how-
TIW YOUNG NATURALISTS.
77
ever, a grimace that completely belied his words. "It
is nothing."
But the pain, which was very acute, soon extended
to his arm, and a nervous shivering caused his teeth to
chatter, almost as if with intense cold.
GUEXAED (Trig la, Cuv.).
"Let us get back as quickly as possible," said
Leon ; " it is the best thing we can do now."
And taking the two nets, with the wounded arm
resting on his shoulder, and feeling seriously grieved,
he followed the road that Black had traversed a little
Avhile before.
VII.
Symptoms that may arise from the wound of the weever-fish— The poison-
ous structures of the weever — Classification of fishes— A fanciful
etvmovogy — A shark's breakfast, according to Muller — More strange
names — Why fishes that live near the surface in the water cannot pene-
trate to great depths — Life in the abysses of the ocean — How a simple
thread sufficed to overturn the theories of scientific men — Researches
made by the English, Swedish, and Americans. Explorations of the
Travailleiir and Talisman — Surprising results — Remarks by Rene — The
invalid's nightmare.
THE prick of the smaller weever-fish is not danger-
ous if cauterised at once. Nevertheless the doctor
thought it advisable to slightly open the wound, and
then, having dressed it, prescribed two or three days'
rest for the patient. The seaside excursions were
therefore for a time postponed.
" You may congratulate yourself on having escaped
so easily," said the doctor, as he placed the last
bandage in its position. " I have seen some cases,
where the wound was deeper and not attended to in
time, in which erysipelas and mortification ensued,
and the injured finger required amputation. "
The new naturalist made a rather awkward grimace.
" I suppose you are quite sure, Uncle Bob, that it
will not come to that, this time ? "
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 79
" Egad ! If I were at all uneasy, do you think I
should have said anything to you about it ? "
Kene* was soothed by this argument.
" Is it then a real poison, like that of the viper, that
exists in the sting of this horrid creature, the Trachi-
nus viper a ? " said he.
u I know nothing on the subject," said Ldon. " A
good deal of inquiry has been devoted to it, but up
to the present time, without very much result, I
believe."
" But I know," said the doctor. " The poisonous
instrument of the weever is now understood, but it is
only quite recently ; * for until now its delicate
structure had caused it to escape the researches of
investigators."
The worthy gentleman then placed his glasses in
position on his nose, took up a pencil and a large
sheet of white paper, so as to be able to complete his
demonstration by an oft-hand sketch, and commenced
as follows : —
"The apparatus in question consists of a very
strong spine, divided internally into two channels,
and covered at its extremity by a membrane. This
membrane is apparently arranged in such a manner
as to prevent the escape of the poison under ordinary
* " Recherches faites au Laboratoire de Physiologic maritime du Havre,"
par M. A. Bottard, presentees, comme these inatigurale, par M. A. Gressin, et
editees sous le titre : Contribution a T etude de I ' appareil a venin chez Us poisson*
dn qcnre Tire. A. Daw editeur.
So
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
circumstances. Each of these channels terminates at its
base in a sort of conical cavity, filled by a whitish sub-
HEAD OF THE WEEVER.
o. Sheath of the spine. E, Spine, c, Follicle with gland.
SECTION THKOTTGH THE MIDDLE OF THE SPINE.
v, Blood- vessels, p, Skin and connective tissue, o, Prolongation of gland.
SECTION OF SPINE AT THE BASE.
P, Skin. E, Cartilage, c, Gland-cells, or, Granular part, o, Gland with
epithelial contents and connective envelope, in the cartilage.
stance— a sort of gland formed by cells. Some of these
are very large, and some have the appearance of having
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 83
been ruptured by the pressure of the liquid within
them.
"This liquid is the poison. If one touches the
extremity of the spine with the finger" (Eene here
made a gesture indicating that to have done it once
was quite sufficient) " one soon sees exude at the tip
SEA-LAMPREY (Petromyzon marinus, Lin.).
a limpid drop, of a bluish colour when the animal is
living, but opalescent after it has been dead some
hours. As to the nature of the poison, there is reason
for believing that it produces nervous spasms."
" How annoying ! And I, too, who was taking so
well to zoology ! However, I have now the right to
consider myself a martyr to science ; and meanwhile
84 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
I request that I may be instructed in the method of
the classification and determination of fishes, that a
similar misfortune shall not happen to me again."
" With pleasure," said Leon. " Fishes are divided
into two great classes, the bony fishes, and the carti-
laginous fishes."
" So that in order to recognise them one must first
SHABP- NOSED KAY (liaja oxyrhynvhus, Lin.).
dissect them ? Not a convenient method at all. How-
ever, let us continue."
"The cartilaginous fishes are themselves divided
into three orders: —
" 1. The sturgeons.
"2. The Cyclostomi, or suckers, in which the mouth
is suctorial. Type, the lamprey.
" 3. The selachian fishes (rays, sharks, sea-hounds):
a family essentially voracious, and great feeders."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
"By the way, do you know what is the etymology
of the word requin V (the French for shark).
"Well, it is from the Latin word requiem, because
when a man falls into the sea near a shark, the
requiem or office for the dead may be said for him.
These fishes are not epicures, and their voracity, as
SWORD-FISH (Xiphias gladins, Lin.).
everybody knows, induces them to seize on all kinds
of food. And as may be supposed, many tales, more
or less improbable, have arisen from this. For
instance, the Danish naturalist, Miiller, gravely states
that in the Mediterranean, near St. Margaret's Isle, a
shark was captured weighing more than fifteen hun-
86
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
dred pounds, and in the body of the said shark there
was the corpse of a horse quite entire."
" With the four shoes on the feet ? That appears to
me rather difficult of digestion."
"However that may be, the cartilaginous fishes
comprise the sharks, sturgeons, and lampreys."
THE TUNNY (ticoinber thynnus, Liu.).
"And how do you distinguish the bony fishes ?"
" By the position of the fins and of the gills, and
the form of the jaws. And it is from these that their
uncouth names are derived, almost enough to make
you shudder : to begin with, the Acanthopterygii, the
dorsal fin of which is furnished with spiny rays : ex-
amples, the gurnard, the tunny, the sword-fish. Next
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
the Malacopterygii, which, according as their ventral
fins are placed more or less backwards, are called abdomi-
nales (carp, pike, salmon, herrings), subbranchii (cod,
whiting, flat-fish) ; if these fins are altogether absent,
as in the eels, they are called Apodes. Finally we
come to the Lophobranchii, with the gills placed in
THE BUFF (Perca cerium, Cuv.).
tufts (Hippocampus, or sea-horses), and the Plectog-
nathi, a small family of fish with the maxillary and
intermaxillary bones united : examples, the Diodon, or
porcupine fish. That is the end of the puzzle."
" Eeally, you are not too exacting. But the jargon
is not merely Greek, it is Ivirghise or Cossack — such
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
words as acanthopt . . , and malacopt . . ; and as in the
matter of all foreign languages my education has been
COMMON CAEP (Cijprinus carpio, Lin.).
equally neglected, please talk to me of marine animals
for the future in my own tongue. Happy fishes ! "
SOLE (Platronectes solta, Lin.).
added he with a sigh of envy, " they have indeed
plenty of elbow-room, and must be able to make
magnificent excursions in their immense domain."
I. ^
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
9'
"Much less than you suppose/' said Uncle Bob.
" Each kind of fish, like the terrestrial animals, has its
area of distribution, beyond which it cannot pass. In
the case of many species the great currents of the
ocean form an impassable barrier. Here is an instance
of it. Formerly the shoals of. herring came by way
TUBBOT (Plcitronectes maxinmn, Burbo.).
of the North Sea, along the coasts as far as the mouth
of the Seine, but at present they scarcely come
beyond Etretat. Some imperceptible change in the
condition of the bottom, in the composition of the
water, or perhaps in the direction of the currents, and
these innumerable hosts at once quit their old habits
and change their route."
9z THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" But probably they obtain their compensation by
making some fresh excursions at greater depths.
There must be scattered over the ocean some im-
mensely deep places ; and when a fish is tired of the
surface, I imagine there is nothing to prevent his
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE ' ' TALISMAN. ' ' SPONGE (Roltento).
going lower down and ruralising at a depth of say
eight or ten thousand feet."
*' No, no ! This very year some curious observations
have been made on this subject. Without being a
great physicist, you may be aware that the pressure
increases in proportion to the depth. Well, it was
desired to find out how fish behave at pressures of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 93
two hundred, three hundred, and even five hundred
atmospheres. The result of the experiments proved
that fish that live near the surface can only descend
to a comparatively slight depth ; under an increased
pressure they die ; and — this is very remarkable — the
water being forced into their tissues, their body
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE " TALISMAN.
becomes rigid and brittle as glass. Naturally, the
simpler the organisation of the creatures, the greater
is their power of resistance, and a pressure that is
sufficiently great to kill a fish only stuns a crab, and
apparently does not produce much effect on a radiate
or a mollusc."
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" Under such conditions life must be fearfully
monotonous at these great depths. A dreadful dark-
ness, a solemn silence, and the only inhabitants two
pallid star -fish and three colourless anemones. Pheugh !
it makes me shudder only to think of it."
" Until the last few years every one would have
agreed with you, including even the most accomplished
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE " TALISMAN." Emt
DISCOVERED AT A DEPTH OF 8,800 FEET.
naturalists. Judging from what they could see, they
had decided that life was impossible at great depths, and
had anyone ventured to say the contrary, they would,
in a professional and mathematical manner, have proved
that he knew nothing about it and was a fool."
" Ignorant men of knowledge ! But who, then,
demonstrated their error?"
TWO FOi\\G NATURALISTS.
95
" A thread. In 1861 the submarine cable laid
between Sardinia and Algeria broke, at a depth of
more than 6,500 feet. It was fished up, and you may
imagine the astonishment of naturalists when there
was found adhering to this cable a whole colony of
polypes, of annelids, and of shells. Some of the
species thus discovered were unknown in the Mediter-
STTBMARrXE EXPLOITATIONS OF THE " TALISJLA2J." JTMTNTMI CtUStralis.
ranean waters, and others had been met with pre-
viously only in the state of fossils. So that this was
greeted as a happy revelation, and Milne-Edwards,*
feo whom the pieces of the cable had been confided,
went so far as to say that l such discoveries were well
* Milne-Edwards, one of the chief of the naturalists of France, has
recently died, and the author of the original work has inserted a note
announcing1 the fact, and expressing the respect and esteem in which he was
held, as well as the regret felt at his loss.
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
worth a cable broken, and that it was to be hoped
that similar accidents would occur again.'
u Since this occurrence the English, Swedish, and
American peoples have fitted out ships for sounding
and dredging, with the object of revealing the won-
derful secrets of the ocean depths.
u The Government of France has held it a point of
SUBMARINE EXPLOKATlU
FISHED FEOM A DEPTH BETWEEN 4,500 AND 10,000 FEET.
honour not to be left behind, and in 1880 a despatch-
boat, the Travailleur, made its first voyage for this
purpose in the Bay of Biscay. The results obtained
were so satisfactory that it was decided to make a
second campaign in the Mediterranean Sea, and then1
a third in the neighbourhood of the Canary Islands.
And quite recently the Travailleur and the Talisman
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 97
made an exploration in the Atlantic, and the spoils
they obtained were exhibited in one of the galleries
of the Museum of Natural History at Paris.
" No doubt you, who though so mocking are yet of
an inquiring turn of mind, visited this exhibition.
It was the fashion in Paris to go there.
"There were some true marvels, and the species
that had been previously known only in a fossil state,
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OP THE "TALISMAN." Eitrlpharyitx pi'lccanoities.
COAST OF MAROCCO, AT A DEPTH OF 8,000 FEET.
were in variety of form and beauty of colouring not
a whit behind those that were already familiar to
naturalists.
" There were siliceous sponges, Holtenia, that might
have been taken for birds'-nests, or cups made with
braided threads of glass. Other sponges, by the
H
Q8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
strange shape of their skeletons, recalled the comb
made by bees. And farther on, side by side with
dense copses of corals, there were Echinodermata,
star-fishes, radiates of all sizes, forms, and colours,
such as naturalist had never seen even in dreams
before. And no doubt among the numerous horde of
crustaceans, you noticed a collection of shrimps of a
SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE " TALISMAN." Melaneoceiu* johnsoni.
BETWEEN' THE AZORES AND EUROPE. DEPTH, 16,000 FEET.
carmine colour, some of which measured no less than
eight inches in length ? "
"Certainly," said Rene, uand I can admit freely
that it was these shrimps that most impressed me, for
I could not help thinking of the splendid effect they
would produce in the window of one of the restaurants
of the Palais Royal."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 99
" And the savants of the expedition, rumour says,
did not think it necessary to abstain from tasting
them. Whether this was actually the case or not, the
collection did not suffer from it, and the materials
brought back by the expedition will require at least
ten years of study to work them out.
" You remarked a little while since that the depths
of the sea must be absolutely dark. Well, the fish
overcome this difficulty by lighting it themselves, and
by carrying their lamps about with them. Many fish
are furnished with luminous plates, and almost all the
inferior forms are phosphorescent : for instance, the
Brisingia, a magnificent star-fish which derives its
name from the favourite darling of a Scandinavian
divinity."
" What a strange world ! Is the Trachinus viper a,
found among these fishes ? I mean, are the fishes
like those we are acquainted with ? "
" Not altogether so," said the doctor. " Indeed this
was one of the things that caused some surprise to
the naturalists of the expedition. The fishes found at
great depths are soft, without rigidity. To obtain the
necessary firmness they require to be submitted to a
pressure of several hundred atmospheres. When re-
lieved of this pressure, they decompose and pass into
the condition of a gelatinous mass."
u It is certainly a great pity," said Kene, "that we
cannot actually study these things for ourselves on
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
the spot, like the Captain Nemo of Jules Yerne. How-
ever, seeing the constant progress made by science, I
shall not be surprised if we succeed in doing this
some day."
The following day, a feverish attack, induced to
some extent by the venom of the Tracltinus vipera
brought a singular dream to the young Parisian.
Having been shot violently into space, he was revolv-
ing through unknown abysses. In the midst of
phosphorescent monsters great star- fishes vibrated
their arms, lighted up as if by some electric light ;
strange Echinodermata were seen, 'scattered here and
there, as if portions of heraldic designs belonging to
another world ; while, partly concealed in shadow,
gigantic lobsters awaited his passing with open claws
and menacing antennae !
VIII.
An uninviting form of cookery — Light talking and good working — A
constant sign — Curious anatomical point — An eye consisting of naany
thousand eyes — A magnificent preparation —Three stomachs to a single
individual — The classification of insects — Queer names again — Aptera
—A flea's jump — Unexpected maternal instinct — The reputation of
the flea restored Diptera — Number of strokes of a gnat's wing in a
second — The bot-flies and Helophili — Transformations of a gnat —
Hemiptera — Lepidoptera — Butterflies have feathers — Depredators —
Neuroptera — Devastating hosts — White ants — Coleoptera — Our friends
RENF/S prejudices against zoology had gradually, and
without he himself being aware of it, been dissipated.
Certainly he would have been very surprised if any
one had told him that since his arrival at Yillers
science had gained an additional devotee ; but it was
nevertheless the case, and Uncle Bob noted it each
day with pleasure.
Eene. at first an uninterested listener, now gave to
these interesting demonstrations a more sustained
attention than might have been anticipated from his
natural disposition, and he not only listened but
actually inquired.
He had, in fact, become a valuable assistant, almost
a true disciple, to Leon. And the doctor's son derived
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
a feeling of genuine satisfaction from this change, for
he had good reason for believing that it was largely
due to his own influence.
But something of the careless scholar of former
days still survived in the young disciple of the
present time, and as a proof of this, Kene* took advan-
tage of the excellent excuse afforded by his wounded
hand for sleeping through the best part of the morn-
ing, and coming down very late to breakfast.
As he was taking his place in the breakfast room,
Le*on entered, diffusing around him a strong odour of
essence of turpentine and of benzine, and wearing a
large white apron over his clothes.
u Good day, lazy man ! " he laughingly said.
" Good hail, you dreadful poisoner ! " replied Kene*,
offering his sound hand to his cousin. " But what
calling are you engaged in this morning ? Have you
become apprentice to a dyer, or are you only practising
the art of painting in oil ? "
" Neither one nor the other. I am arranging my
collection and endeavouring to protect it from becom-
ing greasy."
The Parisian now looked at him with an air of
unaffected surprise. Evidently he did not at all
understand.
"Becoming greasy?" he repeated. "Then it is
neither dyeing nor painting, but it must be cooking.
And what are you getting ready ?"
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 103
" My collection of insects. I am preventing it from
spoiling. Perhaps you would like to help me."
" With pleasure, if my wounded hand will allow
me. But, as fair exchange is no robbery, you must
tell me about your insects and give me some know-
ledge concerning them, and I shall assist you in your
efforts to prevent their becoming fat."
So, after having breakfasted very heartily for a
sick man, he went to his cousin's workroom.
"To begin with," said he, looking at the boxes
opened and displayed on the tables, " I see quite a
bewildering series of different forms, although the little
creatures have a certain air of family likeness that I
can perceive without being able to define. Tell me, if
you please, what are the characters that constitute an
insect?"
"Insects are characterised by having the body
divided into three parts — head, thorax, and abdomen,
the latter being formed by several rings or segments
placed one behind another. All, when they have
arrived at their perfect state, have three pairs of legs,
and undergo one or more, more or less abrupt, trans-
formations, passing the greater part of the period of
their existence in the condition of larvae, then becom-
ing nymphs or chrysalides, and then in the form of
perfect insects reproducing their kind.
" There is nothing more wonderful than the anatomy
of these liliputian beings. Thus they breathe by
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
means of tubes opening on the sides of their bodies,
and called tracheae ; these tubes terminate externally
in orifices called stigmata."
" And are these organs numerous ? "
"Very numerous. A patient entomologist has
counted one thousand five hundred and sixty-four on
the caterpillar of the willow.* But this is only one
of the remarkable peculiarities of insects : many have
compound eyes divided into facets."
u Perhaps- like diamonds after they have been
cut ? "
" Yes, but with the difference that the facets are
much more numerous. They have counted, I believe,
four thousand in the house-fly."
u | »
"About six thousand, two hundred in the silkworm
moth."
"! !"
" Twelve thousand, five hundred and forty-four in
a dragon-fly."f
"What you are telling me sounds almost incredi-
ble ! I shall become a St. Thomas, and ask you to
show me that I may believe."
* There is here some error of memory or of pen. The stigmata in insects
are never more than twenty in number; on the other hand, the tracheae are
so numerous, distributed as they are to all paits of the body, and ramifying
in a fine network around and amongst all the organs, as to defy counting.
Possibly he refers to the number of muscles, of which Lyonnet counted
4,061 in the caterpillar of Cossus ligniperda.— T*-<mslator.
t And twenty-five thousand and eighty-eight in a beetle (Mordclla) —
Translator. v '
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 105
ki Nothing is easier; here is a large grasshopper,
and here is an excellent glass ; see then, and believe."
" Indeed it is true ! " said Eene, who had laid
aside his brush in order to take the lens that his
cousin offered to him. " One ought to look at every-
thing in an insect, for all is remarkable, not only the
eyes, but the jaws, the antennae, the legs," and as he
was speaking he passed the glass over the various
parts of the body of the grasshopper. " Eeally, you
should have made me acquainted with all this before."
" It is never too late to mend. Take a good lens,
FOUR FACETS FROM THE EYE OF A COCXCHAFEK.
a, b, Retina, c, Crystalline cone, d, Cunteal facet.
or a microscope, and any insect whatever, and you
find in it a field of study almost unlimited, especially
if you are of a mind to examine its anatomy and
dissect it. I happen to have, on this glass slide, a
splendid specimen : it is the digestive system of a
I 'ambus, that my father has been occupying himself
with preparing."
This beautiful preparation had demanded for its
execution the utmost patience and all the skill of a
practised and accomplished hand. The three dilata-
io6
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
tions that form, as it were, three different stomachs, the
oesophagus, the gizzard, and the true stomach, were
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF A CARNIVOROUS INSECT
perfectly distinct; and around the canal were still
attached the fine tubes that are called malpighian
vessels, whose function is not yet very definitely
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 107
ascertained, but which have been supposed to be
biliary vessels.
" This is really superb," said the Parisian, as he
shifted the preparation from place to place under the
object glass, so as to seize all its details. "But before
commencing the study of the internal anatomy of
insects, I think it will be advisable to learn to dis-
tinguish them from one another ; for without some
sort of classification this must be, as you say, by no
HEAD -LOUSE, MUCH MAGNIFIED.
means an easy affair, seeing how numerous are their
kinds."
" Numerous indeed. Of all animals they are by far
the most numerous ; of ants alone there are known
about fifteen hundred different kinds. And so, in
order to keep from being lost in such a labyrinth,
several divisions have been adopted, and eight diffe-
rent orders are recognised, based on the number and
nature of the wings. They are —
"1. Aptera, destitute of wings.
io8 THE \\ALKS ABROAD OF
11 2. Diptera, having two wings.
" All the other orders have four ; they are —
'* 3. Lepidoptera, whose wings are covered with
scales.
" 4. Hymenoptera, the veins of whose wings form
large meshes.
" 5. Neuroptera, the meshes of whose wings are
numerous and small.,
" 6. Hemiptera, suctorial insects having usually one
pair of wings, in part harder than the other.
" 7. Orthoptera, with somewhat thickened upper
wings, and with the under wings folding in longitu-
dinal plaits.
" 8. Coleoptera, with hard wings called elytra,
usually united along the back by a straight suture,
and with the under wings folding transversely.*
" With these summary indications you will readily
be able to find your way for a little in the intricacies
of entomological classification."
Rene" made rather a wry face ; and clearly Coleop-
tera, Orthoptera, and the rest had as much difficulty in
making themselves at home in his mind as had the
Acanthopterygii and Malacopterygii of the fishes.
* The number of orders of insects is still a matter of discussion and not
unfrequently a larger number than the above are adopted. The Neuroptera
are by some naturalists divided into two or three orders ; some separate the
Thysanura as distinct ; and others so treat the fleas, giving them the name
of Aphaniptera. The order Aptera, on the other hand, is now usiially
abandoned, the true lice being placed in the Rhynchota or Hemiptera, and
the bird lice in the Orthoptera. — Translator.
TIW YOUNG NATURALISTS.
109
"It is easy, very easy," he muttered; "probably
quite easy when you have seized the clue, and this
clue — Stop ! as you have already done so much,
point out to me an example of each of these eight
orders/'
" Very well," said Le'on, laying down his brushes
and forceps ; "I can see that we shall not do much at
the preservation of my collection to-day. But I do
THE FLEA: NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT, AND LAEVA.
OF THE STIGMATA.
INDICATES THE POSITION
not regret it, as I am glad you are overcoming your
prepossessions.
" The principal components of the order Aptera are
the lice and the fleas."
11 A most disagreeable and villainous set, to com-
mence with ! You do not keep any in your collec-
tion, I hope ? "
" One must have them represented, and I make my
collection as complete as possible. Only in the case
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
of these infamous creatures, I keep them separately,
mounted between two glass plates, and we will look
at them under the microscope. Here, to begin with,
is the common louse."
" Oh, horror ! And well it justifies the common
saying : ' As ugly as a louse ! ' "
tl And here now, on this other slide, is quite a collec-
tion of fleas : the human flea, the cat flea, the dog
flea, the flea of the chicken, and that of the pigeon,
with the complete arrangement of lances that. serves as
their stock in trade. You see that the lord of the crea-
tion, man, has by no means a monopoly of these pests."
"Do not let me look 1 nger at these disgusting
creatures, the mere sight of them makes me itch.
They are all of them, if animals at all, destitute of
physical and mental powers."
" This is certainly not true in the case of the fleas.
For instance, they have remarkable physical powers,
extraordinary strength and agility, so that they make
leaps of one thousand or fifteen hundred times their
own length. If a man could perform a proportional
feat he would be able to clear Mont Blanc with two or
three bounds."
" Then, according to you, the most hyperbolic of
compliments to an athlete would be to say to him, * You
are as capable as a flea.' And their moral qualities ?"
"They certainly possess one — maternal affection."
Kene* now looked at his cousin with an expression
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
that seemed to ask if he were joking or had become
crazy.
" I am speaking quite seriously," he affirmed in
reply to this unspoken interrogatory, which he per-
fectly understood; "fleas have a tender and provident
affection for their young. Their eggs are frequently
placed in the cracks of floors or amongst old furniture,
and almost always, side by side with the eggs, there
are found small black granulations that, when ex-
amined with the microscope, are seen to be specks of
desiccated blood ; so that the young flea on its entry
into the world finds provisions ready for its use.
" This first stock being exhausted (and this soon
happens, for the flea from its very birth is endowed
with a voracious appetite), the mother flea brings
to her offspring the blood with which she has gorged
herself, somewhat in the same way as birds give
beakfuls of food to their little ones. So that you see
these degraded insects are not so bad as uninstructed
people suppose."
"Kind fleas, honourable fleas!" cried Kene*, parti-
ally convinced ; " nothing less than this could have
made me respect them. I make my bow, and out of
respect for their good feelings I pardon them the
injuries they have inflicted on me."
"Now let us turn to some of the others. After the
fleas that have no wings, tell me about the insects
that have two."
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" In the insects that have two wings, Diptera, the
mouth forms a proboscis composed of four parts — a
sheath, a suctorial apparatus, and two palpi. If you
examine, even with a slight magnifying power, the
head of a fly, you will be able to recognise these
different pieces. Moreover, as they have only two
wings, and as it would not be right that they should
have fair grounds for being jealous of the better
endowed insects, they have instead of the second pair
TWO-WIXGED FLY (JfllSCa).
of wings — what do you suppose ? Balancers or
halteres."
" Like the rope-dancers at a circus. And what is
the use of these organs to them ?"
"Exactly the same;* and these little instruments
are even of more service to them than those of the
performers you have mentioned. Have you any idea
of the number of strokes a common fly makes with its
wings in a second ?':
" No doubt many ; here is one on the table,
suppose we ask it ?" and stretching out his hand
* This is not established.— Translator.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
he captured the fly with his finger and thumb. " Now
we can see: say thirty, perhaps forty."
"You are very far out. The number of strokes
of the wings of a fly is about six hundred per second,
and may reach as many as three thousand six hundred
during rapid flight; is not that surprising?"
KAT-TAILED WOEMS (LARVAE OF Jlcluphi, Kaj, AND J.nli bA-vU
INSECT IX TOE PERFECT STATE.
c • Here are some other kinds of Diptera : Volucella,
a wild creature resembling a humble-bee, and who
moreover takes advantage of this to obtain entrance
into the nest of the bee, where it deposits its eggs,
which when hatched devour those of its host; the
Helophili, whose larvae were named by Eeaumur 'rat-
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
tailed worms,' because of a singular appendage,
METAMORPHOSES OF A GNAT.
arranged after the fashion of the tubes of a telescope,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 115
so that the creature is able, when at the bottom of the
water, to breathe the air at the surface. Gastro-
philus, belonging to the (Estridee ; these lay their
eggs amongst the hairs of horses, and the animal,
when licking the spot, detaches them and swallows
them, and the larvae, developing in the stomach, are
well known under the name of bots. And here are
the gnats, with whose annoying bites you have been
long familiar.
" Here, too, is a preparation exhibiting the very
complicated instruments they use for this purpose.
But still more wonderful are the metamorphoses of
these creatures.
" Before becoming an aerial animal, the gnat, or
rather its larva, is a little worm of strange form,
with a complex arrangement of bristles, and inhabit-
ing pools and stagnant waters.
"When undergoing its final transformation the
pupa rises to the surface of the water, and remains
there until the swollen part of its outer skin dries
and splits ; the perfect insect then raises itself
into an erect position by gradually dragging itself
out of the skin, which meanwhile floats and serves
as a boat, the erect insect being like a little mast
and its wings like sails : truly a wonderful and fragile
skiff.
" In addition to great skill the creature requires
good fortune to bring this delicate operation to a
u6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
successful conclusion. At this moment when it is
ceasing to be an inhabitant of the water, contact with
the water that has hitherto been its proper element
is fatal to it, by preventing it from taking flight, so
that in rough weather many of these living barks are
shipwrecked, and the unfortunate insect perishes
without having been able to fly at all."
TTNDEE SURFACE OF THE PHYLLOXERA OF THE VIXE, WINGED FORM.
MAGNIFIED ABOUT SIXTY TIMES.
"I must admit," said Eene, "that the examples
of the two orders you have told me about are
wonderful. Indeed, I suspect you made a judicious
choice on purpose to interest me. Was it not so?"
" Certainly not ; the choice of these two instances
was entirely unpremeditated, and in point of fact, any
insect taken by itself affords astonishment to one
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 117
who studies it. What is already known about insects
would fill large volumes, and to these every day, as
new observations are made, new chapters must be
added. But I promised to introduce you to a few
examples of each of the orders of insects. We have
interviewed the Aptera and Diptera, and will now
continue the series.
"To the Hemiptera or Rhynchota belong the Pen-
tatomse, some of which may be met with in great
quantities in autumn on the raspberries and the
flowers of the mullein, and may be recognised by their
very strong and disagreeable odour.
" This order also includes bugs ; the Reduvii, who
disguise themselves with a covering of dirt, so as to
approach, without being perceived, the little creatures
they feed on, a proceeding analogous to that of the
spider-crabs that I have already told you about ; the
Cicada, the Aphides or green-fly, the pest of our
gardens and trees ; and the Phylloxera, the ravager oi
the vines, called vastatrix by the men of science
(these latter, by the way, have not succeeded in doing
it any other harm) ; and finally many aquatic forms —
the Notonecta, or water boatman, the Corixa, Nepae,
or water-scorpions, and the Ranatrae.
" Now we come to the representatives of an order
with which you are well acquainted — the butterflies,
in the naturalist's language, Lepidoptera, or scaled-
wings, a name that is perfectly well selected."
n8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
And taking a preparation on a glass he placed it
under the microscope.
" What ! these wonderful petals, these delicate
flowers, they are only the feathers of the butterfly ?
You would never have supposed it."
Then, noticing that his cousin was admiringly con-
templating this iridescent display, where all colours,
from the delicate tints of the pearl to the fervid
PEACOCK BUTTJiEFLY.
brilliancy of the ruby, were represented, L^on added :
"It is a great pity that these beautiful creatures
should be so injurious. There is scarcely a plant that
is not subject to the depredations of one or more
species, from the humble and prosaic cabbage, whose
leaves are consumed to the very ribs by the white
butterfly or Pieris, to the oak, whose leaves serve as the
nourishment of several species. The vegetable world
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
119
has no more determined enemies, even among the
hordes of insects, than the Lepidoptera. It is true
that it is not the butterflies themselves that do the
harm, but the caterpillars ; however, as the butter-
flies produce the caterpillars, and the caterpillars
SCALES FROM BUTTERFLIES' WINGS, GREATLY MAGNIFIED.
the butterflies, it is much the same thing to the
vegetables."
" And I, who thought them incapable of the slightest
misdeed," said Kene', "confiding in their beautiful
adornments and their innocent movements ! You
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
will, however, I hope, make an exception in favour of
the silkworm. Though I admit that at present insects
inspire me only with a most limited confidence ;
including even this beautiful dragon-fly with trans-
parent wings, that belongs, I presume, to the same
order."
"Not at all: it belongs to the order Neuroptera,
among which we have also many enemies ; and
DEAOON-FLY (Libellula).
though the dragon-flies and the may-flies do us no
harm, though the ant-lion destroys only ants, there are
other species that are not so scrupulous in respect to
us. The white ants, or Termites, especially have a
deplorable habit of excavating their habitations or
concealed galleries in furniture and other articles con-
structed of wood. So well do they accomplish this,
that sometimes they leave only a thin crust of wood,
and directly this is touched "
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
" Crack ! it goes. It must be funny to see the face
of the owner under such circumstances. These des-
troying and annoying insects must, however, be very
rare, for I do not recollect ever to have met with any
of them."
"Certainly they are rare with us,* though very
MAY-FLY (Ephemera).
Perfect, Insect.
common in some maritime towns, where they do an
immense amount of damage. This is especially the case
at Rochefort, where the insect has been introduced,
* In Britain there are no white ants, and they only occur in a few spots
in France, in the south ; but in North America they are more common. —
Translator
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
though it is not quite known at what date, and by
whom."
"Probably by some furniture maker, or carpenter,
by virtue of the maxim : ' Is fecit cui prodest.' It
WHITE ANTS (Termites) : DIFFERENT FOBMS.
seems, then, we may conclude that such insects as are
not valuable friends are dangerous enemies. And
this long series of Coleoptera, are they friends or
enemies ? "
u Some are the one, some the other, as in most of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
the remaining orders that are numerous in species.
Amongst the Coleoptera we have many allies; the
carnivorous beetles are especially useful, as they
destroy many injurious insects. I have placed them
all together." And opening a large box: "Here
THE BROAD DYTISCTTS
(Dytiscus latissiiiu<x\.
THE GREAT HYDROPHILUS
(Hydroph Hits piceus) .
COLEOPTERA.
are our friends," added Leon; "in the first place
the numerous family of the Carabidee : Carabus
with metallic colours ; Procrustes, with a skin like
leather in appearance; the Cicindeloe, called tiger-
beetles by LinnaBus ; the Feroniee and the Harpali.
Then the glow-worm tribe, that destroy snails and
perhaps caterpillars ; the Telephori, with silky appear-
I24
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
ance; and also the Coccinellec, called in France betes
a bon Dieu, great destroyers of the Aphides or green-
%.
" The burying beetles are also useful to us, their
office being to dispose of offensive remains; the
Staphylinidse, one species being said to destroy the
EGYPTIAN SACKED BEETLE (Sca
Iarva3 of flies ; the Silphee, some of which wage war
against snails ; the dung-beetles, with their disgusting
food. This, by the way, did not prevent the ancient
Egyptians from treating them as sacred ; . the Ne-
crophori, already mentioned, which have the habit of
interring the bodies of smaller animals, possibly with
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 125
the intention of preserving them till they become
'high,' but more probably to provide a store for
their future offspring. Some day we shall see them
at their work, and then I can assure you that you
will not regret the time spent in watching them.
And now, shall we look at the injurious beetles ? "
With this he opened a box, in which were to be
seen transfixed by long pins many Coleoptera, as if
condemned and expiating their sins. First of all the
TURNIP-FLY : NATURAL SIZE AXD MUCH MAGNIFIED.
chafers, who perhaps died regretting their juicy
leaves ; the Derinestidae, which frequently cause serious
injury to the finest furs; the weevils, and the corn-
weevils, dreadful scourges to our stores of grain in
barns and granaries ; Halticidae, so small that it had
been necessary to gum them on pieces of cardboard ;
and in addition a rear-guard of the destroyers that
devour roots, wither the young shoots, or perforate
the leaves.
"All these sorts," said Le'on, "I abandon to you ;
126
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
wherever you meet with them you may destroy, smash,
kill, or massacre, I absolve you in advance."
COEN-WEEVII,, MUCH WIEE WORM : LAEVA
MAGNIFIED. AND PERFECT INSECT.
LAEDAE1US.
The dinner bell, violently rung by an impatient ser-
vant, brought to an end the instructive conversation
of the young friends.
IX.
Congratulations are the order of the day — Ineffectual strategy — Some
respectable insects — Ants and their flocks — Dairy-farms of blight —
Men, women, and workers— To be an ant is no sinecure— Destruction
of a home— An eastern legend — Tamerlane — In what way a mere
ant may sometimes decide the fate of an empire — How Mr. Leon
increased his collection on this occasion.
As the meal was concluding, " Suppose we take our
coffee in the garden?" said the doctor. "Nothing is
better than the open air for promoting and facilitating
digestion."
Uncle Bob's proposal was cheerfully and unani-
mously accepted, and our three friends, having installed
themselves comfortably under the arbour, the aromatic
mocha was brought thither to them.
" Now, my dear nephew," said the kind savant as
he dispensed the pleasant refreshment, "can you
imagine what rumour is saying abroad ? I have heard
that one of the greatest traducers of natural history
has recently been led into the right path on the shore
at Villers ; that the aforesaid traducer, having already
passed the grade of martyr, thanks to the wound of a
certain Trachinus vipera, has none the less been seen,
128 THE WALES ABROAD OF
this very day, in the flagrant misdemeanour of ento-
mology, and this too under the fallacious pretext of
giving to the insects a necessary cleansing — which
they still await."
Kene*, reddened at this direct attack, but he met it
thus —
" It is not my fault ; Le'on is in the habit of study-
ing animals in our native.tongue. He makes as little
use as possible of those long words that seem to have
been invented on purpose to provoke. It is he, and he
alone, that should be reproached."
" Or rather congratulated, and this I do most heartily.
Pass me the sugar-basin, if you please."
Uncle Bob selected a lump, but as he was putting
it in his cup he suddenly made a gesture of annoyance.
"These detestable creatures again," he muttered.
" My instructions have been neglected."
The kitchen and dining-room of the cottage were,
in fact, infested by ants — by those large red ants that
intrude themselves wherever provisions are to be
found — active, and apparently countless, coming one
knows not whence, and returning, eagerly occupied,
incessantly seeking supplies.
If a bowl of milk were left for only ten minutes on
the kitchen table, one might have been sure of finding
at least three or four of these adventurers struggling
haif-drowned in the useful liquid, like the famous
Duke of Clarence in his butt of Malmsey wine.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 129
The sugar-basin, to them a precipitous fortress, was
a special object for repeated assaults from these hungry
little creatures. Unfortunately for them, the doctor,
who much preferred sugar to formic acid, had resolved
to make an energetic defence of his goods, and as the
ants, in spite of all his precautions, always found some
way of slipping under the cover, he had surrounded
the fortress with a large moat filled with water. This
strategic moat was nothing less than a plate.
Uncle Bob was as proud of his invention as a gene-
ral would be of a successful, unexpected manoeuvre.
Ants, it must be admitted, have no aquatic capacities,
so that when he discovered that his precautions had
been frustrated, he did not attempt to disguise his
surprise and annoyance, and his first impulse was to
lay the blame on the cook.
" So you have neglected my instructions ! "
Dame Theresa, however, would not admit this, and
made the most solemn asseverations that the sugar-
basin had, like a true fortification, never for a single
moment been without its surrounding zone of water.
" I am unable to understand it," said the savant.
" I think I can explain it," said Eene. " The sugar-
basin was, I believe, in the middle of the dumb-waiter
on the second shelf?"
"Yes, well?"
u Well, this morning, I observed two or three ants
walking about on the under side of the third shelf,
ijo
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
just above the basin. The place being invincible from
below, ' they attacked it from above ; then, having
entered the basin, and not being able to get out again,
they have calmly awaited the turn of events."
The good doctor laughed most heartily.
"So that it is I that am out-generaled ; it is I, an
educated, certificated medallist, that am duped by
these impertinent Hymenoptera ! After this, one may
well boast of being a man, and of passing as a learned
one ! However," he added, with an air of consoling
TWO YO UNG NA TURALISTS. 1 3 1
himself, " since it was destined that I was to receive a
lesson in strategy from some insects, it was well that
it should be from some of good reputation, known to
be clever, keeping a house of their own."
•'And herds besides," added Le'on.
His cousin looked at him with an expression of in-
credulity.
" Herds!" he repeated; "have you then another
history to narrate ? "
" Yes, and a true one. You have had an illustration
BED ANT (Formica rufa, Latr.).
of the great love ants have for sugar. Now, as perhaps
you are aware, it is a curious fact that the aphides, of
which we have already spoken, have the faculty of
exuding a sugary substance. The watchful ants,
always busy, long since discovered the existence of this
natural source of sweetness, and as timidity is one of
the last of their defects, they calmly go and milk the
aphides, without, however, doing them any harm.
Naturally the latter, good-natured and feeble creatures,
allow them to do it, not being able, in fact, to prevent
it, so that the aphides in question become actually
the milch cows of the ants.
i32 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" There is still more; the ants have made a further
development quite as knowing in its way. f We lose
an enormous amount of time,' they said, ' in going
about here and there to milk our cattle, and, for busy
ants, time is money.' You will guess the sequel :
aphides established in, dwelling in, the nests of the
ants, where they are well taken care of, fed, fattened,
kept clean, petted, and so on, with the result that
there is always a supply of sugar at hand. Without
doing ourselves any injustice, can you suggest any
way by which we ourselves could have improved on
this?"
"No, indeed. But why should they be included in
the order Hymenoptera, seeing that these, as you told
me, are characterised by the possession of four mem-
branous wings with large meshes ? Ants, so far as I
know, have no wings at all."
"Yes, they have; but in most cases they are only
provided with them "for a short time at the period
when they are occupied with laying their eggs, and
even then not all of them, but only the males and
females."
" Your l only ' is very strange. Are there then
ants that are neither male nor female? Are there
Auvergnats among them ? "
" Exactly, and these Auvergnats are the most
interesting of all the members of the ant tribe. They
are the workers, and on them devolve all the house-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 133
hold operations. The males live like landlords ; the
females lay the eggs, and nothing more is asked of
them. As for the workers, their occupations are
ANTS AND APHID
much more varied ; in the first place it is they who
construct the house."
" In fact, they are at once architects, bricklayers,
labourers, and miners. What next?"
" They take care of and milk the aphides."
"Dairymen."
134 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" On them also falls the duty of feeding the
males and females, and what is even more essential,
the larvae. These they fatten with truly maternal
solicitude."
" Foster-mothers."
" And of carrying the latter into the sun when it is
warm, or moving them from one chamber to another
warmer when it is cold."
"Nursemaids."
"And also of keeping watch over all the inlets
and exits, and of defending the community in case of
attack."
" And soldiers. Eeally to be an ant is by no means
a sinecure."
"It is an occupation that few men would be equal
to. But, without going far, we can see for ourselves
some ants in their home. I noticed yesterday at the
bottom of the garden a large stone, and many ants
were assembled there. Probably by lifting it "
And without waiting for the end of the sentence, the
three friends directed their way to a distant part of
the garden.
The stone was raised. Leon had not been deceived.
There was at once apparent a confused multitude of
tawny bodies, and a great interlacement of feet, as
well as a moving and running about in all directions.
Then gradually order was seen to be prevailing in the
midst of this disorde/. The soil forming the floor of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 135
the ants' nest was pierced by many little orifices ; one
by one the ants entered into these and disappeared
from sight. The larvse and pupae (frequently called
ant-eggs) being unable to walk, were carried by their
guardians, three or four of whom sometimes joined
in a common effort in order to carry these precious
burdens out of the way of danger as speedily as
possible.
" These little creatures are really wanting in
nothing/' murmured the doctor. "Intelligence,
devotion — to say nothing of the fact that their per-
severance is celebrated in one of the best anecdotes I
know as coming from the East, though whether it
be Persian, Tartar, or Mongol I do not now recollect ;
but this, however, is of little importance."
The word anecdote nearly always rouses the atten-
tion and excites the expectations of an audience. On
this occasion Uncle Bob did not wait to be pressed,
but continued —
"It was at the time when Tamerlane was about to
commence his career as a conqueror. One day, his
forces having been overwhelmed, almost annihilated
by a disastrous defeat, he had been obliged to beat a
retreat, which, as you may well suppose, had put him
into a very bad humour.
" The next day, secluded in his tent, he was asking
himself what was now to be done, when he noticed
an ant climbing with much effort the canvas of the
i3b THE WALKS ABROAD OF
tent. With a fillip he made the intrusive creature
fall to the ground.
" The ant again ascended ; a second fillip from
Tamerlane, followed by a third and a fourth, and
5 WITH PART OF THE EXTERNAL CUVERIXQ REMOVED TO
SHOW THE CELLS.
each time the ant again mounted the canvas, not
appearing in any way discouraged.
"History is silent as to the number of times this
was repeated. But all at once, Tamerlane, striking
his forehead, a gesture which among all nations
signifies that an idea has occurred to a man : ' This
example should be followed,' cried he ; ' the future
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 137
belongs to the persevering.' And leaving the ant to
continue its career, Tamerlane went out, and became
— Tamerlane. And thus a little ant once decided the
fate of a great empire."
While the doctor was telling this, the last of the
ants had disappeared, and the three observers had
already turned away from the nest, when they noticed,
a few paces away in the alley, a child approaching
them, carrying a large parcel. At the sight of the
doctor he stopped short as if dumbfounded.
"What do you want, my little one?" said Uncle
Bob, patting him kindly on the cheek.
"It is a bumble-bee's nest that I have found and
brought to you, sir," said he, offering the parcel to
Le'on.
X.
More Hymenoptera — Republic and monarchy — Bees — Expulsion of the
swarm — A swarm in a letter-box — Preparatory measures — House -
cleaning and repairs — Propolis — Wax, honey— Saint Bartholomew's
day in a hive— Egg -laying, larvae — Regal food — A mortal duel —
Orthoptera— Cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, &c. — Earwigs— Un-
deserved censure — Extraordinary increase of locusts and Blattse — A
supposed omission — Out of the ranks of insects — The Epe'ira diadema —
How the spider spins his web — The trap-door spider, navvy, mason,
and upholsterer— Argyroneta— A tent under water— The struggle for
existence.
LEON took a shining new silver coin from his purse,
and gave it to the child, who ran gambolling away.
" This is an opportune purchase," said the young
naturalist, as he located the great nest in his work-
room. "Next to the ants among the Hymenoptera,
we shall study the bees, for bees, humble-bees, wasps,
and hornets are all of one kindred, or nearly allied."
"They are first cousins, and the ants their second
cousins," said Be*ne. "Well done ! I like families so
well arranged. I have no doubt we shall find the
bee-republic another model."
" A republic ! But it is not one. The ants are
democrats ; the bees live under a monarchy, and
moreover, appear neither better nor worse off for so
doing.
" The hive is made up of a queen, of five hundred
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
'39
to twelve hundred males, and of fifty to thirty thou-
sand sterile workers. In this little world each one
SWARM OF BEES.
has his appointed place. If we follow the movements
of a young swarm from the moment when, being
sufiiciently strong to shift for itself, it is expelled
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
from the paternal abode, we shall see the bees, like a
little buzzing cloud, wandering about from tree to
tree, sometimes stopping and clustering together in a
dense mass, until a new home is found, or one is
provided by some bee-keeper. When they escape
being thus appropriated, the new home is usually in
a hollow tree trunk, an old wall, or some similar
shelter. I have known bees to take up their abode
at the top of a steeple. Quite recently, in some
village of the Lower Seine whose name I have forgot-
ten, an inexperienced swarm found no better course
than to install itself in the letter-box of the post-office.
" The dwelling place being selected, the bees cleanse
and prepare it ; they close accurately all its openings
except one, and they cement the interior by means of
a varnish called propolis. This substance is also used
for another purpose. If, by some chance, an intruder
should find its way into the habitation, they expel it,
either living or dead, when it is not of too great a
size for their powers. But sometimes it proves to be
too heavy to be ejected, and what then is to be done ?
With such a carcass within it the dwelling would not
be habitable.
" The bees are not embarrassed by such an affair.
They procure a supply of propolis, make use of it to
enshroud the body, and so, by this novel mode of
embalming prevent the access of air to it, after which
there is no further reason for apprehension : a sort of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
HI
mausoleum or monument, standing in the middle of
the hive, remains the sole vestige of the deceased
enemy."
" Certainly very ingenious. But now, about wax
and honey ? "
"I am coming to that. As soon as the abode is
made habitable the workers in wax begin to fabricate
the hexagonal cells with which you are familiar, and
n:A<;>rr.xT OF cojrii. WITH BEES AT WORK ON IT.
which serve the double purpose of storehouses for
provisions and of cradles for the future posterity.
" This wax is secreted by the bees. Formerly it was
supposed to be gathered from flowers, but it is now
known that it is secreted by means of a special struc-
ture on the hinder part of the body, and that it is not
pollen, kneaded or altered by working.
"With regard to honey, it appears that they in
1 4-2 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
the first place obtain it from flowers, from which they
abstract it by suction, and disgorge it into the cells of
the comb. When everything is prepared, the queen
leaves the hive, takes a flight in the air, and returns
to lay her eggs. After this moment all the males are
massacred without any mercy."
" Without sparing any ? I think this detracts
much from the idyl of the bee. I was inclined to
fancy them models of all the virtues ! You were say-
ing that the queen returns to lay —
" An egg in each cell ; but, like a prudent manager,
DRONE, OE MALE OF THE HONEY BEE.
she proceeds in a recognised order : first the eggs of
workers, then the eggs that are to produce males,
and lastly, in much larger cells, eggs from which
queens are to arise, these latter at intervals of some
days, in order that several queens shall not be born
together, for this would probably give rise to fatal
disturbances."
"Such a proceeding may be called the perfection of
foresight. Offspring, and the future tranquillity of the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 143
society are definitely assured, supposing, as you say,
that the eggs for queens do not fail."
"This latter contingency has been provided for as
well as the others. The larvee appear after two or
three days, and are fed by the attendants of the hive
for five or six days. Then they cease to eat, spin a
cocoon, and in this temporary shroud await the
moment when they also shall become perfect bees.
u One of the most curious facts is that the eggs and
CO1CMOX EARWIG.
larvse that are to become queens are the same as the
eggs to produce the larvae of workers. It is the
nutriment given to them that differs : while the
workers receive only a rather thin paste, the future
queens are nourished by means of a much more sub-
stantial jelly. So that if, as the result of some unfor-
tunate event, they should be deprived of their queen,
they select a well-to-do larva of a worker, and this,
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
by virtue of the more substantial and efficacious food,
becomes a queen capable of affording eggs. Besides
being nourished with this superior food, the queens
also are reared in royal cells, of a larger size and
different form.
" Sometimes it happens that, in spite of all the pre-
cautions that have been taken, two queens attain at
the same time their complete development in the
FIELD-CRICKET. (Gfyllus CdttlpeSl f is) •
hive. Then there arises a fatal duel, and only one of
the two may remain in the domain. The bees, though
such industrious little creatures, are very jealous and
intolerant. But suppose we return to the garden for
a little ? "
It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon, and
the crickets and grasshoppers concealed in the herbage
commenced their deafening noise.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 145
" These belong to the order Orthoptera," said Le*on ;
" the only one we have not discussed. They are in-
jurious and destructive creatures, both those that run,
like the Blattae, Mantides, and Forficulae (earwigs),
and those that leap, as the grasshoppers, the locusts,
the crickets, and the mole-crickets."
" How, then ! Is the familiar cricket an injurious
creature ? If so, there is another belief the less, and
Lamartine was not correct when he wrote the verse
that you no doubt are acquainted with —
" ' Solitary cricket,
A voice from underground,
Arouse thyself and sing
A song for me.'* '
"As we are speaking of Orthoptera, can you tell
me if earwigs really have the habit popularly attributed
to them of entering the ears of people and making
their lodging there ? "
" Certainly not ; they have never been known to do
such a thing. It is a mistake that is probably con-
nected with their name. This is perhaps derived from
the form of the appendages that terminate the body, or
from the shape of the wings when they are unfolded.
Their pincers are said to somewhat resemble in form
the instrument that jewellers formerly made use of
* " Grillon solitaire,
Voix qui sors de terre,
Ah! reveille-toi
Pour moi."
146 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
to pierce the ears of young people. The popular
error has perhaps arisen from some misconception thus
suggested.
" The statements made to the effect that in Algeria
the attacks of locusts are a most serious scourge to
the inhabitants are, however, no error, but unfortu-
nately are only too true. The whole of the vegeta-
tion, even to the last leaf, is destroyed and every
green blade has disappeared after the visit of one
of these immense clouds. They are so dense and
consist of such enormous numbers that in 1874 the
railway in the province of Algeria was blocked by
them.
" Indeed, the greater part of the insects of this order
are very prolific. Ships have been infested with
Blatta3 to such an extent that it has been found
necessary to have recourse to organised fumigations
to destroy them, and they were afterwards taken
away by bushels.*
" We have now, I believe, passed in review all the
orders of insects."
"All, all? " asked Eend, with a mysterious intona-
tion, something like that which the sphinx of Thebes
must have adopted when, according to legend, he
proposed his charades to those passing by.
* In Cyprus, during the autumn and winter of 1881, 1,330 tons of the
eggs of locusts were destroyed at the instigation of the British Government. —
Translator.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
H7
A MIGRATION OF LOCUSTS. BENEATH AKE IMMATUEE LOCUSTS.
" Yes each one, all. Are you not yet satisfied ? "
" Well," said the Parisian, who in point of fact was
not at all sorry that he was able to catch his cousin
H8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
tripping in connection with his favourite science,
"by some curious inadvertence you have forgotten
JE (COCKROACHES), COMMONLY CALLED BLACK-BEETLES.
an important group — one, too, that is not the least
interesting of them."
" What can that be ?"
" Look there ! "
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 149
Held by a thread between two branches of some
bushes there was a large spider, Epeira diadema,
which, quite unaffected by being the subject of con-
versation, was calmly taking the preliminary steps
towards the formation of its net.
" You are both right and wrong," said Le*on.
"You are right, for I had no recollection of the
spiders ; but you are wrong, inasmuch as spiders are
not insects. They are out of the category, as they
possess eight legs, and also lungs. The Myriapoda
(centipedes and thousand legs) also form a sepa-
rate class. The first of these two classes is named
Arachnida. The ordinary equivalent of this scien-
tific term may be given as the c class of spiders ' ;
the second, Myriapoda, which means, 'myriad feet.'
Now we shall see how the spinning spiders construct
their web." *
The spider, at the moment when the young men
arrived, -had already fastened the end of its thread to
a twig, then letting itself fall, it attached the other
end a little lower down. This preliminary part of
the work being accomplished, it several times re-
* Those who dislike the spiders found in our houses should not on that
account allow themselves to be prejuduced against those that live in our
fields and gardens. These latter are in reality valuable friends to us because
of the little insects they devour as food. A friend of ours, who lives in
Mauritius, has furnished us with the following' striking example of this :
' ' In some portions of the island the plantations were formerly surrounded
bv large trees, where numerous spiders made their webs. In every place
where these trees have been felled and the spiders destroyed, little insects,
chiefly Diptera, have directly appeared in unexampled abundance."
1 5o THE WALKS ABROAD OF
traced its steps, making use of this slender thread as
a bridge, and adding a new thread as required. Then
when this portion appeared to it to be sufficiently
strong, it prepared the other radiating lines in a
similar manner, adding finally the concentric threads.
There then only remained for construction the hiding-
place in which the proprietor of the web lies in
ambush to await the course of events. This den,
made out of a leaf that the spider is able, by means
of its silk, to roll into the form of a cylinder, is
arranged in such a manner that the creature in it
is made aware of the slightest shock that may be
communicated to the web, and also so that it can run
out at the first indication and pierce with its veno-
mous jaws any unfortunate insect that has allowed
itself to be captured.
The spider's web is not in reality formed by weav-
ing : it is simply gummed, and Le*on did not fail to
point this out. " The substance of which the silk is
formed is," he said, " a sort of viscous gum, secreted
by a gland, and issuing by four mammillae, pierced
by a multitude of little holes. Each thread, although
it appears single to the naked eye, is in fact a bunch
of threads soldered or gummed together, and drying
on contact with the air, after having been secured
to the other threads forming the structure of the
web.
" Each species, moreover, has its own way of work-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
ing, and constructs its web, as well as forms its den,
in its special manner. The trap-door spider, very
common in the south of France, excavates in the
earth a well, or pit, of about one or two feet in
TKAP-DOOR SPIDER (Ctmiza fodteillf) AND ITS NEST.
depth, and carefully lined. Like a wise animal, it
closes its dwelling by a lid, a true door, kept in place
by a hinge, and closed with a latch, the latch being
the spider itself. The inner side of the door has
i5z THE WALKS ABROAD OF
attached to it some strong threads, by means of which
the spider, holding on to the sides and the lid, at the
same time lock and lock-maker, keeps its house safely
shut up, and without having any fear of losing the
door-key.
"But of all the spiders, the most extraordinary is
perhaps the Argyroneta, which has the excessively
ABGYRONETA AND ITS AQUATIC liALLOON.
odd peculiarity of contructing its house under the
water.
" It is perhaps even more curious that this water-
spider does not possess any special organs, that would
enable it to breathe and live at large in the midst of
the liquid element ; the Argyroneta, in fact, breathes
air like other spiders. When it is on the point of
establishing a home, it begins by choosing a leaf at
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 153
the surface of the water, in order to form with this a
protection for the edifice. The Argyroneta being
covered with hairs and pubescence, air adheres to its
body, giving it a silvery appearance when in the
water, and it is thus enabled to live for some time
beneath the surface. Being thus provided with a
temporary supply of air, it constructs a web some-
thing like in size and shape to a thimble, secured by
threads to neighbouring plants. It then ascends to
the surface, and again descending carries with it a
supply of air, which it discharges into the silken web,
and repeats this operation until this novel kind of
balloon is sufficiently inflated, when it takes up its
abode therein and makes excursions in search of prey,
which when captured it carries back to its subaquatic
balloon and devours at leisure.
" Father de Lignac states, moreover, that he was
acquainted with a case that appears almost incredible,
154 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
namely that two Argyronetee of different sexes, having
their nests placed at some little distance from one
another, had actually established a silken gallery of
communication between them.
st I think you will admit that, however, extraor-
COBWEBS AND SPIDERS.
dinary may be the natural history of the ants and
bees, that of the spiders is also not without its
interest, and may induce us to try to overcome the
feeling of repugnance that is entertained for these
creatures by many people. I might add that it is
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 155
said that spiders are not insensible to the charms
of music. Although it is so well known, I may
remind you that Pellisson, when he was in the Bas-
tille »
Leon suddenly stopped. Another spider, with
enormous legs and hungry aspect, had suddenly
descended on the newly stretched threads. Possibly
his web had been destroyed, and he had not at the
time the material in his possession that would en-
able him to construct another, so that no resource
remained to him except to establish himself, by
the right of the strongest, on the territory of the
other.
The legitimate proprietor fled in alarm. At first it
endeavoured for a few moments to resist, but soon
perceiving that the struggle was an unequal one, it
pitiably retired and left the place.
Eene, who had watched in an attentive manner all
the phases of this drama, wished to crush the usurper,
but Leon prevented him.
"Why destroy it?" said he. "It is but obeying
the mandate of its nature. Everyone must live, and
if the first spider retired so promptly it was probably
that it felt itself able to construct a new web. More-
over, have we men the right to show ourselves so
severe ? "
The face of the Parisian grew serious, and his
memory carrying him back several years, Kene* re-
156 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
called the fact that if spiders impelled by hunger
sometimes usurp the place of others in order to live,
there were also men who had allowed to escape from
their lips these words whose shamefulness should not
permit them to be forgotten —
"Might is greater than right."
XI.
A sailor's marriage at Villers — Titles of nobility — A strange vessel — Good
folk— An acceptable gift— The Albatross.
IT will be recollected that Father Lucas had given an
invitation for a certain Wednesday, and this had now
come. This very day the fisherman's daughter was to
be married, and the doctor had promised to be present
with his friends at the ceremony.
Uncle Bob's young guest, who was not himself
attached to the old fisher by any tie, was delighted
with the prospect of being present — he, a Parisian ! —
at a ceremony so different from one of the kind at
Paris. " A sailor's wedding, fancy that ! No doubt it
will be a funny affair," but the mocking remarks and
ironical commentaries at the tip of his tongue were
arrested beforehand by a rather stern glance from the
doctor. It must not, however, be supposed that Eene
was of a malicious disposition ; it was rather that he
was very young, and a little rash and hare-brained.
And it was somewhat in this state of mind that he
entered the church, and awaited with some curiosity
the arrival of the affianced pair and their friends.
iS8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
He had not long to wait. Soon the noise of
measured steps was heard on the pavement, and
gravely and slowly the parents and friends advanced.
Father Lucas was superb. On his ample breast
were displayed, glistening in the sun, two tiers of
medals, all earned by saving the lives of his fellows
at the risk of his own. And yet in point of fact the
number of rescues he had made far exceeded that of
the rewards obtained.
Amongst the surrounding group of relatives, of
friends, and of the companions of his toils, there were
also many bearing these tokens of courage and
devotion, which on the breast of a common sailor
figure as true proofs of undoubted deeds of courage,
not as the baubles of a puerile vanity.
The Parisian could not but be impressed and he
smiled no more.
The ceremony was performed in the presence of a
considerable assembly of the rough and simple natives
of the locality, who are too familar with the perils of
the deep to neglect the prayers of the church. After-
wards the wedded pair again crossed the threshold of
the church, and -Father Lucas was on the point of
again entering his home, when he felt a friendly hand
placed on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was
the doctor.
" Can you speak with me for two minutes ?" said
the latter.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 159
"Willingly," and the pair receded a few steps in
the direction of the beach.
As the two cousins remained behind at a discreet
distance, " You may come with us," called Uncle Bob ;
" you will not be in the way."
The two young people followed with some eager-
ness, for their curiosity was now aroused. Those
invited to the wedding were for the most part now
gone home to get themselves ready for the festivity
usual in such cases, so that no one else noticed the
incident. The little group' had reached the strand,
when all at once the fisherman placed his open hand
above his eyes, so that he might see better when not
inconvenienced by the jays of the sun.
"Do not know it," he muttered as if speaking to
himself. " It is very strange. Don't know it."
Uncle Bob laughed in his sleeve.
" You don't know it ! "What is it, then?" he remarked.
" Good gracious ! Do you not see yon white bark,
cutter-rigged, stranded below there on the sand, and
with a quite new flag flying at the top of the mast ?
I know every vessel of this coast — know them all, but
that I don't know at all. I cannot recollect it — unless
it is some pleasure-boat. But no, that is out of the
question: it is in too good a state and then it is
rigged for fishing."
They went a few steps nearer, the sailor keeping
his eyes steadily fixed on it. Then, his surprise may
1 6o THE WALKS ABROAD OF
be guessed when he saw the boat salute by lowering
its flag.
" It must be some decent people — very polite folk,"
cried the good man. " I don't know them, but it's
all the same ; I shall go and have a look at their boat
and tell them what an old sailor thinks about them."
" This boat is for you," said the doctor. " It is my
wedding-present. You will be able to go about with
it, take friends for excursions, go and see your
children, make your shepherd's round according to
your own desire. How do you like the rigging ?"
The sailor was standing open-mouthed and quite
dumb-founded — stupefied, in fact, by such a piece of
good fortune, which it would never have occurred to
him even to hope for.
" Is it true — is it really true, what you are telling
me? You are not joking? It is really for me, this fine
boat, and all its rigging and tools ? Well, well, and
I accept it on two conditions. One is, that Mr. Leon
shall be its godfather, and that we make the first
voyage together. And if you ever want to make a
journey to Caen, to Courseuilles, to Etretat, or any-
where else, say the word, give only a sign, and old
Lucas will take the tiller for you."
And then, to emphasize the sincerity of his words,
he seized the doctor's hands with his own. The fingers
of the scholar almost cracked beneath his hearty grasp,
but he made no sign of complaint.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 161
Then the boat must be examined. Lucas poked it
about and investigated it with the thorough attention
of a craftsman. It was in fact quite new, and had
been brought from a building-yard at Trouville by
some sailors according to a plan arranged beforehand.
It was large enough to carry five or six persons, but
at the same time was so fitted out as to be capable
of being handled by one man. An orlop extending to
the stern both increased its stability and assisted in
keeping out the seas, and in case of severe weather
was capable even of protecting the passengers. As
fittings there were a table, some folding chairs, and
two berths arranged on each side. The storage-
place for the sails and ropes was covered by the
planking.
"Everything is as it should be," said the sailor
after a minute inspection. " In fair weather I could
cross the Channel in it." Then suddenly recollecting
the business of the moment, he added, "And my
mates, I was forgetting them. Won't they be sur-
prised when I show them your present after we have
done breakfast ! "
After having again pressed the hand of the doctor,
he hurried away as fast as his old legs would carry
him.
The two young men were thoroughly pleased
without any pretence. Uncle Bob had in fact made
three happy by one stroke, for if Father Lucas was
M
1 62 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
the owner of the boat, it was quite evident, that they
would get the use of it. So the doctor's nephew was
able to say with reason —
" What name shall we give to our vessel ?"
"That, my dear boys," interrupted the donor, "I
have been obliged to attend to myself already. I am
sorry for it, for I should have preferred the pleasure
left to you. But our law in France is as imperative
in demanding a recognised name for a boat taking the
sea as for a child who has come into the world. I
have therefore brought our new acquisition into har-
mony with the official regulations by giving it a name
of my own choice. Eead and confirm."
On the stern of the vessel the young men saw, on
inspection, a carved figure of a white bird standing
out in bold relief, with its wings unfolded, while
above it in gilded letters, and just then brilliant in
the rays of the sun was the name —
THE ALBATKOSS.
XII.
A letter — Logical inferences. — Pietro Franceschini — The Odysseus of a
gendarme — An account of the acquaintance of ITranceschini and Uncle
Bob — The two barometers — A false prophet.
"MR. LEON —
" DEAR SIR,
" My labels are completed, my collection of
forest birds and animals is mounted and varnished.
You kindly promised to classify them for me. Thank-
ing you again for your consideration, I have the
honour to inform you that you will find me at home
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from two till four in
the afternoon. If any of my duplicates should be of
use to you, it will give me great pleasure to place
them at your disposal.
" I am, Sir,
" Your very true and obedient servant,
" PIETRO FRANCESCHINI.
"Keeper.
" P.S. My obedient compliments, if you please,
to your father, Dr. Boberral."
A correct logician, or even a police magistrate,
(happily the two are sometimes combined in one
1 64. THE WALKS ABROAD OF
person) into whose hands this letter might have come,
would undoubtedly have drawn certain inferences
from it, such as —
1. That the writer of this letter was a gamekeeper.
Not a difficult inference this, seeing that he announced
it himself.
2. That the keeper was a Corsican. At least his
name, which was very Italian, pointed to this.
3. That this Corsican gamekeeper was a retired
gendarme. This might be gathered from the style of
his letter, which while striving to be as polite as
possible, still retained an official smack, and some-
thing of the formal and precise manner of a legal
document.
4. That the aforesaid Corsican, keeper, ex-gendarme,
employed his spare time in the formation of a collec-
tion of the animals of the locality, and that he had
not, from lack of the requisite knowledge, been able
to arrange it himself.
5. Lastly, if he were acquainted with the good
reputation of Uncle Bob, that this Corsican, ex-gen-
darme, presently gamekeeper and natural history col-
lector, had been the recipient of kind offices from the
learned doctor.
A logician who should have made all these infer-
ences would not have been in error.
Pietro Franceschini, after having patrolled on horse-
back various parts of France under the insignia of the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 165
well-known cocked hat, had just attained the some-
what fabulous position of non-commissioned officer,
when the war between France and Germany was
declared in 1870.
Slightly wounded at Wissemburg, he had been able,
thanks to his thorough knowledge of the district, to
escape the clutches of the Prussians, and after a multi-
tude of wanderings, a veritable Odysseus, he had suc-
ceeded in reaching Paris a few days before the siege,
just in time to be enlisted as non-commissioned officer
in a company of pioneers.
This hazardous and adventurous life was exactly to
his taste. Frequently at night-fall with his men he
quitted the besieged city, and came into contact with
the advanced guard of the Germans, harassing them,
and letting them see, as he said, some of the dodges of
a gendarme. As hardy as a real Corsican, and cun-
ning as a fox, he invariably brought these nocturnal
expeditions to a satisfactory conclusion, and when he
returned at daybreak within the line of the fortifications,
he contrived to bring with him one or more prisoners,
as he did not wish " to get rid of a good habit."
But, as says an old proverb, " The pitcher goes
often to the well." As the result of taking so many
others by surprise, he had one night been taken by
surprise himself. In the skirmish he had received a
formidable slash across the face, and at the same mo-
ment a huge demon of a Uhlan pierced his shoulder by
1 66 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
a thrust with his lance. In this pitiable condition he
was rescued with difficulty by his comrades, and
brought, they said mortally wounded, to the ambulance
of Uncle Bob.
Interested by the difficulty of the case, the surgeon
set himself, whether or no, to save him from his des-
perate state. He spared none of his skill or pains in
dressing his wounds, and rendering him a whole
man. Franceschini, too, performed his part of the task
by deciding with the obstinacy peculiar to a man of
his nature and calling, that he would not die as long
as there was the slightest chance of living. It is
scarcely necessary to add that he vowed eternal
thanks to the good surgeon for his almost miraculous
cure.
Two or three years afterwards, a keeper's place in
the forest of Touques being vacant, the gendarme, who,
in spite of his wounds, was still whole of eye and of
foot, easily obtained it on the recommendation of his
kind saviour.
At the moment when our acquaintance with him
commences Franceschini is a man of about fifty years,
thin, of nervous temperament and military bearing,
with hair closely cropped in conformity with the regu-
lation cut, and heavy, white, hanging moustache. His
wound, usually not very conspicuous on his parchment-
like skin, sometimes becomes, in certain states of the
weather, more conspicuous, and then appears in the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
167
form of a violet line extending from the left eye to the
upper lip.
The day after the receipt of his letter, the doctor
pleased with the prospect of again seeing "the old
lion," engaged a phaeton for the afternoon, it being
four good leagues from Villers to the keeper's house,
A CHEAP BAROMKTEK,
and the doctor having left his horses and carriage
in Paris, in order to oblige himself to take walking
exercise.
The day was ushered in with every appearance of
becoming very warm.
" We shall want sunshades rather than umbrellas,"
i68 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
said Kene", as they were getting themselves ready for
a start.
" Let us see what our barometers say," replied
Leon ; and he entered his workroom. " First let us
look at No. 1."
No. 1 was a dial-faced aneroid barometer hanging
on the wall. Leon gently tapped it with his finger.
The needle did not move.
" The barometer is not rising," said he.
"But it is not falling," answered Kene, " and why
should you expect it to rise ? It is already standing
nearly at fine weather."
" Let us look at No. 2."
No. 2 was a very different instrument. The case
of a barometer was replaced by a vase three-parts
filled with water and covered with a piece of muslin,
the graduated scale by a genuine ladder of wood, and
the needle by a green frog with brilliant reflections,
and which at this moment had chosen to locate itself
at the bottom of the receptacle.
" Hum ! " said Leon, " this barometer is very low ;
which seems to show —
" That your frog is silly enough to like the water,"
replied Kene, who was determined to start, come what
might.
A lively cracking of whips interrupted the conver-
sation. It was the doctor, who, as he was not going to
walk, was determined at any rate to have the pleasure
of driving the party himself.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 169
There was no further expectation of a disappoint-
ment, for the carriage was at the door. Kene turned
to the vase, saying with an air of most withering
contempt —
" Adieu, false prophet."
The frog did not see any necessity for a reply. He
contented himself with crouching more determinedly
than ever at the bottom of his receptacle, while
Kene agilely mounted next to his cousin. Black,
nose in the air, installed himself between the legs of
his master. The carriage disappeared.
XIII.
The Eoad to Touques on a fair-day — Reptiles— An example to be imitated
by the market -gardeners of France — Doubtful forms — A reptile with
a strong anatomical resemblance to a bird— Birds provided with teeth
— Uses of reptiles — Barometer No. 2 seems likely to be right.
AT Touques it was the day of the fair, and the road
to the town, though usually rather deserted, was on
this occasion traversed by many of the country people.
Milk-carts quite covered with mud, their usual
complement of tin cans replaced for the time being by
children rolling about in the straw ; tilburys driven
by heavy brazen-faced farmers, wearing blouses and
silk hats ; cabriolets, whose leathern hood, reddened
by long exposure to the storms, tottered and groaned,
the iron springs supporting it being old and rusty ;
in short all sorts and sizes of vehicles, known and un-
known, probable and improbable, had apparently been
brought into use, and raised thick clouds of dust
which almost blinded the travellers on foot.
Occasionally there might be seen groups of lasses
in their Sunday best, going in little parties together,
hand in hand, their important business being to select
TIW rOVNG NATURALISTS. 171
from the wares of the hawkers at the fair a few gaudy
ribbons and perhaps some jewellery of brass or gilt.
Here and there, in the distance, might be distin-
guished some rather denser cloud of dust, and as it
was approached it proved to be a herd of oxen, driven
probably by a boy in a serge blouse and wooden shoes,
and armed with a large stick. Now and again the
weapon would fall with a dull thud on one of the
tawny rumps, and the enormous beast, shaking his head
and neck, would break for a few seconds into a lumber-
ing trot and again relapse into his lazy progress.
The heat was stifling ; occasionally the horse would
shake its mane and neck with impatience, hoping to
get rid of some of the flies that harassed it; and
under the burning rays of the sun the varnish of the
vehicle cracked and melted, burning and staining the
fingers that touched it.
Under such conditions conversation was not likely
to be very animated ; the travellers wiped their brows,
the dog panted and hung out its tongue.
Rene was the first to break the silence. Turning
round to Leon :
" Do you still believe in your
" Reptile," replied his cousin who was dropping off
to sleep.
u Reptile ! So be it. I thought, however, that
reptiles had no legs. Probably you will tell me that
there are- several classes of them?"
172 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Just then the carriage was passing through an
avenue of large trees ; and the cool shade a little
refreshed the young naturalist, who thereupon decided
that he would give the information asked from
him.
" Here, in a few words, is a summary of it. There
are four distinct orders of reptiles — *
" The Ophidia, or serpents.
" The Saurians, or lizards.
" The Batrachians, or frogs.
" The Chelonians, or tortoises.
" With the possible exception of the viper (and in
Normandy the bite of the viper is not usually very
dangerous), all our reptiles are valuable friends to the
agriculturist. Although we are destitute of tortoises
in the north of France, yet the lizards and frogs des-
troy a great quantity of slugs and little insects. The
toad himself, the hideous and repulsive toad, is of such
real utility that the English market-gardeners, who
in this respect, it would appear, are better informed
than our own, are said to purchase them every year,
in Paris, in enormous quantities, and pay as much
as a penny apiece for them. On the other hand, it
must be admitted that in several other countries the
* At the present time the frogs or Batrachia, are not classed with reptiles,
but are considered to belong to another class called Amphibia. As, however,
the crocodiles are, by many naturalists, separated from the Sauria as a
distinct order, the number of orders of reptiles may still be said to be four. —
Translator.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
'75
reptile world is represented by crocodiles, alligators,
FKOGS EGGS AND TADPOLES PAKTIALLY DEVELOPED.
snakes, and other creatures of very bad reputation.
In a certain sense reptiles may be termed hybrids,
176 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
or rather animals of transition. Frogs, toads, and
salamanders undergo metamorphoses, something like
insects, and serpents change their skins in a similar
way to the Crustacea.
" By the conformation of their legs and of their
skeleton, the Batrachians, the Saurians, and the Tor-
toises approach the mammalia, while the cloaca of the
intestine, and their mode of reproduction by eggs, are
points of relationship with birds. On the other hand,
serpents and eels (members of the fish tribe) have an
air of resemblance or kindred that cannot be ignored.
By the way," added Leon, who had become quite
wide-awake, " do you know which of the reptiles it is
that anatomically most resembles a bird ? "
" No."
" Well, it is the tortoise : the mandibles, the conso-
lidated breastbones — " *
" A bird and a tortoise ! What a pair of anatomical
relatives ! However much the sternum may be
soldered, I shall wait to admit the resemblance until
chickens have teeth."
"At present they have not teeth," said the doctor ;
"but they have had them; certainly not chickens
exactly, but some fossil birds discovered a few years
ago by the American geologists. And it may be
mentioned as a coincidence that tortoises with teeth
« The breast or plastron of the tortoise is not now considered homologous
with the breastbone of birds.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 179
have been discovered in the formations of the Tertiary
epoch. But to return to our native reptiles : I shall
remind you of the lizards, literally our friends, for
they are easily tamed."
" I should think so ! " exclaimed Eene ; "I kept a
whole tribe of them in my desk at school."
" The so-called salamanders, to which in old days
wonderful properties were attributed, amongst others
CAPILLARY NETWORK OF THE FROO's FOOT \ A, ARTERY;
C. CAPILLARY ; V, VEIN.
that they could withstand fire. Speaking of that, I
often wonder what fables the ancients might have
manufactured about the axolotls, the strange reptiles
that are imported here from Mexico, and are beginning
to replace in aquariums the gold-fish now become
rather too commonplace. Finally come the frogs,
already alluded to. They supply us also with a ready
means of observing the circulation of the blood. This
1 80 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
can be seen with a good magnifying power in the
transparent web or membrane uniting their toes.
And we must not forget the green frogs, whose duty
it is to act as cheap barometers."
"And who are worth about as little as they cost,"
ejaculated Bene" who still entertained a malicious feel-
ing towards barometer No. 2.
Just then a prolonged rumbling was heard in the
distance ; and while the doctor and Leon were listen-
ing with eagerness, "It is some heavily laden vehicle
going by," added the Parisian. There was, however,
no further possibility of mistake : a few minutes after-
wards the first gleams of lightning, precursors of
an approaching storm, were seen behind the great
trees.
"Look, obstinate man!" said Leon. "These, I
presume, are the lamps of your vehicle ! "
The storm rapidly increased ; the cloud, at first
distant and almost imperceptible in the blue sky,
increased, and soon the azure firmament was covered
as if with an immense dark veil of slatey grey.
For a moment the little caravan stopped discomfited.
But as they were less than a mile from Touques, it
was decided to push on to there, and take shelter in
the meantime.
The doctor drove on the equipage with a heavy
stroke or two of the whip, and a few minutes afterwards
they reached one of the first houses. It was an inn,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. j8i
placed at the beginning of the village, as is usual in
country places.
Feeling thankful for this usage, our four travellers,
Black being included, hurried to enter the shelter that
so opportunely presented itself.
XIY.
A village inn at Touques in the year of grace, 1884 — At the fair — The
g-r-r-r-rand menagerie — A trade truly requiring a natural calling — Two
anecdotes of tamers.
IT was none too soon. Just as our travellers entered
the tap-room, the storm burst forth with fury, accom-
panied by torrents of rain and hail, which rattled like
a fusillade and rebounded from the windows.
Leon, Rene*, and the doctor took up a position in a
corner, while the ostler took charge of the horse and
carriage, and placed them under shelter.
The room into which our friends had just entered
was a large square apartment. The walls were covered
with a flowered paper, and on them were displayed
three framed engravings, one representing some Arabs
overthrown by a sort of lion ; another some Indians
in process of being devoured by an animal that was
supposed to be a tiger. The third was the capture
of, probably, Sebastopol. Interspersed between these
three artistic efforts were portraits, one halfpenny
each, of distinguished persons and celebrated criminals,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 183
alternating with bills, blue, yellow, red, announcing
the wonderful properties of divers new elixirs and
little known liquors, with the names and addresses of
the makers in letters of gold.
At the end, a gigantic yellow bill announcing the
times of departure and arrival of the trains of the
Western Eailway Co., served in lieu of a curtain. Such
was the establishment, and many like it may be found
quite near to some fashionable bathing-places — a
village alehouse endeavouring to assume the appear-
ance of a town hotel, on account of the wandering
tourists who occasionally find their way to it.
The peasants, excited by the native cider, the
intoxicating beverage made from the apples of the
district, and possibly also by the unusual incidents of
the day, smoked, vociferated, and shouted, each at the
top of his voice, and rattled down their dominoes on
the marble tables with noisy emphasis.
The doctor, as well as his two companions, found
himself ill at ease in so numerous and boisterous an
assembly, so that as the first violence of the storm had
passed, the downpour of thunder- showers and hail
being succeeded by a steady rain, he hastened to get
out and find some other shelter.
A few paces farther on there was the outskirts of
the fair, with its rifle-shooting at a target of pipes, its
peripatetic pastrycooks, whose small establishments
diffused for some distance around them odours of the
184. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
dripping-pan and burning fat ; its bowling-places with
their grotesque announcements ; the dealers in sweets,
arrayed in the guise of Turks, and continually tintin-
abulating their little bells ; lotteries where children
always gain prizes of indigestible gingerbread, and
their parents, occasionally, of glassware and knicknacks
of a nature supposed to be artistic, that might well
arouse the cupidity of the negroes in Africa.
Still farther on, side by side with the caravans
painted in yellow, and doing double duty as dwelling-
places and as temples of the travelling fortune-tellers,
conjurors, intelligent mesmerics, all sorts of other
exhibitions were drawn up : deformed dwarfs, very
ugly giants, with huge painted canvases, explanatory
announcements, and occasionally a chained monkey,
rickety, angry, and grimacing at the door.
Uncle Bob cast glances right and left in search of
some respectable entertainment where they could
decently await the cessation of the rain, and soon per-
ceived a large canvas structure. On the front of this
edifice appeared an inscription some twenty feet in
length —
" GRAND ASIATIC MENAGEEIE."
They entered immediately, the only delay being
caused by Black, to whom the odour of lions appeared
to be but doubtfully attractive.
The menagerie was arranged, like others of the sort,
IFEICAN LIoX.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 187
with the cages placed side by side. Behind the thick
iron bars were some lanky panthers and rheumatic
lions, dozing, or looking with a stupid air at the visi-
tors who were waiting the "description."
Occasionally a lion or other beast of prey, would
give utterance to a dull growling, and the blue long-
tailed parrots, the yellow-crested cockatoos, hanging
to their perches like trapezes, replied by discordant
shrieks.
A somewhat good-looking young woman, in a green
velvet bodice with silver embroidery, skin tights and
riding-boots, commenced the descriptive speech.
" Ladies and gentlemen, this is the terrible lion of
Nubia. His thick mane, his enormous strength, his
majestic gait, the echoing thunder of his voice, have
rightly procured for him the title of king of the
animals.
"With a single stroke of his tail he prostrates the
strongest and most powerful man, and by the strength
of his terrible jaw he conquers the largest animals."
All this was said in one note, with a shrill and gab-
bling utterance, something after the fashion of a child
rapidly repeating a lesson.
Then changing her tone and striking the bars of the
cage with her pointing-stick," Get up, Sultan ! "
The awkward animal raised itself in a reluctant
manner, and the tamer continued.
" Here is the crocodile" (she pronounced it crrro-
i88 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
cccodille), "also called the alligator, of the river Nile,
whose proverbial ferocity has been related by many
travellers."
"Another mistake," muttered Leon; "crocodile
and alligator are two very distinct creatures."
" In these distant countries, woe to whoever allows
himself to be surprised by this terrible amphibian !
For the crocodile of the Nile seizes its prey between
its fearful jaws, and dives to the depths of the waters
to devour it."
Then, in the same voice with which she had addressed
the lion, " Come now, give us a laugh," she said, and
struck the terrific jaws with her stick.
The saurian moved a little in its bath, opened its
eyes, and commenced to yawn, making a noise some-
thing like a steam-engine letting off steam. This was
all that the most persevering scholastic efforts of the
tamers had been able to teach it.
The girl rapidly covered up the bath with some
planks, and turning her back to this not very fascin-
ating subject, continued her description.
" After the animals of the torrid zone, we come to
the bear of the polar regions. Captured on an ice-
berg."
" Come away," said the doctor.
They made their exit, leaving the tamer to celebrate
in hyperbolic fashion the proverbial ferocity of the
polar bear.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 189
The rain was nearly over.
" What an occupation ! " said Leon; "What a life, to
be a tamer of wild beasts ! "
"Truly," his cousin replied, "to have before one
every morning the prospect of finishing the day as a
snack in the stomach of a lion or the bowels of a tiger,
and never be able for five minutes to feel sure that one
POLAE BEAE.
is not partly eaten ! Faugh ! I should want to be
well paid if I were to accept such a position."
" But they probably would not be anxious to take
you," said the doctor. " The very danger must have
some sort of fascination for these people, and keep them
to their wild beasts ; and the proof of this is that many
of them are quite able, if they wished it, to pursue a
less dangerous calling.
i go THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" Indeed, there is more than this. If they have
the good luck to possess enough to retire on when they
are getting old, it is only with the greatest reluctance
that they will consent to forsake their beasts. I knew
a very rich, retired tamer, who kept most of his mena-
gerie at his own private residence. He himself took
care of the wild beasts, and never failed each morning
to go and smoke his pipe and read his paper in the
society of ' his lions.' And when his neighbours,
who could not reconcile themselves to his friends, com-
pelled him to part with them, the unfortunate old fellow
was ready to die of grief.
" Moreover, danger is among the things to which
one grows quite accustomed, as you may learn by
inquiring from soldiers and sailors, or doctors and
the officials of hospitals. To return to the tamers,
once when I was house-surgeon at the hospital, they
brought under my care an unfortunate devil who had
been mauled by a tiger. His body was simply a mass
of wounds ; it was something horrible ! He survived
it, however, though how I can scarcely imagine. A
little time afterwards, as I was crossing the court-
yard of the hospital, my patient came up to me, still
enveloped in his bandages, almost like an Egyptian
mummy, and said, 'Do you think I shall be in a
condition to make my reappearance at the fair at
Houen, in three weeks' time ? '
" He was positively wearying to be at it again ;
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
191
and as I expressed my astonishment, ' This accident
was entirely owing to my own stupidity,' he added.
' A tamer who keeps a sharp look-out is never bitten
by his animals.' And, heaven pardon me ! but I
believe he added, ' Besides, you see, we never die
of it.' "
XV.
Return to the cottage — Two or three words about mammalia — The stomach
of a chewer of the cud — A well-applied mythological name — Terror of
Dame Theresa — Disgusting ! but a benefactor — Uncle Bob releases a
criminal condemned to death.
OUR friends had returned to the iun. Although the
clouds were still very threatening, they nevertheless
promised to leave an hour or two of fine weather, and
the doctor took advantage of this to order the horse
to be put to, pay the score, and start again, with a
smart trot, on the road back to Villers.
The rain had not produced a deep mud, though it
had drenched the ground and laid the dust. And the
road now displayed itself in an ochreous-red colour,
while the foliage, washed and refreshed by the mois-
ture, had regained a greener tint.
A few breezy gusts from time to time shook the
branches of the trees over the heads of our tourists,
sprinkling them as they passed with some drops of
cool water, and in the neighbouring marshes the
frogs, rejoicing in the renewed humidity, intoned a
triumphal croaking.
TWO YOVNG NATURALISTS. 193
" If we are ever to discuss the Mammalia, this is our
chance," said Kene to his cousin at the very spot
where, on going, they had talked about the reptiles.
" What do you suppose I can tell you about them
that you do not already know ? " asked Leon. " It
QUADKUMANA : CAPUCHIX MO.VKEY.
is now recognised that there are at least twelve
orders * of Mammalia, viz. —
" 1. The Bimana, to which we ourselves have the
honour to belong.
"2. The Quadrumana (monkeys).
* The number of orders of Mammalia is still a matter of some uncertainly'.
Cuvier recognised only nine, while Glaus, one of the latest authorities adopts
fourteen, without including man. —Translator.
i94 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" 3. The Chiroptera (bats). These in our country
live on insects, and help us to get rid of many
injurious creatures.
"4. The Insectivora (hedgehogs, shrews, moles,
&c.).
" 5. The Garni vora (types: the bear, dog, cat, lion,
hyaena, seal).
" 6. The Rodentia (beaver, squirrel, rabbit, rats,
mice).
"7. The Edentata, none of which are found in
Europe (armadillos, ant-eaters, pangolins).
" 8. The Pachydermata (elephant, hippopotamus,
rhinoceros, tapir, horse, pig).
" 9. The Euminantia (oxen, deer, sheep).
"10. The Cetacea (whales, dolphins, narwhal).
" Lastly, llth, the Marsupialia (kangaroos and
opossums) ; and 12th, the Monotremata (Echidna and
Ornithorhynchus), peculiar to Australia.
" I only give you this list as a reminder, and the
few mammalia of our own country are so well known
that it seems almost unnecessary to allnde to them.
Still, there is always something of interest to relate
about them, and we can, if you please, chat in a
familiar manner concerning a few of them.
" Take, for instance, the bats and the hedgehogs,
which you probably have an objection to. Well, both
of them are insectivorous, and in this capacity are
useful to us and claim our respect, although the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 195
second of them is suspected by many, rightly or
wrongly, of having a too great fondness for apples.
Squirrels, on the other hand, you probably think
CHIHOrTKRA : LOXG-EAKED BATS.
charming. And yet they are injurious animals, like
almost all the rodents. But they may be pardoned, if
as some say, they are made into delicious pies in New
1 96 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
York. Another rodent, one too that is amongst the
worst of our enemies, has been utilised in another
CAENITOEA : TANTHEK OE LKOPAED
fashion and while alive, a certain manufacturer in
England, an ingenious engineer, having invented a
machine for winding, turned by an apparatus kept in
EODKNTIA : SQUIRREL.
motion by mice. I have not heard, however, whether
this curious attempt has proved successful.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
199
" Speaking of apparatus, no doubt you are acquainted
with the arrangement of the stomach of the ruminants,
SKULL OF A RODENT
TEETH OF AN INSECTIVOUOUS ANIMAL.
or animals that chew the cud. This stomach consists
of four separate parts: 1, the rumen, or paunch; 2,
TN.M:< TIVOKA : SHREW-MOB.
the reticulum, or honeycomb bag ; 3, the psalterium,
or manyplies ; 4, the abonasum, or rennet-stomach.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
" The paunch and the manyplies each communicate
directly with the oesophagus, which is provided with a
deep groove running from the first to the third stomach.
INSECTIVOEA : HEDGEHOG.
When the food is in a solid condition, it is passed from
the paunch into the honeycomb bag, where it is formed
into a ball and regurgitated. After being again chewed
it is swallowed, but being soft does not open the tube
STOMACH OF RUMINANT.
t, (ESOPHAGUS; pa, PAUNCH : b. HONEYCOMB BAG; /, MANYPLIES;
C, RENNET J p, PYLORUS.
going to the honeycomb bag, but passes on into the
third and fourth stomachs, and so into the intestinal
canal.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 203
" You already knew this, so that, as I said, I
have really not much to teach you about the mam-
malia."
They now reached Villers, and the horse and car-
riage, pretty well bespattered with mud, were returned
BEAVERS AND TIIEIK DWELLINGS.
to their owner, and our friends at once went back to
the cottage.
Through the open window of the workroom they
perceived barometer No. 2, which, it will be recol-
lected, had been an object of mockery and vituperation
to Eene when they were starting.
204
THE WALKS ABROAD OP
" I have found a name for your Batrachian,"
said the latter to Le'on — "a mythological name,
suited to its sinister and alas ! only too true pre-
dictions. By your permission we will in future
call it Cassandra."
"We will hope that Cassandra will not be always a
PACHYDERMATA : ELEPHANT.
prophet of ill, and that to-morrow we may be able to
complete our interrupted excursion."
The servant was just then at the bottom of the
garden, occupied in picking some vegetables for the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS 205
evening meal, and suddenly she gave utterance to a
piercing scream.
The doctor and the young men, in alarm, ran as fast
as they could.
" There, there, sir ! " and with a trembling finger
EDEMATA : TATOU, OK ARMADILLO.
she pointed out a small dark object motionless in the
middle of the path.
CETACEA : GREENLAND, OR RIGHT WHALE.
It was an enormous toad, warty and horrible,
which, by the rain and cool air, had been brought
into a mood for wandering through the damp grass,
and so was composedly taking his turn round the
garden.
206
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Alarmed by the piercing cry, it had come to a stand-
still, and remained there calmly, as if contemplating
the terrified domestic.
"Oh, sir, you do not see it," added Dame Theresa.
•' The beast, the venomous beast ! " *
"No, no, you cockney, no," the doctor said in a
MONOTKEMATA : SPINY ECHIDNA.
paternal manner; u toads are only slightly venomous,
even when handled, and when not actually touched are
« According to the experiments of Professor Vulpian, the poison of the
toad, secreted by certain cutaneous glands, can only be active when it is
inoculated. This inoculation may induce death in animals of small size,
especially in rats and guinea-pigs. Death in such cases seems due to
stoppage of the action of the heart. — Author's note.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
209
no degree injurious; and if this one has given you
a good fright, it is clear you have done the same
to it."
" But it is horrible ! these creatures are frightful.
Kill it, smash it at once, Mr. Le*on."
"Where should we stop, if we were to kill
OENITHORHYNCHUS ANATIXUS. AUSTRALIA.
everything that is ugly and repulsive ? " said the
old doctor. And pushing it out of the way with the
end of his stick into a row of raspberry canes :
" Go your way, little creature ; it is not yet dusk
enough for you to be about. The world," he added
with a kindly smile, " is quite large enough for all
three of us."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
From this time forward Dame Theresa always
avoided going into this part of the garden after
sunset.
THE TOAD. " SCARCELY VENOMOUS EVEN WHEN TOUCHED."
XYI.
Continuance of bad weather — Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes — A book of
wonders — Rotifers — Artificial death and revival — Tardigrades, Kolpodes,
Monads, and Vorticella— How to obtain a desired infusorian— Mineral,
vegetable, or animal ? — Diatomaceae — To what the colour of some seas is
due— Foraminif era —Polypes, Hydra — Experiments of du Tremblay —
How a single animal may be made into several, and several into one —
A naturalist never wearies.
WHEN they awoke the next morning the friends at
the cottage had no need to open the windows in order
to convince themselves that their proposed visit to the
keeper was again to be put off.
The sullen sky did not, as yesterday, send joyous
rays into their rooms ; rain was falling thickly and
steadily against the dripping panes, and these, lashed
at intervals by squalls, gave forth dull sounds like
muffled drums.
u It will go on till evening," said Father Lucas,
who had come to have a conference with the doctor.
Every sailor is a meteorologist whether he knows it
or not, and his weather forecasts are but rarely
deceptive. The friends were obliged therefore to
resign themselves to the idea of keeping the house all
day. Though this had scarcely begun, the two young
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
men were already, by glances, inquiring from one
another what was to be done. From time to time
Eene went into the workroom to consult Cassandra.
Cassandra gave no indication of. rising.
"Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes?" said Le*on,
without preface, to his cousin.
"A truce to unpleasant joking," said the Parisian.
" Certainly it is not worth while being a learned man
if you have nothing to amuse your friends with on
wet days, except some games borrowed from the
ancient Greeks, and by the Greeks very probably
from the Boeotians. I am suprised you do not make
the absurd proposal of showing me some toys or
picture books."
" Exactly ! Why not ? " cried Leon, pretending
that an idea had all at once occurred to him, though
the sly fellow had been thinking of it for at least
ten minutes. "Fortunately I have quite handy a
book very curious to read, and all the more amusing
inasmuch as both text and illustrations can be con-
stantly varied.
"Here it is : the microscope. With a good micro-
scope and appliances, and some knowledge of their
use, one may ensure never being lonely, even were
one in an out-of-the-way place in the country, and rain
should fall during forty days successively, as in the
time of the Deluge."
The microscope was taken out of its case.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 213
" Here is the first chapter," said Le"on, taking up
with a pipette a drop of water, which he placed under
the object-glass of the instrument. " I offer you the
book ; read for yourself."
In the middle of the liquid some apparently great
ROTIFEK VT7LGABIS.
A, THE ANIMAL IN WATER ; B, THE SAME DRIED.
creatures were rolling about their fusiform bodies :
they were some rotifers that Le*on had found without
difficulty in the water-gutter of the cottage.
" All very well when there is water in the gutter,
as there is to-day," said Kene, with an air of opposi-
tion ; " but supposing it were dry weather ? "
214
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
"Then the rotifers, too, dry up, and await with
resignation better times. Should a little rain come
they will revive — they or their posterity. This time I
ZOLPODA CTTCTTLLUS.
have played the part of Nature, by the help of a few
drops of water, and the rotifers have returned to
activity."
Then they viewed in succession : Tardigrades,
BELL VOKTICELLA. ( V. convdlaria).
degraded, creeping, repulsive creatures ; Kolpoda, in
form like a little leech ; and Monads, the most micro-
scopic of microscopic beings, and to be found by
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 2I5
myriads in filthy water; Vorticellse, posiiig their
globose bodies and open mouth, at the end of a long
twisted stalk, something after the fashion of a spiral
spring.
For each demonstration, Le*on had recourse to a
GBOTJP OF MONADS Elichc ItJS pl<pa.
(Monas crepusculum),
new receptacle for his drop of water, and this was
noticed by his cousin who remarked —
"Do you, then, keep all these kinds separately? n
11 It is easier to study them when they are so.
Different sorts of infusions or decoctions are more
B
VEGETABLE INFUSORIA* ( VoloX fflobator).
A, THE OBGAXISM; B, DETACHED ZOOSPORES.
specially resorted to by certain animalcules. For
instance, one finds more particularly —
" Yolvox and Yorticellee in infusions of hemp-seed.
" The species of Enchelys in infusions of hay or
grass.
2i6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
" The Kolpodae also in infusions of grass or hemp-
seed that have been kept for a long time.
" The species of Gonium in infusion of pears.
"Kotifers and some Vorticellae in little shells in
fresh water, and about the remains of aquatic insects.
" Monads in infusions of mushrooms.
DIATOM, GREATLY MAGNIFIED.
" Anguillulidae, paste or vinegar eels, in the sub-
stances denoted by their names.
" But many of the species may be found in abun-
dance in pools of water. So that sometimes a single
drop of stagnant water is inhabited by quite a minia-
ture menagerie.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 217
" Moreover one finds other things besides animals
in pools of water. Here, for instance, is something
else."
There was then displayed to the eyes of the as-
tonished pupil a whole collection of beings that can
scarcely be denned, of regular and geometric forms :
discs piled one on the other ; cubes, sometimes united
end to end, sometimes soldered by one of their angles;
spindles, fans, wheels — what more shall I say ! "
" Well, this is really too extraordinary ! Animal,
vegetable, or mineral, I cannot for the life of me say
which I suppose them to be. Is it possible that it is
an assemblage of the three kingdoms, bound together
in one volume ? "
"These," said Leon, "are diatoms. They have
treated them as alga3, not being able to do anything
better ; but the truth is that in the case of these
curious productions, the words vegetable and animal
have no longer their peculiar meaning.
"These beings with their silicious skeletons, which
are apparently nearly indestructible, increase them-
selves by segmentation and division. They are met
with everywhere — in the water, in the air ; in fresh-
water, and in the ocean. Sometimes these infinitely
small atoms, massed in millions and billions, even alter
the colour of the sea : hence the names, Red Sea,
Yellow Sea, Vermilion Bay. Be sure to recollect
that the largest of these diatoms measures only some
2i8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
few hundredths of a millimetre in diameter, there
being 2,500 one-hundredths of a millimetre in a single
inch.
" Many live after the fashion of parasites ; almost
all, if not actually all, aquatic plants are covered
FORAMIXIFEBA, GREATLY MAGNIFIED.
with them. A simple washing with sulphuric acid is
generally sufficient to detach them. And, just as if
they were nevertheless in difficulty to find room,
these microscopic beings actually take lodgings in the
stomachs and on the scales of fishes.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 219
"In the seas, there is another class of creatures
scarcely less numerous and ubiquitous, though often
of somewhat larger bulk, that form as it were a sort
of complement to the diatoms : the Foraminifera,
whose forms are varied almost to infinity, are found
in large accumulations on the floors of the ocean, and
their skeleton is pierced in all directions by little
FRESHWATER HYDRA.
holes, from which project great numbers of vibratile
ciliae. Thus, besides infinitely small diatoms, there
are other infinitely small beings, and these also help
to make up the structure of worlds."
To assist him in his microscopic work, Leon had
established in a glass globe a sort of small artificial
pond with some mud, several plants and insects, and
on its surface some pieces of duckweed. Tired of
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
looking through the microscope, Keiie was engaged
in examining this.
" There are cuttle-fish in your pond," said he all
at once, pointing out a mass of gelatinous arms in
constant movement near the surface of the liquid.
What he mistook for cuttle-fish was merely a
colony of hydras, freshwater polypes — creatures
which may vie with any others in tenacity of life,
according to the celebrated experiments made by du
Tremblay.
Du Tremblay, when he made these observations, was
a schoolmaster in some little town, I have forgotten
which, in Holland, Jost in the midst of marshes. These
marshes were peopled by many of the freshwater
polyps called hydras, and, in the absence of other
amusements, this naturalist found a pleasure in study-
ing them. He first noticed that these animals can be
multiplied by division, and that to obtain two hydras,
it was sufficient to cut one Hydra into two pieces.
Having settled this point, he examined their organ-
isation. It is certainly not very complicated. The
body of a Hydra consists simply of a bag, the inside
of which forms the stomach. By exercising skill
and patience du Tremblay managed to turn one of
these polyps inside out, somewhat like a glove, so
that what was stomach became outside and vice versa.
The experiment was a success: the polyp seemed
quite comfortable notwithstanding this remarkable
change in his personality.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Du Tremblay did not with this end his interesting
discoveries. " Since out of one Hydra you can make
two," he sagely reasoned, "out of two probably one
can be made." This was both said and done, and the
patient naturalist, after some unsuccessful efforts,
succeeded in fastening together several hydras, end
to end, in such a way as to merge their several indi-
vidualities in one.
And thus we see that in the most unfavourable
localities the naturalist need never weary.
XYII.
With Franceschini— Another barometer — "Good-day, Major!" — A mysteri-
ous voice— Uncle Bob begins to fancy the keeper's house must be haunted
— Jacob— A fable of La Fontaine realised— The Norman character
makes itself evident even in birds - Rene's classification — Honest men and
brigands — Day thieves and nocturnal prowlers— The waders and web-
feet— Climbers— Gallinaceous birds — Passerine birds— Jacob sadly out
of place — Franceschini insists on a new classification.
AT last the clouds were scattered, and the barometer,
the Cassandra-barometer as well, indicated " set fair."
Again they put to, started, and arrived at Touques,
this time without any noteworthy incident.
The keeper, with a very short clay pipe between
his teeth, was quietly taking his ease on a bench
outside the door, when the rumbling of the vehicle
roused him from his quiescence.
He rose, laid down the pipe on his seat, advanced
in military style, and in a superb bass voice saluted
with the words —
" Good day, Major ! "
Uncle Bob certainly had never been major ; but no
doubt, in the opinion of the ex-gendarme, the rosette
of the legion of honour in his buttonhole was a
sufficient justification for the flattering title, which
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 223
conferred on him the dignity, certainly well merited,
of a position in the permanent army of duty's
volunteers.
"Tush!" he said, but nevertheless with an evi-
dent air of satisfaction; "no usurpation of rank, if
you please. I have at least never been more than a
simple soldier in the ranks of duty, and it ought to
be I that should present arms to you, Mr. Sergeant.
As, however, I do not carry any, I can only offer you
my apologies for not having come before this. We
started the day before yesterday, but we beat a
cowardly retreat, being conquered by the rain."
u I am to blame," cried Franceschini. " Triple
blockhead that I am ! I might have foreseen that
change of weather. When I wrote my letter to you
everything indicated that we should have a storm :
everything, even my scar, which became violet, like a
bishop's cassock. I ought to have observed this, but
somehow or other when one has as villainous a phiz
as mine, one does not waste much time at the looking-
glass."
They entered the house, and found there was
already set out for them a snack prepared on the
spur of the moment by Madame Franceschini, the
wife of the keeper — he having, as we ought previously
to have explained, taken a wife very soon after
coming to the district, in order that he might take
better root.
224 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
There is one thing that country people have never
been able to understand, and that probably they never
will understand. It is that others cannot have such
good appetites as themselves. On this occasion the
fruits were superb, the bread excellent, the butter
and the cider such as are only to be found in Normandy.
The three guests did honour in their best style to
this impromptu collation, discussing at the same time
the object of their visit.
* ' All the birds are ticketed with the names given
to them in the district," said the keeper, as he was
uncorking in a most careful manner a bottle of the
wine of the district. " But it still remains to classify
them according to their regiments, in proper battle
array. That you will be able to do, and I have the
most complete confidence in your ability."
" Must see," replied, from behind the door of the
next room, a sharp voice seeming to come almost
from beneath the ground.
The two young men looked quite astonished. Some-
one, then, was listening to their conversation ! Fran-
ceschini bit and twisted his moustache.
The doctor also heard it, but thinking it was the
trick of some ill-bred child, paid no attention. Leon
thought it well to do the same as his father.
" Yery well, we will classify the collection," said
he, " and if I cannot do it all myself, I am sure my
cousin will not refuse to lend me a hand."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 225
" Certainly, cerrr-tainly," replied the voice.
" Yes certainly," said Rene, in a way to be heard
by the mysterious interlocutor. " I must admit I
am no ornithologist ; I know that well, but I can
at any rate give a piece of good advice when
necessary. It is not well to mock me."
" Per-haps, well, must see ! " replied the voice,
drawling in an unmerciful manner.
This time Uncle Bob no longer kept silence.
" One of two things : either I am getting silly or
some ill-mannered person is mocking us ; unless, in-
deed, we may be in some haunted house," he added,
in the tone of a man who is very sceptical about such
kinds of witchcraft.
"Neither one nor the other, Major," said the
keeper by way of excuse. " I had put Jacob out of
the way, and now he is taking his revenge. The
best thing I can do is to introduce the culprit to
you."
He opened the door.
" Now then, come along, Jacob ; come in, come
in," and through the half-open door there hopped
in a magnificent raven, of a deep blue-black colour.
A triple burst of laughter greeted his entrance.
"But it is really a learned bird, a phenomenal
creature, and worth more than all the menagerie at
Touques ! Come here, Jacob, come here, then ! "
And each "come here" was accompanied by a
Q
226 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
shower of crumbs and scraps. Jacob, who never in
his bird's memory recollected such a feast, came and
picked them up without fear, even at the feet of the
visitors. Then, when his appetite was satisfied, he
hopped familiarly on to the shoulder of his master.
" He is a foundling," said this latter. " It was
during some most fearful weather that I discovered
Jacob in the forest. A gale had dislodged him from
the nest ; he was half- frozen, and three-parts drowned
by the rain — quite moribund, in fact. Instinctively I
picked him up, without intending to keep him, possi-
bly thinking he might have a more gentle death.
When I reached home I placed him near the fire in a
blanket.
"' You would have done better to have left him
where he was,' my wife said to me, 'for he was past
suffering.'
" And indeed I thought I was only prolonging his
agony. The next morning, to my great surprise, he
still lived. c Suppose he should recover ! ' said I,
still without believing it.
"He did, however, recover; and in spite of our
predictions I believe the rascal is now likely to out-
live us all."
"And how did you teach him?" asked Bene.
" Until now I have not seen any talking ravens
except in the fables of La Fontaine."
' His learning was done almost entirely by him-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 229
self. He hears the country people talk, and amuses
himself by imitating them. It is because of this that
hesitating expressions such as, ' Well ! ' < Perhaps so ! '
and ' Must see ! ' are his favourite phrases. On the
other hand, I never recollect hearing him say ' Yes '
or ' No,' these words being very little used in Nor-
mandy."
They rose from table and entered the room in
which the keeper had arranged his museum, as he
called it.
The furnishings were of military simplicity : a desk
made of deal, covered with papers and books, three
chairs, and the arms and accoutrements of the soldier's
military period, arranged as a sort of trophy between
the white muslin curtains of the two windows. The
rest of the apartment was devoted to the birds.
These were to be seen in all directions — on the desk,
on shelves, under glass shades. The beams of the
ceiling served as supports for some scutcheons of
varnished wood, bearing branches of trees, on which
were placed the larger birds, with spread-out wings,
as if about to take flight.
" We must proceed in due order," said Leon; and
turning to Kene*, "You were just saying that we
ought not to despise you. Let us see, then ; how
would you commence ? "
" I should begin by leaving all the respectable
kinds together, and by putting in one corner all these
230
THE WALK'S A PRO AD OF
hooked beaks and rapacious figures." And Rene
with his finger pointed out a large owl and a kestrel
falcon, which in truth had very much the appearance
of two brigands.
The rapacious forms were placed together on one side.
" We will call them Raptatores," said Le'on, uthe
HOOKED BEAKS AND EAPACIOUS FIGURES."
name used in our system of classification. Now that
we have them all together, do you not think they
may be made into two groups ? "
" Undoubtedly. There are evidently two distinct
classes — first the brigands that carry on their opera-
tions in daylight, and next the owls and other prowlers
who do their work at night."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 231
" In other words, then, diurnal and nocturnal
Eaptatores."
" Very good. But now let us turn our attention to
the honest kinds."
The classification was now a more difficult matter,
for the honest kinds are so numerous, amongst birds
at any rate. However, Rene' was not discouraged.
" First we will use two or three shelves for those
with very long beaks, most of them, too, having also
WOODCOCK (Scolopax rtisticola, Lin.).
long necks. At any rate, that will be some out of
the way."
And speedily, the bustards, plovers, peewits, snipe,
curlews, sandpipers, cranes, herons, storks, rails,
water-hens — all the waders in fact— were brought
together, forming one group of allied kinds.
" Let us now make a finish of the water birds,"
said Le'on. " Side by side with their long-legged
friends, let us place the web-footed kinds."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
And so the web-feet were next arranged. As
they were very numerous, and as, if the feet were
left out of consideration, they were not very similar
to one another, it was necessary to make several
subdivisions of them, the most important being,
the grebes, the sea-gulls, the cormorants, and the
ducks.
" Now for the fourth order," said Le*on. But
seeing that his cousin was now in difficulties he
concluded the classification himself.
" First the climbers, the born protectors of our
forests, frequenting the trunks of the trees in search
of insects : woodpeckers, wrynecks, cuckoos, and
creepers.
" Then the Gallinae or game birds, the edible order
par excellence, created, one might suppose, for the
particular satisfaction of the lovers of the table:
partridges, quail, pigeons, grouse, pheasants, &c., to
say nothing of our domestic fowls.
" We have progressed by a process of elimination,"
continued the young naturalist ; " and now nothing
remains for our consideration but the perchers or
Passeres."
" Now then," cried Ke'ne, " about Jacob, the mag-
niloquent and voluminous Jacob. Would you place
him in the same order as the wrens, the finches, or
the tits ? If I were him and had so clever a tongue
I should protest against this."
BEEVE S PHEASANT.
GALLIC JK.
CTTEASSOW. SILVER PHEASANT. PEACOCK. GOLDEN PHEASANT.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
"Certainly, cerrr-tainly ! " hissed the bird, who ap-
peared to know that they were talking about him, and
to wish to assume a part in this protest.
" Where would you enrol him ? The order of
perchers is a negative one, without any real distinctive
WADING- IUKD : AVOCET (Rccufvirostra avocetta, Lin.).
character of its own, a sort of naturalist's chaos,
where everything that is not web -foot, wader, rapa-
cious, climber, nor game-bird, is thrown into the
general mass. Some subdivisions of it have been
formed, which are chiefly based on the form of the
236 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
beak and the arrangement of the toes. This is all that
has been accomplished. *
"And now," he added, addressing himself to the
keeper, " I must compliment you on your collection, of
which you have indeed every right to be proud, for
there are many amateurs who would plume themselves
on it. I hope the classification of it, now that it is
finished, will meet with approval."
Franceschini rubbed his ear with the air of a man
who does not think " Yes," but does not like to say
"No."
"Perhaps yeu had thought of some other way of
arranging it," said the doctor, who apparently divined
his thoughts.
u Well, yes ! I should like to have it settled what
are the injurious species we ought to destroy, and
which are useful, so that we should protect them. If
this were only indicated by some mark or word on the
label by the side of the name of the species, it would
be sufficient. Perhaps, Major, you would kindly
undertake this ? "
The " Major " smiled at this new proof of con-
fidence.
" Yes, but, yes, but — but that is extremely difficult.
The question is a very complicated one ; and appa-
* Since the time of Cuvier, several fresh classifications of birds have been
made ; but naturalists are not at all agreed on the subject, and the Passeres
are always a great difficulty. — Translator.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 237
rently all the more intricate because torrents of ink
have been poured out with a view of settling it.
However, as you seem to desire it, and as I am now in
the saddle, I will give you my own opinion."
Here follows, very carefully reported, the opinion
of Uncle Bob on this subject.
xvm.
Three great categories of birds — Injurious birds — Birds of mixed qualities —
Useful birds — Certain birds not to be proscribed at first glance — Some
conclusive facts — Frederick the Great and his cherries — Curious obser-
vation made in Paris— Those that eat insects — Some figures — An unjust
and odious persecution — The worst enemy of rats, field-mice, and other
rodents— Birds as protectors of sailors — An English law — Cormorant-
fishing in China — A possible cure for the Phylloxera — A proposal from
Franceschini.
" THREE classes may be distinguished amongst birds :
injurious birds, birds of mixed qualities who do both
good and harm, and useful birds.
" Some birds are injurious by destroying game and
useful animals. As instances, the eagles and falcons,
and also the jays and magpies, who are constantly on
the look-out for the eggs and young of other birds.
Others, like the kingfisher, affect the fish and fry of
our rivers. To the injurious class also belong certain
birds that eat the fruit or other parts of plants —
the grosbeaks, the bullfinches, the thrushes, and even,
though we say it with regret, the pigeons. These do
harm by their depredations on our fruit-trees and in
our gardens.
" Thus it is fair that these destroyers should be
themselves destroyed, though it will be well under-
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
239
stood that some at any rate should not be exter-
minated : pigeons, for instance, that are domesticated
and used as food.
" As for the birds of mixed qualities, it is difficult to
give any decided opinion as to how they should be
A DESTEOYER DESTROYED.
treated. For instance, the buzzards and the shrikes
destroy an enormous quantity of small rodents ; but
they also wage war against the birds that destroy
insects.
" The blackbirds, warblers, sparrows, and redbreasts
2 4o THE WALKS ABROAD OF
are also great insect-hunters, though their well-known
weakness for cherries and other sweet fruits makes
us sometimes look upon them as very troublesome
friends.
** The same may be said of crows, partridges, gold-
finches and other finches, though there is a difference,
as these birds attack grains or seeds rather than fruits.
" To sum up, we must conclude that in the case of
these birds of mixed qualities it is as dangerous to
acquit them entirely as it is to condemn them without
appeal. And it is all the more difficult to decide, as
many of these gramnivorous birds not only eat insects
themselves but also feed their young ones with them.
" Here are some conclusive proofs.
" In Prussia, Frederick the Great observing one
day that the sparrows were far too familiar with his
cherry-trees at Potsdam, resolved to exact a full
penalty for their wrongdoing — high treason I pre-
sume we ought to call it. A price was set on the
heads of the pilferers. Two years afterwards not a
sparrow remained in the country, but on the other
hand there also remained no cherries in the royal
gardens, the whole region being devastated by cater-
pillars and other insects. Complaints arriving from
all quarters, the king himself recognised his mistake,
and the sparrows were reinstated at a very great
expense. A little more, indeed, and apologies would
have been offered to them.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 241
" In Hungary, and in the Grand Duchy of Baden,
the destruction of birds produced similar results.*
" Even in Normandy, at Montville, in the depart-
ment of the Seine Infe"rieure the idea of destroying
the crows was adopted, and it was found by experi-
ence that their ravages were not to be compared
with the evils they prevented, and the crow was
rehabilitated^
" A last instance. In the middle of Paris, in the Rue
Vivienne, there was one day discovered round a nest
of sparrows one thousand four hundred wings of cock-
chafers. So that at the very least seven hundred
chafers, each one an enemy, were destroyed for a
single brood.
" To the aid of these kinds, whose services we, on
the whole, pay for pretty cheaply, come some powerful
assistants whom we are not required to pay at all, and
whom therefore we ought at all times and in all places
to protect. In the realm of nature there exists only
one serious enemy of the insect, only one capable of
efficiently opposing its ravages. This is the bird — an
implacable enemy, pursuing the insect at all times and
in all its stages. Each insectivorous bird has, too, its
speciality. The woodpeckers and the climbers, guided
by some mysterious instinct or unknown signs, seek
* Baron Dumast, quoted in "Bulletin de la Societe d'Acclimatation de
Nancy," 1857, pp. 10, 11.
t Address read to the Senate, 24th June, 1861, by President Bonjean, on
the preservation of birds.
242 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
insects under the bark and in the wood of trees, where
they are carrying on their ravages unseen. The cuckoo
attacks hairy caterpillars that other birds refuse to
swallow ; the European rollers, grasshoppers and
COAST BIRDS.
locusts ; the hedge-sparrows, snails and larva?, as-
sisted in this task on the banks of the rivers by the
godwits, sandpipers, snipe, and indeed by the waders
generally.
" Pursuing another system of tactics, the swallow,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 243
the martin, and the goatsucker hunt on the wing. In
the stomachs of eighteen martins killed at different
times, the naturalist Florent Prevost, who set himself
to make a systematic study of the food of birds, found
the remains of six thousand eight hundred and ninety
one insects, being about an average of four hundred
insects for each bird, and that for a single meal. Such
figures require no comment.
"It is difficult to form an idea of the enormous
amount of larvee of insects destroyed by small birds
such as tits, wrens, warblers, wagtails, fly-catchers,
pipits. It. has been calculated that the wren, the tiny
244 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
wren, in the course of a year causes three millions of
eggs of butterflies and other insects to disappear ; the
blue tit about six millions and a half. As each pair
of tits produces about six young ones, we may consider
that each family of this little bird destroys at least
twenty-four millions of insects. " *
" Poor little birds, so frequently and ruthlessly mas-
sacred, when they are actually occupied in working
for us ! "
" The screech-owl, and other owls — in fact, all the
nocturnal raptatores — should be protected, for a single
one exterminates more little rodents than a whole
regiment of cats would.
" The cat, supposed to be a great ' ridder,' is a con-
summate sycophant, and knows that he can always
depend on the larder in case of necessity. He hunts,
in fact, in amateur fashion. Hunting is in reality for
him a pastime and amusement, a healthful sport, that
gives him a good appetite after the long hours passed
lazily in the sun or on the hearthrug. But as for the
owl, it hunts to live, and to procure food for a whole
brood of hungry beaks, who cry famine if they have
to pass only a short time without being gorged with
nutriment. A large quantity of bodies of rats and
voles are required for the support of such a family.
" The sea-birds, guillemots and others, that nest in
* See on this subject an excellent work, "Useful and Injurious Birds,"
by H. dela Blanchere.
PALMIPEDES.
COMMON CORMORANT.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
247
the cliffs, and in hazy weather by their cries and screams
warn the sailors of their proximity to the coast, must
on this account be also considered as among our allies.
LONG-EABEO OWL (AsiO otllS, Lin.).
In England severe penalties are inflicted on destroyers
of guillemots ; and heaven only knows how many ship-
wrecks have been prevented by the agency of these
248 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
birds. In France, the race of guillemots has been
nearly destroyed, the birds having been shot without
any mercy by sportsmen desirous of proving their own
skill and the excellence of their weapons by bringing
down their game, which though inedible, offers a
difficult mark to the gun."
"Brave bravery, in truth ! "
" The Chinese (we always return to the Chinese)
hunt the cormorant, but with a more practical object in
view. They train them for fishing, in a manner simi-
lar to that in which falcons were trained in the middle
ages for hunting birds.
" It appears that these palmipedes, after their train-
ing has been completed, bring a great profit to their
owners, and are sold for a high price in the markets of
the Celestial Empire.
" I am surprised that no ingenious sportsman should
have yet entertained the idea of introducing this
method of fishing among ourselves ; its success would
be certain. And, as we are now touching on subjects
that closely concern agricultural economy (for there is
no greater economy in agriculture than to protect our
friends and destroy our foes), perhaps you would
like to know my true opinion on a pest, a veritable
Egyptian plague, that costs many millions to France
every year — the phylloxera. With a view to arresting
its ravages, considerable sums are expended on
chemicals and complicated apparatus, only an inade-
'
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 251
quate result being, however, usually derived from
their use. In some cases, indeed, the best that can be
said is that these heroic remedies only destroy the
disease by killing the patient. According to my ideas,
there is but one preservative whose action is likely to
be really efficacious, and of which no one apparently
dreams : it is the bird.
" There should exist, probably there actually exists,
in the countries from which the phylloxera came to
us, some bird the born enemy, the patent destroyer,
of this insect ; a bird that searches for it without
truce round the roots where it lurks among the
leaves it attacks, and hinders it from multiplying itself
indefinitely. Let this foe of the phylloxera be sought
for, and an attempt made to acclimatise it in France.
On the day when it shall have been discovered and
set to work at its duty, more will have been done
towards the destruction of this dreadful insect than
all the chemicals in the world could do in fifty years."
After the collection was fully arranged Franceschini
contemplated it with pride. He could now, without
blushing, do the honours of it, when occasion should
arise, even to " the scientific men of Paris. "
The good man never pronounced these five words
without an accent of profound respect. To him it
was a supreme ideal. Fancy it ! " Men of science
of Paris!"
The great heat of the day was now gone by. Close
2 52 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
at hand were the outskirts of the forest of Touques,
with its lofty trees, which apparently extended their
waves of foliage without interruption as far as the
horizon. The keeper proposed a stroll in the wood.
" Are you still making a collection of insects ? " he
added, turning to Leon.
And as the latter signified an affirmative —
" Ah, well, I know a spot. I have in fact made
certain arrangements. But come along, I think you
will not be disappointed."
XIX.
In the -wood — Interment of a field-mouse — The population of an oak-tree-
Gall-fly — The origin of gall-nuts — Parasites of parasites — The surprise
prepared by the keeper — A park for insects— New treasures for the col-
lection of Leon — Arrest of an assassin — Ocypus olens — A little-known way
of butterfly-hunting— Wedded couples should be well-matched — Saint
Francis of Sales might have become an excellent entomologist — The
grebe — A difficult problem solved by a bird — The return — A conjugal
drama.
OUR friends asked themselves with some curiosity
what could be the keeper's meaning, and how he
intended to secure for them the rich harvest of insects
he alluded to in such enigmatical fashion. But
Franceschini, in spite of their inquiring glances,
thought proper in a roguish manner to keep the secret
of his surprise.
They provided themselves with the implements neces-
sary for the purpose of catching and preserving insects,
some of which Leon always carried with him during
his excursions : boxes, butterfly-nets, and of course
the umbrella that is held inverted under the trees to
catch the insects that are made to fall by beating or
tapping the foliage with a stick. Then the little
party proceeded along a path in the wood, headed by
Franceschini, proud of doing the honours of his
254 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
domain, as he pompously called it, to his friends.
With legs covered by long gaiters of yellow leather,
he led the way and directed the little expedition.
They advanced slowly, the path being bordered
at the sides by the deep ruts left by the waggons
of the woodmen, filled in places by muddy water
which had stagnated there since the last rains, while
between the ruts the horses had deeply imprinted
their footmarks in the soft earth.
The light was becoming more slanting, and across
the leaves of the hazels scattered golden spots on the
foliage, and striped rays of glittering beauty on the
sombre turf that bordered the path.
At the first turning in the road a bird flew away
with heavy flight only two paces from the tourists,
and at the same moment Rene* cried out :
" Gentlemen, I announce the decease of a field-
mouse."
I do not know whether the reader may share my
impression, but in the country I never see without
a certain feeling of melancholy the body of a tiny
rodent. In vain I reason with myself, recalling that
during its little life it was an injurious beast,- and that
the carcase of a foe smells always sweet, if we may
believe a Roman emperor of gloomy reputation (and
in the matters of foes and carcases this emperor
might well have been an authority). But fruitlessly !
The shrivelled legs, with their extremities pale and
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 255
naked, like the hands of infants, and appearing to
stretch, themselves out in a supplicating manner ; the
delicate moustache of bristles ; the lips drawn out as
if by a last agony ; in short, this despised creature, a
body of the size of the finger, now the sport of the
infinite, death ! all this gives me a feeling of sad-
ness, and I find myself murmuring some words of
pity, if not of regret, for the defunct little animal.
Our promenaders possibly experienced something
of this feeling but did not dwell on it ; and Le'on, who
in fact did not like to lose anything that could be
of assistance to him in his favourite studies, at once
proposed to carry off the little corpse.
" Take it away ? You must surely be joking,"
replied his cousin. "It is already in full process of
decomposition. A very little longer, and it will walk
without any assistance."
As if to prove the truth of what Kene* had just said,
the little carcase, to his great astonishment, commenced
to shift its position.
"Attention ! " called the doctor, " the funeral
ceremonies have already commenced."
Five large beetles, of a black colour, as is befitting
to every respectable undertaker, with some yellow
bands like belts of leather on their elytra, had thrust
themselves beneath the body of the rodent, and had
commenced their sinister duty. They had already, in
fact, disappeared from sight, and it was only by a
256
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
somewhat penetrating odour, like that of musk, that
NECEOPHORI : 3, N. germanicus ; 4, N. fossator ; 4', LAEVA ; 4", PUPA.
SILPHA : 1, S. thoracica ; 2, quadripunctata.
their presence was revealed. A few paces from the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
257
spot, the earth, being there lighter, could be more
easily stirred. The Necrophori having discovered this
beforehand had chosen this position, and their burden
had to be removed to it. There, with their front legs,
which supplied the place of pick and shovel, they
commenced to dig the grave, throwing the earth on
either side as they carried on their work.
Little by little the body was seen to get lower.
When it had descended to the required depth the
HEJiiPTEKON (Pentatoma ornatula).
Necrophori commenced to cover it with earth. After
this it only remained for them to wait till it was in a
fit state for them to deposit their eggs there.
" Not badly done. A very good sort of funeral for
beings of that sort," said Rene". " But this is not
filling our boxes."
And as he spoke, with a sudden access of industry,
he began with his beating-stick to beat in an unmer-
ciful manner the branches of a young oak-tree.
s
258 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
The leaves fell around as thick as hail, bringing
down with them an abundant supply of spiders,
caterpillars, earwigs, and insects of all sorts, which
rapidly took to flight in various directions, being
fortunate if the young collector did not arrest them in
their flight, and place them in his box as if in a
prison.
It is surprising what a world may be found on an
oak-tree; and each species and variety of the tree
has on its various parts its special guests, to give the
list of whose names would, however, carry us too far.
But in the first place there is the numerous host of
beetles or Coleoptera ; the stag-beetles whose larvae
live in the old wood of large trees ; and the Anobia ;
also Orchestes, which, less ambitious, contents itself
with the twigs and leaves ; Balaninus glandium, to
which the acorns serve as food and abode ; some
ChrysomelidaB, that attack the young shoots ; while
nearer to the ground and on the underwood, SilphaB
and Calosomatae carry on a war of extermination
against the processionary caterpillars.
In the world of Lepidoptera the frequenters of the
oak may be said to be legion. Many amongst them
are so intimately connected with this tree, and belong
so entirely to it, as to receive their names from it :
Thecla quercus, Bombyx quercus, Tortrix qucrcus, and
others.
But of all these denizens the most surprising in its
THE PKOCESSIONAKY MOTH AND ITS I.AHV.T-:. THE LATTER ATTACKED I»Y A
BEETLE, (.'aloxtillttl xf/l-<ijili<litf<i< AND ITS LARVA.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 261
way of working is without doubt the Cynips, although
it is little known to the ordinary observer. This
Hymenopteron is completely associated with the tree,
and locates itself thereon at a fixed spot that it has
itself selected, and there causes a habitation to grow
up in which it establishes its posterity. You have
no doubt often noticed on the leaves, along the ribs,
or at the base of the stalk, some peculiar objects,
some fleshy excrescences, that resemble aborted apples.
These are the productions of the Cynips or gall-fly.
Its piercing apparatus, by penetrating into the plant,
sets up some peculiar affluence of sap, and thus is
formed an excrescence that gradually increases in
size. In this the offspring is produced, and hidden in
it, after the manner of La Fontaine's rat retired from
the world in the cheese, it grows up to its full size as
a grub or maggot, and comes out in the winged form
to carry on the continuance of the species.
It is to a Cynips of an oak of the forests of the
East, the Quercus infectoria, that we owe the gall-nuts
whose use is so widely diffused by commerce, and
which form one of the ingredients of writing ink ; so
that large numbers of people devote their industry to,
and obtain the means of existence from, this tiny
creature. And, wonderful fact ! this pigmy living on
a giant tree has its own pigmies devoted to it ; this
guest is itself the host of parasites. The little habita-
tion of the Cynips frequently gives shelter to a num-
262 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
her of tiny Chalcidiens, insects so small that many of
them can scarcely be perceived, and these devour the
Cynips, having discovered some means of entering
CYNIPS, AND GALL-NUTS, OE OAK-APPLES.
its abode and of there depositing their eggs. Some
of these tiny parasites live within the bodies, or even
in the eggs, of other insects. And it is indeed possible
STAG-BEETLE (ZttNMHM CerVUS) : LAEVA, PTJPA, AND MALE AJfD FEMALE Of
THE PEEFECT INSECT.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 265
that this is not the last of the parasitism : these
Chalcidiens may be themselves attacked by other still
more minute insects ! Each creature is a means of
livelihood to others, and the smallest is a microcosm,
quite a universe in miniature.
Such were the meditations that Dr. Boberral for a
while abandoned himself to. All at once he seemed
to awake from his dream : " Come," said he, " this is
strange sort of speculation for a doctor ! But we
must attribute it to the oak-tree itself, the weird
tree with which the Greeks and Druids long, long
before my time associated their mythical conceptions.
My nephew, better advised, contents himself with
utilising it as a means for obtaining the objects of his
naturalist's desire."
Just then Franceschini, thinking it time to satisfy
the ardour of the young man, invited him to come on
a little farther.
" Come along," said he, with a mysterious smile,
" my insect park is only a few steps from here, and
without taking so much trouble as this we shall find
many more there. Come ! "
An insect park ! What could he mean by that ?
Neither Kene", Le'on, nor the doctor himself could
guess ; but they started off with fresh enthusiasm, and
soon reached a clearing. In the middle of it might
still be seen the remains of a wooden hut, erected
there by a workman some years before as a temporary
266 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
shelter during the period of summer. The grass and
moss were now regaining the ground from which
they had been banished for awhile, and were reappear-
ing on the trodden soil that had formed the floor of
the habitation. Outside the ruined hut were some
disconnected boards, covered with moss ; formerly
they had probably formed part of the door of the
cabin but were now overthrown and scattered hither
and thither.
" This is my park," said the keeper ; " and it is here
that I have placed my baits : some earthworms, some
portions of snails, and a spoonful or two of molasses
spread on the boards. We shall see if my devices
have proved successful."
The planks were turned over, and a crowd of insects
of several kinds were immediately discovered — ants,
Carabidse with brilliant armour, and sunshine beetles,
or Amaraa3. It was a sort of miniature Noah's ark ;
each kind had attracted others. In the same way as,
on the foliage they consume, caterpillars are pursued
by their ferocious enemies, the Calosomata, the Feroniae,
the tiger- beetles, so the woodlice and little snails
that had come there in the hope of quietly awaiting
the arrival of the freshness of evening, had not failed
to attract the unwelcome visits of Procrustes, Silpha3,
and Staphylinidee. The arrival of our friends produced
a general stampede among both the slaughterers and
their victims.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
267
Le'on had scarcely ever before met with so grand a
chance. The boxes and receptacles at once began to
CAENIVOBOUS BEETLES.
ABOVE, (Moxoma sycophanta ; TO THE EIGHT, Carabus -auratits AND
LABVA J BELOW, Carabux pHi'jtli m^'CltK.
fill. By this one stroke his modest collection of insects
would be increased by many specimens, perhaps by
some of fresh sorts. And he collected and collected,
268 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
almost by handfuls, without discrimination, without
remorse. At last, wearied of the slaughter, the boxes
were put away, and our four friends prepared to con-
tinue their ramble.
" Shall we not take this one ? " said Bene*, pointing
with his finger to a superb granulated Carabus.
" It is no good ; we have already ten or a dozen of
it, and it is a useful insect. We shall acclimatise some
of his brethren in our garden at the cottage, and as
for this one we may leave it in peace."
But fate had decided otherwise. A great Staphy-
linus concealed behind a root suddenly made a sortie
from its ambush and bore down on the unhappy carabe.
"With a stroke of its mandibles the insect was almost
decapitated. All this was done in less time than it
takes to tell it ; a flash of lightning would have been
almost sufficient to have, illuminated the transactions
of this little tragedy.
" But you, my good fellow, you shall perish miser-
ably." And stooping down Bene" seized the Staphy-
linus, and unflinchingly detained it, notwithstanding
the disagreeable odour of nitrous ether that the insect
spread around it — an odour which has procured for it
the name of Ocypus olens.
As the Parisian was on the point of shutting it up
with the others —
" Mind what you are about," said the doctor ;
"before night all our captives will be massacred and
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 269
torn to pieces. Here is a tube containing already a
male Ocypus ; yours is, I think, a female : it will be
better to keep them by themselves."
He offered the tube to Kene*. who hastened to avail
himself of the good advice, humming a well-known
" n faut des epoux assortis,
Dans les liens du manage."*
"You see my plan is a very simple one," said the
keeper, who, however, was none the less proud of the
find. " Lepidoptera may be captured by a similar
method. You place on the trunks of the trees a
mixture of sugar or molasses with some beer, and
these gay ones come and cannot forsake it. You
know the proverb that says you may capture more flies
with a drop of honey than with a pint of vinegar."
;<Yes," the doctor laughingly replied. "And
evidently Saint Francis of Sales, to whom the author-
ship is attributed, might have become an eminent
entomologist if he had not been a great saint."
They returned through the marshes that exist on
either side of the river Touques. In a creek a bird,
called the little grebe, was sporting about. The
moment it saw our friends it dived and disappeared.
" Can it be drowned ? " said Kene*, who after two
* Spouses should be well assorted
For the bonds of holy wedlock.
270
THE WALKS ABROAD OF
minutes of waiting was surprised that it did not rise
to the surface. There was, however, not the least
need for anxiety on this point : the grebe w.as simply
TIGEB-BEETLES.
1, Cicinrftfa campeslris ; 2, Cicitidela sylvatica.
concealed under some foliage. Its body was entirely
covered by water, with the exception only of the beak,
at the extremity of which the nostrils are placed,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
271
and it rested quietly in this position concealed entirely
from the eye, and would indeed have remained so for
hours had it been necessary.
"The grebe is a very strange creature. Can you
guess what plan it has invented to save itself the
trouble of hatching its eggs ? It builds its nest at the
COCKTAIL BJiKTLE (OciJpUS utill
surface of the water with green leaves and vegetables,
being apparently aware that this material in the pro-
cess of fermentation will develop sufficient heat to
enable the bird to dispense, at any rate to some extent,
with the process of incubation.
" Better still ! As this fermentation could not be pro-
duced without a disengagement of deleterious gases,
272 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
that might be sufficient to kill the young grebe in
the egg, it is necessary, while utilising the heat, to
neutralise the effect of the gases. The grebe is not
nonplussed by such a trifle, and the nest is accord-
ingly constructed and ballasted in such a manner
that the eggs are partly in the water, and by this
the gases are dissolved or absorbed as fast as they are
formed.*
It must be admitted that a graduate of one of our
technical colleges could not have solved the problem
(which, as has been seen, is not without its difficul-
ties) proposed by nature to the grebe in a happier
manner.
The time for departure had now come, so with
some regret they entered the keeper's lodge, then put
to the horse, and at last departed, only, however,
after Franceschini had filled the vacant places of the
vehicle with a whole assortment of birds carefully
stowed away.
Just as they were reaching their own cottage —
"I have a proposal to make to you," said Uncle
Bob, " an excursion of two days."
The idea was at once approved of.
" Then, if you please, you must get everything in
readiness to-night. To-morrow morning we embark
* Paul Noel. "Feuille des jeunes Naturalists," No. 116. (But it is
probable that in the construction of this theory imagination has taken too
large a part. — Translator.}
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 273
for our first voyage on board of Father Lucas's new
vessel."
" And where shall we go to ? "
"To Etretat."
" Unanimously accepted," said Bend. " After insects
we go back to fishes ; after the forest, the ocean ! "
Then his restless and impulsive mind bringing him
back all at once to the events of the day : " By-the-by,
and what about my own particular collecting to-day,
that concluded with a wedding in a bottle ? Let us
see what has become of my establishment of a pair of
Staphylinus."
Saying this he took out the tube. A sad spectacle
presented itself to his eyes.
Of the male, more than three parts were devoured ;
there remained but little more than the hard wing-
cases. The unfortunate creature must, however,
have fought bravely for his life ; and the female in
the struggle had two legs torn off, and was resting,
nearly motionless, at the bottom of the tube.
z74 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
"Come, then, this is good," said the Parisian;
" another conjugal drama." And then, in a tone of
bitter reproach : " For shame, wretch. What an ex-
ample to set to youth ! An infamous creature, that
has crunched up her husband ! "
XX.
On board the cutter A Ibatross — At sea — Medusae— Rene is again a "martyr
of science " — Physalia— An old tale by Father Lucas— A sailor's fancy
that cost its author dear — Phosphorescence of the sea— How the Medusae
grow — Alternation of generations— Arrival at Etretat.
" ARE you all there ? One, two, three ! Courage, boys,
courage ! " And Father Lucas, with the help of five
powerful sailors, pushed into the sea the bark that,
drawn up on the sand, had awaited the rise of the
tide. A blue pennant hung at the top of the mast,
and a large tricolour flag, quite new, fluttered from
the boom.
Their provisions, luggage, and some lifebelts (it is
well to foresee everything when about to trust oneself
to the ocean) had been sent down beforehand.
After them the three voyagers arrived. The young
men boldly entered in the water half-way up their legs
in order to get on board the vessel. As for Uncle Bob,
he was obliged to resign himself to being carried by a
sturdy sailor, by the aid of whose shoulders he gained
the deck of the cutter.
" Is all ready ? " said Father Lucas ; " then we will
start."
276 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
All the sails were run up; the Albatross gently
yielded to the wind. The old sailor, with bent back
but attentive eye, took in one hand the rope of the
sheets, in the other the tiller. Then one after the
other, sailors, beach, the houses of Villers, began to
disappear, while afar off Cape Antifer vaguely dis-
played its huge white outlines.
When they were fully out at sea, "You are not
sick," said Uncle Bob to his nephew.
" Sick ! How could anyone be so in such weather ?
besides, I have not time to feel ill. There is too much
to see, and I am enjoying it all too much."
And indeed they had a magnificent panorama
before their eyes. The Albatross was now traversing
the great roadstead of Havre. A whole flotilla of
vessels, with their furnaces half extinguished, or sails
half clewed up, were at anchor quietly waiting until
the tide was sufficiently full to permit them to enter
the port, something after the fashion of wearied
travellers, who with faces turned towards the desired
goal enjoy a moment of repose before completing the
last stage of their journey.
Here and there were to be seen pilot boats, whose
full -spread sail appeared on the sky almost like a
bird on the wing ; large heavy fishing -boats, hauling
their nets, and whose stem, painted red, was reflected
on the trembling surface of the deep. On the right,
lighted up by the rosy rays of the sun, appeared the
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 277
town with its crowd of roofs and its forest of masts ;
to the left was the horizon, heaven and ocean united,
and forming between the coast of Calvados and Cape
Antifer a quarter of an immense circle.
Leon had placed himself in the fore part of the
vessel, and without speaking he remained there as if
fascinated, seated and leaning on his elbow, fully
occupied with gazing.
Ken6 with much curiosity noticed the Medusae,
through whole shoals of which the vessel occasionally
passed. Carried about at the mercy of the currents,
they were displayed in the water like globes of opal
surrounded by a circle of amethyst.
"What strange creatures!" he suddenly said to
the doctor. " In vain I have looked quite through
them, but I see no stomach, nor anything else. Have
they, then, no internal organs ? "
"It is rather because their organs are also trans-
parent," said Uncle Bob. "If you were to place a
Medusa, for a few hours only, in a coloured liquid,
such as a solution of carmine, you would afterwards
be able to study all the details of its structure with
facility."
Eene considered it a point of duty to put himself
in a position to make the experiment, so, taking up a
net that was at hand, he captured a Medusa and
flung it on the deck.
Now that it was out of the water it appeared to be
27 8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
nothing but a gelatinous and shapeless mass. Never-
theless the budding naturalist without hesitating took
hold of it.
" Oh ! and three times oh ! " he cried, quickly
withdrawing his hand from contact with the jelly-
fish.
"What is the matter?" asked Le'on, whom this
cry had roused from his reverie.
" The matter is that I have taken hold of a handful
of nettles. The ink of the Sepia, the prick of the
' crazy-fish,' the sting of the jelly-fish — I think I
have had my share of these things. When we have
got to ten we must chalk it up. Villainous creature !
horrible and disgusting beast ! " he added while vigor-
ously rubbing his hand.
" That is nothing," said Father Lucas, " who had
not thought it necessary to quit the tiller. Why, I
have seen in the tropics many other kinds, including
the Physaliee, great Medusae something like bladders
— galleys, as the sailors call them."
"Perhaps you mean the Physophora hydrostatica?"
said the doctor.
" Yes, indeed ; that was, I think, the name the
officers gave them. The bladder is surmounted by a
sort of crest, which serves as a sail to the jelly-fish.
Below are large twisted arms like corkscrews ; you
can see that from as far off as this.
" The first time I made the acquaintance of these
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 279
beasts was on board of the Diana, a corvette bound
to the Gaboon. The major had about a dozen of
them placed in a large tub and covered up with a
tarpaulin, intending to study them.
"It was very hot; not a heat like this, but like
what one feels only in the tropics, and that very likely
you will never feel. The douches that the sailors
gave to one another, the frequent washings of the
deck, sometimes repeated as often as six times a
day, nothing was any good ! We were stewing, my
children — were stewing as if Old Nick had cast us all
into his stewpan."
The old sailor here paused for a minute, and passed
his hand over his brow, as if to drive away a painful
reminiscence, and then continued his narrative.
"We had thought of taking a dip overboard, and
being towed by a rope ; but there were a lot of those
miserable sharks. They caught every morsel thrown
overboard before it reached the water ; but this was
not sufficient to prevent them from grinning and
showing us their teeth in a most villainous fashion.
It may be a fine thing to be a sailor, but one does not
care to have such fellows for neighbours. So all
through the day I looked with the corner of my eye
at the major's tub, and thought how much I should
like to take a bath in it. The clear water tempted me
too strongly.
" Well, when the night comes, I get up, I proceed
280 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
very gently, and there I am in my tub. No ! by Jove,
only to think of it again makes me sting all over — a
regular fine bath, a dish of stinging nettles. I got
out, I never yet know how, covered with pimples
from head to feet. I had three days of it without
being able to stir. The jelly-fish next day were
found smashed to jelly. Fortunately it was supposed
JELLY-FISH (lUiizostoma ccerulea).
that the heat had caused them to die of apoplexy.
If the major had known of the adventure he would
never have forgiven me.
" This major was a learned man, but he had some
very queer notions. He used to say (you will know
if it is right) that it is the jelly-fish that make the sea
phosphorescent."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 281
" The major was right. The phosphorescence of
the sea is really due to myriads of minute Medusae.
They are altogether singular animals, and many of
them undergo very strange metamorphoses."
• " Tell us about it, Uncle Bob," said Kene, throw-
ing overboard with his foot the jelly-fish, which again
commenced swimming as if nothing had happened.
" Thus. The Medusa commences by producing an
egg. From this egg issues, not a Medusa, but a sort
of infusorian, furnished with vibratile ciliae, which for
some time leads a free life by rotating, but finishes
by attaching itself to some object under the water.
There it grows, branches out, and becomes a polype.
" Then new changes take place and contractions
are formed, so that the creature becomes like a series
of superposed discs. It breaks up, the discs become
detached, and each forms a jelly-fish, which grows and
later on produces eggs, and so the round is continued
— Medusa3 and polypes, one after the other. The
series of transformations goes on in these lower beings-
in such a way that the children are always dissimilar
from their parents, but resemble a generation of beings
that preceded these."
They were approaching Etretat. The bark was
coasting beneath huge cliffs of chalk, mighty deposits
left by the seas of far distant geological epochs, and
that now rear themselves like colossal walls opposed
to the immensity of ocean.
282 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
By degrees as they advanced the cliffs became
more broken up. Soon the Needle appeared, and
then the Cradle, These rocks stand there like the
last vestiges of some cyclopean architecture. After
these the beach again, with bathing machines, cap-
stans planted in the shingle, and the tarred boats
which, when they are no longer sound enough to
encounter the perils of the ocean, they make use of
for small shops. They had arrived.
While Uncle Bob, like a thoughtful provider, went
to prepare a domicile for the little party, and Lucas
was occupied with the boat, the young men went and
took a glance at the great rocks that the ebbing tide
was beginning to disclose.
XXI.
Villers and Etretat— The cliffs of Normandy— The power of a drop of water
— How shingle beaches are formed — A "water-cat" — Way of getting
rid of an Octopus —Every nook occupied — The population of a rock —
A. new fauna — The various zones of the tidal region.
THE distance separating the sands of Tillers from the
beach of Etretat is scarcely more than ten or a dozen
leagues. It would, however, be difficult to imagine a
greater contrast than exists between these two water-
ing-places.
Villers, stretching out along an immense carpet of
fine sand, extends eastwards almost indefinitely, and
appears, with its villas arranged one after the other,
like forlorn sentinels by the roadside, to offer its
hand to Deauville, which begins a league farther on.
To the west, the suburban houses are placed one
higher than the other on the gentle declivity of a cliff
of brown clay, the upper part of which is broken and
interrupted.
Etretat on the contrary, compressed between the
grasp of its two great cliffs, has its limits on each side
284 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
marked out for ever. Huge strata of chalk three or
four hundred feet in height, almost as massive and
imposing as granite, defy the efforts of man. Air
and water are their only masters. The air, weathering
them, disintegrates the rock, and scatters afar the
dust it has rubbed from the great mass ; the water,
filtering into the almost imperceptible fissures of the
rock, dissolves it, and the nearly invisible moisture
works more effectually than either powder or dyna-
mite.
As the result, enormous blocks are detached and fall
like monstrous projectiles on the crushed shingle.
There the sea takes possession of them and completes
the work. The chalk is dissolved away, and the
insoluble silex, pounded, broken, crumbled, and worn
in every way, forms the shingle that the sea rolls
with a monotonous thunder as far as the mouth of
the Seine.
Two shores so different as Villers and Etretat could
not be inhabited by the same creatures. At Villers
delicate animals are able to repose on the sand, as if
on a soft cushion. To Etretat belong the solid and
hardy species that have nothing to fear from the shock
of the waves, and who find a sheltering-place in the
hard rocks.
" A water-cat ! " *
* "Chatrouille," a local slang name for which the Translator has been
obliged to invent an equivalent.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 287
" Turn his bonnet ! "
These two almost simultaneous exclamations were
uttered by two children, two young natives, who
were engaged in seeking for crabs, by turning over
the large stones covered with seaweed.
"Water-cat? turn his bonnet?" repeated Kene.
"What the deuce can they be talking about?"
He went nearer, and one of the children — he
who had first cried out — raising himself up, waved
LIMPET (Patella ittlgnta, Lamarck).
an enormous Octopus in the air in a triumphant
manner.
" Wasn't long over it? eh ? " said he to Kene,
showing him his capture. " Directly you find your-
self caught by a water-cat, you must catch hold of
his head and turn him inside out like a bag. Will
you buy this one, sir ? " added the young Norman,
without stopping.
"No indeed, I am very much obliged to you," said
Kene, looking with disgust at the hideous beast,
whose arms, furnished with innumerable suckers,
hung down in a flabby style. "What should you
expect me to do with it ? "
"Booh! Have it cooked and eat it," replied the
288 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
child, apparently very much astonished that anyone
should be in doubt about so simple a matter.
Then seeing he was not able to make a good thing
out of it, he placed the monster in his basket and
went off.
" It is a fortunate circumstance," said Leon, " that
the gigantic cuttle-fish, if they really exist, are so
well-mannered as never to let themselves be seen.
A mere dozen of poulpes like that described by Victor
SEA-SNAIL (Purpura lapiUns, Lamarck).
Hugo in the ' Travailleurs de la Mer,' would render a
seaside place quite uninhabitable ! "
While speaking, the young naturalist by his own
example gave the signal for exploration. Close at
hand there began a heap of large rocks, still wet with
the salt water, veritable dwelling-houses for marine
animals, and covered by a thick mantle of green sea-
weed and shells of various sorts.
In such a spot no room is wasted. On the surface
are mussels attached firmly by their byssus ; limpets
with conical shells, who manage to cling to the rock,
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 289
by creating a vacuum beneath them ; acorn shells,
that appear on the rock as little white projections,
very hard and sharp, all these being species that
have nothing to fear from the shocks of the waves.
In the crevices, and in the minute hollows where
protected from the surf, periwinkles and dog peri-
winkles (Purpurae), deposit their eggs ; while still
more in the interior, some in the very heart of the
rock, the numerous group of the corroders of the
stone, the piddock, the Saxicavse, the Venerupis, carry
on without any relaxation their incessant though
unseen task of destruction.
If the ear be applied to the rock, a noise arising
from their unceasing action may be heard, a strange
sound, almost defying description, caused by the
energy of vital action within the interior of the life-
less rock.
Farther off, at the limit of low water, commences a
zone in which the action of the sun's rays is less
powerful, and here the agreeable and lively green
tints are replaced by more sombre shades of bistre-
brown and olive.
Between the great brown stalks and the interlaced
leaves of Laminaria, there is also a considerable popu-
lation, of a quite different character. This is a lurk-
ing-place for certain molluscs without shells, the
species of Doris and Tritonia, designated by the fishers
under the common name of sea-slugs. As well as
u
2 go TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
Aplysia, whose respiratory organs are placed on the
middle of the back, and which secretes a violet
ink.
This zone is prolonged seawards for a considerable
distance ; beyond it is the abyss. This is inaccessible
and unknown, no human eye having yet examined its
depths.
XXTL
The return from Etretat — Inventory — A serious culprit — The worst foe of
the Dutchman — A selfish rascal — The sponges of the Channel — Homeric
combat between a negro and a sponge— Clams — A Chinaman in a shell
— Signs of bad weather — A recollection of some martyrs of duty — Old
mariner and true sailors.
AFTER an excursion of two days, conscientiously
devoted to the examination of Etretat and the neigh-
bourhood— the Manhole, the Cauldron, the Needles,
as well as the great springs at Bruneval — they com-
menced their homeward journey on board of the
Albatross. With one of those sudden changes so
frequent on the coasts of the Channel, the wind now
blew from N.E. to S.W., bringing with it great banks
of clouds. The surface of the water, slightly agitated
by a swell, receiving no longer the rays of the sun,
had become of a more glaucous colour. Sky overcast,
breeze slight, as the sailors say.
However, old Lucas when he was consulted, had
not any hesitation in giving the signal for departure.
" A leading wind to come with, and a leading wind
to return with ! Why, the weather is made expressly
292 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
for us ! With only half her sails the Albatross will
skim along like an American cutter."
Accordingly they started.
When Etretat had disappeared from sight, and they
were beginning to follow the long line of cliffs, they
went over the inventory of the preceding day.
The doctor, who had only passed a few minutes on
the beach, opened his botanical box, and took out of
it a large piece of wood.
" It is not for lighting the fire with," said he; " it
is simply a sample of the ravages that the ship- worms '
are able to effect. Have you ever seen such a cut-
ting-up ? "
And in point of fact this piece of wood, pierced by
holes in various directions, was reduced almost to the
condition of a sponge. On its sides, and on the ex-
posed parts, the galleries hollowed out of the wood
could be seen lined with a calcareous layer.
" And here is the culprit ! " added Uncle Bob,
exhibiting a sort of worm, half dried up, and ter-
minated by a pigmy shell. "It is the Teredo navalis,
an implacable enemy of maritime constructions.
When piles are driven in sea- water to form break-
waters or piers, or when wooden vessels are left
stationary for some time in port, it comes boldly and
establishes itself in them, eating away atom by atom
of the construction by means of its shell, as if with
an auger. Pile work, made from the heart wood of
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 295
oak, has been known to give way suddenly after a
few weeks, being mined by these invisible workmen.
In Holland, especially in that part of the country that
is preserved from the invasion of the sea by means of
dikes, the damage caused annually by these molluscs
is very considerable.
" These other smaller holes, that you see at the
end of the wood, are made by an enemy of the ship-
worm, which fact, however, does not prevent it from
being equally our enemy. It is a crustacean, and the
selfish rascal would wish to have the monopoly of
destroying our artificial marine constructions. It is
the Limnoria terebrans. Our captain knows it well,
only he gives it another name, calling it, I believe, the
gribble."
"Yery good bait for fishing-lines," sententiously
remarked the fisherman, pulling at his pipe.
" That is all my find, except a Spongia oculata, one
of the few kinds of sponges found in the Channel, all
of which, moreover, are quite small. In warm seas,
sponges, on the other hand, sometimes attain enor-
mous dimensions. Witness the colossal sponge pre-
served in the museum at Havre, which was obtained
about thirty years ago under circumstances that are
worthy of being narrated.
"As they were disembarking on to a lighter in
some port of Mexico — I have forgotten which one —
some cases of machinery imported in a vessel from
296 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
Havre, as the result of some piece of awkward man-
agement one of these cases fell into the sea. A
squad of negroes was immediately set to work to
recover it. And it happened that one of these
negroes fell, as if into a trap, into the sponge in
question, which was just deep enough and large
enough to contain the whole body of a man.
"The poor devil, maddened with fright, thought
himself lost. By a desperate shock he succeeded in
detaching the sponge from its attachment, and both
PIECE OF WOOD PERFORATED BY SHIP-WORMS.
of them rose to the surface together, the man in the
sponge. This negro-eating sponge is, I believe, the
largest specimen that has ever been secured."
" Now that we are talking of big things," said
Kene, " can you tell me what are the largest of all
the shells?"
" A species of Tridacna — giant clams, or holy-water
basins as they are called. These sometimes attain a
diameter of three feet. They are obtained chiefly in
the Indian Ocean."
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 297
" I know them well enough," said old Lucas. " I
have eaten them when I was in India."
"Well?"
"Well, it is detestable. But there is one thing
about them that you probably do not know ; it is that
in China they make use of these shells, which we use
here as holy-water basins, as troughs for horses.
Indeed, I knew an old quartermaster who declared
he had seen them so large that they were used as baths
by the mandarins. You can't believe some quarter-
masters ! "
They were entering the bay of the Seine. In the
north the sky was becoming blacker and blacker,
while, by a curious optical effect, to the south the
houses of Trouville and all the details of the coast of
Calvados were denned with remarkable clearness.
Some flocks of sea-gulls appeared as white patches
against the black sky, and made with all possible
rapidity for the coast.
" We must make for Trouville as quickly as pos-
sible," said the captain of the Albatross ; " there will
be a pretty good hatful of wind to night."
He gave a stroke of the tiller, and noticing on the
larboard side of the vessel the buoys of Amfard, which
were bobbing about on the waves, he lifted his woollen
bonnet by way of saluting them.
This gesture did not escape the three voyagers, and
in response to the unspoken request of their eyes he
298 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
said : " A very sad recollection. About two years
ago, in the spring — it was the 26th of March, I shall
never forget the date — I had been already detained at
Havre for three days by stormy weather. In the
morning I went down to look at the sea, thinking
how long it was likely to last, and to see if the wind
was not moderating a bit. Bah ! it was stronger than
ever.
" Then I saw plainly, down here near this buoy,
an English cutter, the Vivid, on the point of being
lost.
" With a telescope you could see the men, who
had climbed into the rigging and were making signals
— well, that sort of thing, you know — but then to
venture out in such weather !
" They could not be deserted like that, and I said
to myself, ' Ah ! if I were ten years younger ! ' Just
then I see the lifeboat going out, with its crew of
eleven ; it was No. 4. ' Hurrah ! boys,' I cry to
them, ' Hurrah ! ' But they were never seen alive
again.
"Another squad got under way in spite of the
danger, but it was all over with the first crew.
No. 4 had been manned by eleven men, and the
next day they recovered eleven bodies.
" And when they gave them a magnificent funeral,
with the soldiers and music, and all the weeping
they had deserved it, poor fellows ! ), I was there in
"
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 299
the church, leaning against a pillar, and I said to
myself below my breath : ' They were sailors, true
ones ! ' "
He was silent for a moment, and then as if speaking
to himself again, he muttered —
" True ones ! "
The three excursionists looked at him without
speaking, and while the cutter skimmed rapidly
along, sloping under her sails, two big tears rolled,
in silence down the wrinkled cheeks of the old
sailor.
XXIII.
EPILOGUE.
" THERE is no company too good to part," says an old
proverb, and the time came when the portmanteaus
had again to be packed, closed, and strapped up for
the return.
" Already ! " sighed Kens', who had been occupied
all the morning with the unpleasant task.
"Already!" repeated mechanically Le*on and the
doctor.
It must be, however. The end of the vacation was
at hand, and Uncle Bob himself would only be able to
stay a week longer at Yillers. The yearly leave that
his position in the medical schools at Paris permits him
to take was on the point of expiring, and professional
duty required his speedy return.
They sat down to table, without much appetite, it
must be admitted, and at the very moment when the
meal was finished the door was opened and the ser-
vant announced—
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 301
" The omnibus for the railway, sir ! "
Have you ever noticed the effect produced by such
words, when it has become necessary to tear oneself
away from an agreeable sojourn ? The idea of depar-
ture has not been allowed to take possession of the
mind. If one has thought of it, a glance of the eyes at
the surroundings has assured us that the moment of
separation is not yet here. But the clock strikes, and
brings one to the stern reality.
" The omnibus for the railway, sir ! "
The luggage was again stowed away on the omnibus,
and Bene", who a few weeks before affected such a
complete nonchalance, and gaily mocked the scientific
tastes of his cousin, Kene* the giddy and incredulous
Parisian of the previous year, returned a last time to
the workroom at the moment of leaving the cottage as
if to say good bye to it.
And when, having said adieu to Uncle Bob, he was
on the point of mounting the steps of the carriage that
was to take him back to Paris—
11 Thank you much ! " he said to Le*on, pressing his
hand with warmth. u You have taught me to observe,
you have shown me how one may in any place occupy
and train the intellect. Again I thank you."
The train started, and the young man leant out so
that he might get one more glimpse, through the
trees, of the peaceful cottage where, instead of excit-
ing pleasures, he had found during his short vacation
302 THE WALKS ABROAD OF
the tranquil and strengthening solace that is brought
by study.
Then in turn the cottage and trees disappeared,
and Eene* ensconced himself in a corner and lulled
by the monotonous rumbling of the train fell asleep.
At the time these lines are written nearly a year
has elapsed, and Uncle Bob is again making his pre-
parations for a return to Villers. He will find some
changes there.
Father Lucas has gone to reside at Trouville. He
can there find better shelter for his boat, the Albatross,
and give it more attention. For the greater part of
the year he lives the life of a retired man, but during
the season of fine weather excursions to sea are a
source of considerable profit to him.
The fishermen of Trouville hold him in great respect,
and when a difference of opinion arises between two
sailors, it is to the old patriarch that appeal is made.
His decisions are treated as final.
So Father Lucas has become an authority.
Franceschini, in recognition of the services he ren-
dered as non-commissioned officer in 1870, received,
when he had ceased to expect it (possibly Uncle Bob
may have known of it), a military decoration. Some-
times, when seated in the midst of his treasured collec-
tion, he gazes fixedly at the brilliant token displayed
on the wall, and believes that the sight is a sovereign
remedy for rheumatism and attacks of gout, from
which he sometimes suffers.
TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 303
Jacob, who when young was of so happy a disposi-
tion, has, now that he is older, become an impudent
chatterbox and an incorrigible thief.
Yes, dear readers, I regret to inform you that it is
impossible to deny that Jacob has a natural talent for
theft. Everything that glitters excites his cupidity,
and only yesterday, by chance his storehouse was
discovered under the stairs. Here is the inventory of
its contents —
Two thimbles.
A small key.
A penholder.
Two or three dozen pins.
About the same number of needles.
Some nails and screws.
Two half-franc pieces.
The cover of a sardine-box.
One may well ask what Jacob intended to do with
such an accumulation.
And your two principal characters, Kene" andLe*on?
Ldon, a medical student, has passed his first exami-
nation with honours ; and his thoughtful turn of mind,
and the remarkable grasp of his intelligence, cause it
to be prophesied that he will be a worthy successor to
his father.
Kene* is about in a few days to pass his last exami-
nation as Bachelor of Arts ; after which he proposes to
enter the college of Saint Cyr. With his careless
3o4 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS.
courage and his frank good-humour there is but little
doubt of his becoming one of our best officers.
There is, however, a dark side to every picture,
and formerly the prospect of long days to be passed
in garrison in the provinces dismayed him. But now,
even should he have to pass whole months in the
midst of the marshes, he is no longer afraid of ennui.
For this terrible complaint he knows a perfect anti-
dote : study — the pursuit of knowledge.
Can time be long when one has to learn ?
Can anyone who is an observer weary ?
THE END.
Date Due
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