BY- THE DO r* A '-,-- L-sL-il IRLF B 3 IDS 303 EDWARD STEP THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID BY THE DEEP SEA By the Deep Sea A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE WILD LIFE OF THE BRITISH SHORES BY EDWARD STEP, F.L.S. AUTHOR OF "WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS," "BY VOCAL WOODS AND WATERS," "BY SEASHORE, WOOD, AND MOORLAND," ETC. iriTH 122 ILLUSTRATIONS BY P. H. GOSSE, W. A. PEARCE, AND MABEL STEP LONDON JARROLD & SONS, 10 & n, WARWICK LANE, E.G. {All Rights Reserved'} 1896 " There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes . By the deep Sea, and music in its roar : I love not Man the less, but Nature more.'* Byron's " Childe Harold" Canto iv. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. THE SEA AND ITS SHORES ... ... n II. Low LIFE ... ... ... ... 20 III. SPONGES ... ... ... ... ... 28 IV. ZOOPHYTES ... ... ... ... 37 V. JELLY FISHES ... ... ... ... 49 VI. SEA-ANEMONES ... ... " ... ... 64 VII. SEA-STARS AND SEA-URCHINS ... ... 86 VIII. SEA-WORMS ... ... ... ... 107 IX. CRABS AND LOBSTERS ... ... ... 130 X. SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS ... ... ... 160 XI. SOME MINOR CRUSTACEANS ... ... 172 XII. BARNACLES AND ACORN-SHELLS ... ... 176 XIII. "SHELL-FISH" ... ... ... ... 185 XIV. SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS ... ... 207 XV. CUTTLES ... ... ... ... 231 XVI. SEA-SQUIRTS ... ... ... ... 236 XVII. SHORE FISHES ... ... ... ... 246 XVIII. BIRDS OF THE SEA-SHORE ... ... 277 XIX. SEAWEEDS ... ... ... ... 288 XX. FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS ... 303 CLASSIFIED INDEX OF SPECIES REFERRED TO IN TEXT ... ... ... ... 309 ALPHABETICAL INDEX ... ... ... ILLUSTRATIONS. The Rocky Shore at Low- water . . . Fronli The Sandy Shore at Low- water . . . jaci Foraminifera Polycistin Sponges Sec. ion through Crumb-of- Bread Sponge Grantia compressa Grantia ciliata ... Sea Oak Coralline Calycles of Sertularia enlarged Plumulatia pinnata Plumularian, portion enlarged Haliclystus Sea- Mat (Flustra) Larvae of Aurelia Marigold (Aurelia aurita} Portuguese Man-o'-War Tube-mouthed Sarsia Forbes' yEquorea Beroe and Young Beadlet Snowy Anemone Rosy Anemone ... Orange-disk Anemone Opelet Dahlia Wartlet... Sun Star Purple-tipped Urchin Feather-star Starlet Granulate Brittle-star PAGE PAGE Sipunculus 103 Apiece Sea-cucumber ... 103 Trumpet Sabella 109 ng II Brush Sabella ... 109 . 22 Common Sabella 109 - 23 Scarlet Serpula "3 , 29 Pearly Nereis ... 118 Rainbow Leaf-worm 119 32 Banded Flat-worm 125 35 Long Worm ... 125 35 Zebedee (Xantho incisus) ... 137 39 Hairy-crab 138 d 39 Velvet Fiddler 140 43 The Hermit-crab and the d 43 Cloaklet Anemone 145 45 Scaly Squat-lobster 148 . 46 Broad-claw 148 53 54 Prickly Spider-crab The Masked-crab (male) .., 152 153 56 Nut-crab 157 57 Angular- crab ... 157 . 58 The Prawn 163 . 61 Common Shrimp 167 65 Sea Slater 173 . 68 Ship-barnacle ... 177 . 68 Pyrgoma 183 . 69 Scalpellum 183 73 Porcate barnacle 183 . 81 Acorn-shell 183 . 91 Spiny Cockle ... 186 93 Banded Venus 186 93 Smooth Venus 191 93 Rayed Artemis 192 95 Cross-cut Carpet- shell 193 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE PAGE Common Scallops 195 Ascidia mentula 240 Scallop hung up Comb-shell 196 198 Currant-squirter (Styelagros- sularia) ... 240 Rayed Trough-shell 199 Clavelina 241 Red nosed Borer 203 Sal pa maxima ... 242 Piddock 203 Part of a chain of Salpae ... 242 Limpets 208 Botryllus 243 Purples 208 Botryllus violaceus 244 Smooth Limpet 211 Larva of a Tunicate 245 Smooth Limpet, thick variety 211 Shanny 247 Netted Dog-whelk 213 Father Lasher 251 Red- whelk ... 214 Worm Pipe-fish 251 Cowry 215 Little Goby ... 257 Horn-shell 218 Butterfly Blenny 257 Pelican's foot ... 2 2O Cork wing Wrasse 259 The Common Top 221 Gunnel 264 Violet-shell ... 222 Three-bearded Rockling ... 266 Raft of Violet-shell 222 Fifteen-spined Stickleback 267 Slit L'mpet 223 Lesser Weever 267 Hungarian Cap 224 Two spotted Sucker 271 Tusk-shell 224 Montagu's Sucker 273 Smooth Mail-shell 225 Topknot 274 Sea Lemon 226 Lesser Launce or Sand-eel 275 Crowned Eolis 228 Shag 279 Sea-hare 229 Solan Goose ... 28 [ Sea-hare, front view 230 Oyster Catcher 281 Octopus 232 Razorbill 285 Sepia 234 Puffin 285 Squid (loligd) ... 235 Channelled Wrack 289 Ascidia virginea 2 37 Bladder Wrack 291 Cynthia quadrangularis Diagrammatic section of an 237 Saw-edged Wrack Pod-weed 291 292 Ascidian ... 238 Peacock's Tail 296 Orange-spotted Squirt (Cyn- Chondrus crispus 299 thia a^gregata] 239 Ash-leaved Sea-weed 300 BY THE DEEP SEA. CHAPTER I. THE SEA AND ITS SHORES. THE sea is the very fountain and reservoir of the life of this globe. As the heart is to man and his fellow vertebrates, so is the ocean to the world. It is the centre of the circulatory system; and that system means the life, the health, the sus- tenance of the body through which it sends its fluids. With the destruction of the heart the human life must cease ; and with the annihilation of the sea, could such a thing be possible, all life on the globe must come to an end. We know it is the source of all our vitalizing showers, of every fertilizing stream, of every commerce-laden river. The sun and the winds distil its waters, and carry the sponge-like clouds over the lands, to drop their moisture in rain and mist and snow, making vegeta- tion possible, and giving man two-thirds of his entire substance ; for there are ninety-eight pounds of water in the man of ten stone ! The ocean does almost everything for man. Consider this statement well, and you will be astounded at the way in which we are everywhere dependent, directly or indirectly, upon the sea as the great reservoir of the world's water, and as the manufacturer, by means of its myriads of living contents, of new and useful material from the old and worn-out rubbish, the very refuse and filth, that we daily pour into it. In fact, one 12 BY THE DEEP SEA. of the principal occupations of civilised man may be said to consist in making clean water dirty ; and one of the greatest operations of Nature is to make the dirty water clean and pure again. Like the man in the fairy story, the sea gives us new lamps for our old battered and bruised ones ; and it is mainly enabled to do this by reason of its immensity and the enor- mous variety of its population, each able to turn some portion of our rubbish to account. According to the most recent estimates, the cubical contents of the ocean is fourteen times greater than the bulk of the land, and this means that the whole of the land could be lost in the oceans. Not only so, but if all the conti- nents and all the islands were dumped down into the Atlantic, there would still be two-thirds of that great ocean quite clear, and the whole of the other oceans would be undisturbed. It is calculated that the entire surface of the globe is 188 millions of square miles, and of this, the small portion of 51 millions of square miles represents the land surface, whilst the Pacific Ocean alone has a surface area of 67 millions of square miles. It is no wonder that the immensity and mystery of the sea have always exercised a fascination over man. Emerson de- clares that "the Scandinavians in our race still hear in every age the murmurs of their mother, the ocean ; " but he need not thus have limited the thought in this respect, at least, we are all Vikings, and the murmurs of our mother still draw us to her side. Whether we be Scandinavians or Celts, the sea has power to bring us to her to-day as strong as ever it had over our forefathers, who found in the seas that lap our little isles the secret of national liberty, wealth, and power, such as no other country has ever enjoyed. What a part the sea has played in the making of the great Anglo-Saxon race ! It is but meet that we should try to understand something of that great heart of Nature ; and for years we have been sending expedi- tions here and there to sound its depths, and collect facts that shall one day enable us to know it thoroughly. We cannot all undertake, or accompany, such expeditions, and must, there- THE SEA AND ITS SHORES. 13 fore, be content to read with delight of their results ; but great numbers of us make our annual pilgrimage to the sea-shore, and, if we will, may learn much of its wonders and beauties without running into danger, experiencing the discomfort of sea-sickness, or risking more than the wetting of a foot. In the present volume it is the author's desire to act as a friendly go-between, introducing the unscientific sea-side visitor to a large number of the wonderful and interesting creatures of the rocks, the sands, and the shingle beach. Some may think this a work of supererogation, for already many volumes have been issued with a similar object. It is true that there are a number of manuals upon the wonders and the common objects of the shore, but the best are out-of-date or out-of-print, and the recent ones are such shocking examples of bookmaking without much knowledge of the subject in hand, that the prac- tical 'long-shore naturalist smiles and writhes alternately as he turns their pages. Whatever else the present effort may lack, I claim for it this merit, that it has been written in close contact with the things it describes not only of cabinet specimens, but of the living creatures under natural conditions. There is not a line in the whole volume that has not been written within a few yards of, and in full view of the rocks where the waves forever break, sometimes gently with a low murmuring, almost a whisper; at other times rearing their white crests a mile away, then sweeping across the bay, flinging their malachite curves upon the rocks with giant force and thunderous roar, whilst the foam flakes flying high tap softly at my window. As far as possible I have dealt with the fauna of the rocky shore separately from that of the sands or the shingly beach, but it must be understood that in Nature the reis a good deal of overlapping. It will also be no surprise to the reader that the rocky shore bulks more largely in these pages than sand or shingle; the rocks with their cracks and caves and pools affording protection to many delicate organisms against the fury of the waves. 14 BY THE DEEP SEA. Naturalists have marked off the sea-bed into a series of zones, an arrangement which may seem somewhat arbitrary, but which is found very useful in practice. The first or highest of these zones is known as the Littoral zone (Latin, lit or alls, the shore), and includes all the shore, be it rocks, sand, shingle, or mud, that lies between the highest and the lowest of spring-tide marks. Next to this comes the Laminarian zone, so-called because between very low tide and a depth of about fifteen fathoms of water, the Laminaria digitata, or Oar-weed, grows profusely over the rocky ground, and forms a splendid cover for the luxuriant animal life that haunts it. Our district is the Littoral zone, and the Laminarian zone forms our seaward boundary, which we cannot cross, for its exploration needs the use of boat and dredge. It is a very tempting province to enter, for it contains the oyster-banks, and many interesting forms of life. He who would see the most that the shore has to exhibit to him, must consult the local tide-table, and the table of the moon's changes. If his stay at the sea-side is to be brief, he must endeavour to let the date of his start be governed by lunar considerations. Many business men can- not get away for more than a fortnight, and if any such should wish to make the best use of his time in connection with natural history, we should advise him to begin his holiday at the period of the moon's first or third quarter. He will thus arrive at the time of ^ T24 BY THE DEEP SEA. about an inch and a half in length, with a roundish body, no eyes, and the mouth near the front end. The Four-eyed Worm (Tetrastcmma quarfrioculatuni) is similar in form, but larger, thicker in the middle, and with four eye-spots arranged in a semicircle parallel with the front margin. The Many-eyed Red -worm (Polystemma roseum} has a dis- tinct snake-like head and neck, with many eye-spots in groups around the margin of the head and towards the neck, and in the latter there are two red spots which appear to be hearts. Just below these is the mouth. Viewed laterally the head is wedge-shaped. It is to be found in rock-crevices, and among the rubbish at the roots of seaweeds on the rocks. The most marvellous, in certain respects, of all these worms is the Long Worm (Linens marinus-t), so long, indeed, that it is all but impossible to give its measurement. It is extremely soft like the others of its tribe, very narrow and quite linear, that is, slender with parallel sides. You will probably find it for it is fairly common beneath some deserted jhell, resting for the day, away from the light ; and it will no doubt be twisted and tangled and coiled upon itself in such a manner as would lead you to say if you have no experience of its ways that it were impossible for it or any other creature to disentangle it without many breakages. How any creature can carry on the ordinary functions of life so tightly coiled and twisted and knotted is a marvel. And yet, hopeless as the task of disen- tanglement appears, Linens accomplishes it without any of those strainings that the juggler puts on when he has been tied up by the sailor, until the confining rope is all knots. Whilst it is day the Lineus has no particular desire to uncoil ; he is happier as he is, his enormous length more under control and, like an army that is concentrated in one mass, is less open to the assaults of an enemy. But when the fitting occasion has arrived, and Lineus wishes to be elsewhere, he solves your * Better known by its former name, Netnertes borlasii. SEA-WORMS* 1^7 difficulties in a way you can scarcely understand, though you see the whole performance. He simply unravels himself; taking the right end of him, and applying a little pressure, he glides off without any fuss, and you see that there is a flowing motion of the black string ; no untying, no contortions. He has uncoiled about a foot of himself and laid hold of a stone, a shell, or a weed that distance away, and to the horror of yourself, who hoped now to be able to measure this animated bootlace, he has commenced twisting himself into an equally hopeless tangle at -the other end. He is so remarkably elastic too ! You may look at this living Gordian knot and see about a quarter of an inch of the head end protruding from a tight kink ; you may watch the kink and certify that no movement takes place in it ; yet the head moves away to a distance of five or six inches, simply by the stretching and consequent attenuation of that free quarter of an inch. The Rev. Hugh Davis many years ago contributed to the Transactions of the Linnean Society an account of his dealings with this Planarian, and as does not often happen to contri- butions to that useful but technical work, it became much quoted. It was all sober fact, as became the calling of the author and the character of the eminent society to which he communicated the story; but we were greatly amused not many years ago seeing Davis' account of its length, etc., put forward as a specimen of a "traveller's tale," drawn chiefly from the imagination. Later, but practially identical accounts have been published by Gosse, Charles Kingsley, and others. Kingsley, if we remember rightly, had to defend himself from the charge of shooting with the long-bow, or "slinging the hatchet," and in doing so he said there was so much that was truly marvel- lous in Nature that it was unnecessary for an author to invent lies wherewith to startle his readers. Yet the story was too much for a well-known and generally well-informed science i 128 BY THE DEEP SEA. lecturer, for on the editor of one of the snippety periodicals printing Kingsley's account with the sensational headline, "A living fish-line," and without acknowledgment of the source from which quoted, Mr. W. Mattieu Williams, F.R.A.S., F.C.S., requoted it in his monthly " Gossip on Current Topics," contributed to " Science Gossip," and headed it " Munchausen Science." He coupled it with what he called " an equally sensational account of the latest method of disposing of the dead, by electroplating the corpse," and concludes, " It is not my wont to be presumptuous, but in this case I do ven- ture to suggest that for such revelations the general title of Popular Science should be exchanged for that which I have given, Munchausen Science." Of course, Mr. Williams was a physicist, rather than a biologist, but Dr. Taylor, the editor, professed to have a knowledge of marine biology, and how he could have let Williams' strictures pass without com- ment or explanation, is more wonderful than the account of Linens. Davis gave up the attempt to measure the living Linens, but when it was dead he unravelled it without stretching, and found it to be twenty and two feet long. He adds: " I give it as my firm opinion, that I speak within bounds when I say the animal, when alive, might have been extended to four times the length it presented when dead. It is, therefore, by no means impossible that this most astonishing creature may have been susceptible of being drawn out to the length of twelve fathoms, or, according to the accounts of the fishermen, to thirty yards or fifteen fathoms." I would only add that from my acquaintance with the living Linens, I see no occasion whatever for taxing the Rev. H. Davis or Canon Kingsley with exaggeration. Neither, I think, will my readers, when they have read the following quotation from Prof. W. C. Macintosh's " Monograph of British Annelida " : " This is unquestionably the giant of the race, and even now I am not quite satisfied about the limit of SEA-WORMS. 129 its growth, for after a severe storm in the spring of 1864, a specimen was thrown on shore at. St. Andrews, which half filled a dissecting jar eight inches wide and five inches deep. Thirty yards were measured without rupture, and yet the mass was not half uncoiled." CHAPTER IX. CRABS AND LOBSTERS. THE professional crab and lobster catcher has to provide himself with "pots" and "bullies" for the taking and storing of his crustaceans for the market, and ultimately the table. As we are concerned more with the unmarketable smaller fry, to which the fisherman almost denies the name of crab, we need no such cumbrous paraphernalia ; our handy open basket, with its stock of glass jam-jars, is all we require. Our occupation to-day consists in turning the large stones at low-water in the "long drang," and lifting the heavy tapestry of olive weeds that covers the rocks. In this occu- pation we shall encounter several species of the crab class, or the Crustacea, as naturalists term that division of the animal kingdom which includes the crabs, lobsters, shrimps, prawns, arid -barnacles. The crab and the lobster of the fish- monger's shop are creatures that, as adults at least, are chiefly found in deep water, and therefore do not concern us much. But in seeking for other sorts we shall turn out no end of young specimens of the Great Crab, up to three or four inches across the longest part of his carapace, as the upper "shell" of a crab is styled in the precise language of science. As this Great Crab, from its occasional appearance on our tables and its large size, is the best known of the whole tribe, we shall do well to use it for a type of the Crustacea, and write a few words concerning it. Any of these small specimens that we can catch under the stones or in rock-holes will serve our pur- pose, and having taken the precaution to hold his longest diameter between our thumb and forefinger, so that he' may CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 13! not inflict a painful nip with his pincer claws, we shall be able to examine him at leisure. The most striking feature of the Great Crab (Cancer pagurus) is its heavy pincer-claws (chela*), which in a really large male, or Jack-crab, assume enormous proportions. I measured a specimen that a few months since found its way to the cooking pot at home. Across the back, measuring the " shell" only, it was ten and a quarter inches long by six and three quarters from back to front. I took no account of the walking feet, but the big chelce measured sixteen and three quarter inches from the root to the tip, and their girth at the thickest part of the "hand" was eight inches and a half. One of these large specimens of the Great Crab always reminds me of a well- baked pie, when I look at him tucking his legs beneath his roof. It is not alone the substance of his shell and the brown tint that suggests pastry, but there are those deep lines in the frontal margin, marking off the " quadrate lobes " of the scien- tific describer, that at once reminds you of the marks the cook impresses upon her paste with a fork. Then, of course, there is the pale undercrust ; and the resemblance will be strength- ened when you observe the voracious Shore Crab, after dining upon a younger brother, holding the empty carapace to his mouth in his pincer-claw, like a piece of pastry, whilst he nib- bles at the edge until it is all gone. So much for this fanciful notion; now let us to business. This shell or carapace of the crab has 110 more than the merest superficial resemblance to the shells of oysters or other shelly/*, falsely so-called. Its relationship is much closer to the horny integuments of beetles and other insects. These are formed of a substance called chitin, and of chitin also are all the hard parts of a crab composed, with the addition to it, when in a fluid condition, of calcareous matter, which hardens upon a short exposure to the air or water. Where the limb is to bend the calcareous salts are not-deposited, so we find the joints covered with a membrane of soft chitin alone. 132 BY THE DEEP SEA. The Crustacea belong to that grand division of the animal kingdom known as the Arthropoda, i.e., animals whose bodies consist of a series of variously-shaped segments, the skeleton being external, and giving more definite form to those rings, which are placed edge to edge, and some of which have limbs attached to them. Taking a bird's eye view of the crabs, and seeing only the continuously solid surface of the carapace, it would be difficult to accept this statement; more especially should we stare hard at the crab's back if we were told that the typical number of such rings or segments in the Crustacea is twenty (some authorities say twenty-one). But if we turn the crab over so that we can get a fair view of his smooth white underside, we begin to think there may be something in this ring theory after all, for the undercrust is not solidly continuous like the upper, but marked off by grooves to indicate the seg- ments. The idea is that in the original progenitor of the race the whole twenty segments were distinct and had independent movement, but that in the process of evolution of the various species it has served their purpose in life to have some of these segments soldered together. And so in the many genera into which the vast army of crustaceans are classified, we find great variations in this respect ; also in the various functions which the pair of limbs or otherwise modified appendages that spring from each segment is called upon to play. Under the carapace of the Great Crab are gathered together no less than fourteen segments, nine belonging to the head arid bearing appendages transformed into eyes, antennae, jaws, etc. ; whilst five belong to the trunk and bear the great chela: and the four pairs of walking limbs. The remaining six seg- ments belong to the tail (pleon), and in the crabs are folded over under the united head and trunk. Among the different groups of Crustacea we shall find the widest variations in the arrange- ments of these parts; even in different genera of crabs is this so, as we shall see before we bave left the long drang. " Glancing along the whole line of limbs, as the outgrowths CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 133 from the segments have some right to be called, twenty pairs in number, we find them successively devoted to seeing, feel- ing, and otherwise perceiving, feeding, and presumably tasting, grasping and striking, walking and digging, swimming and leaping. But although the order in which they act may thus be generally stated, there is not unfrequently a transfer of function from one part of the line to another. The feelers may be employed to assist in swimming or climbing or clasping. The mouth-organs of one group are the grasping weapons of another. The walking legs of one set are elsewhere adapted for swimming. There are also other functions conjugal or maternal, in which the swimming legs or the walking legs may take part, while the breathing apparatus, simple or compli- cated, may be connected with the mouth-organs or limbs of the trunk or both, or else with the swimming organs of the tail-part, commonly called the pleon." (Stebbings*) What may be called the personal or life-history of the Great Crab is a scientific romance. Once upon a time there was a grotesque sea monster as big as the head of a good-sized pin *hat resembled in a small way a German soldier's spiked helmet, with a couple of huge eyes in front of it, a long jointed tail behind it, and a few bristles around its edge. This creature naturalists recognised as a distinct species, to which they gave the name Zoea taunts. It was first taken from the sea by a Dutch naturalist, one Martin Slabber, in the year 1768, but his account was not published until ten years later, whereupon Bosc created a new genus to receive the little oddity. Then there was another sea creature, not much larger, but having a distant resemblance to a lobster, and for this form Leach founded his genus Megalopa. Now it chanced that an Irish naturalist, Mr. J. Vaughan Thompson, nearly fifty years later, thought he would like to verify Slabber's observations, and he searched for the supposed-rare Zoea^ and found it in profusion. He watched its progress in life, and lo ! he beheld Zoea cast * History of Recent Crustacea : International Scientific Series, 1893. 134 BY THE DEEP SEA. its skin and became at once a Megtun s this is flattened out as though it had been beaten on an anvil until it was very broad and very thin, to serve as a swimming plate. In Car anus, though the smaller legs are obviously compressed, this last joint of all is stout and runs off to a rounded point, more suited for obtaining a good hold of a sandy bottom than for swimming. We shall find it frequently under both weeds and stones. It is an omnivorous feeder, accepting fish, flesh, or fowl; stealing bait from the fisherman's lines and from his crab-pots, disfiguring the fish which has been already caught on spillers, and, worse than all, causing great havoc among the young oysters that have been laid down in the beds, by eating them, shell and all. They are said to form an important article of food along the shores of the Adriatic, and they were at one time not unknown in the London markets. Leach says 140 BY THE DEEP SEA. that in his time (early in the century), immense quantities were eaten by the London poor. Whether there is any considerable trade of this kind now I do not know ; but I remember how more than thirty years ago I considered them very sweet and tooth- some, and used to go as a boy to buy them, all alive, of an old woman in one of that intricate maze of courts and alleys that then existed where now the Royal Courts of Justice stand. I think they were sold at about eight or ten for a penny. Had they not been sold alive I should probably never have desired to have them. When throwing aside the heavy bunches of Fucus that hang over the rocks, in order that we may see their surfaces, we shall VELVET FIDDLER. catch sight of a more pugnacious crab even than Carcinus, leaping, rather than running sideways, with such rapidity that we need to be smart to catch it. Aye, and we need to have a little nerve, or the Velvet Fiddler will alarm us into letting him pass into the oblivion of the seaweed jungle, or one of those rock-crevices which always seem to be in the right place to afford sanctuary to a poor hunted crab. Most crabs are so flattened that these cracks seem specially provided for them, whereas the evolutionist will tell you it is the rock-haunting crabs that have become specially adapted to find salvation in these asylums. This is the crab we alluded to especially CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 14! when speaking of the likeness between the swimming-crabs (Portunus) and the Shore-crab. The Velvet Fiddler (Por- tunus puber) is one of the swimming crabs; this may easily be seen on reference to the hindmost pair of legs, as already indicated. The Velvet Fiddler gets the two words of his queer name from two distinct characters. He is clad in a dingy suit of velveteen, which appears to be much the worse for wear rusty, and in places the nap is worn right off, probably by too much squeezing into tight places in the rocks. On his limbs the velveteen is marked in such definite patterns, that we feel inclined to abandon the hard-wear theory, and to fall back upon one of natural artistic adornment. He is really a very fine fellow ; his legs being covered on the upper sides with this velvet pile, with the exception of certain longitudinal raised lines of polished blue-black. The square-looking back of the carapace has a similar smooth raised border, with two raised lines of the same character below it. Then all the smaller legs have the longest joint fringed along the upper edge, but the hindmost pair in addition have a close broad band of stiff feather-like fringe standing out all round the three last joints. The last two of these are flattened out to such an extremity of thinness that there seems to be no room for living ilesh within. The pincer-claws are not so heavy or robust as those of the species we have already considered. They are more uniform in thickness, more elegant in their slim tapering, so that the members of this genus are often called Lady-crabs. The upper surface is velvety, picked out here and there with blue, and the hand, with its fixed nipper, is decorated below with white and blue tubercles. The moveable nipper is finely ridged, and both of them have a fine row of teeth. Then these pincer-claws are well-armed with long sharp spines ; the antero- lateral margins of the carapace are finished off with five sharp curved spines on each side, and the space between the eye- orbits are similarly protected, but with thinner, straight spines. The large round eyes are a pair of gleaming rubies, and the 143 BY THE DEEP SEA* tough skin that hinges the joints of the limbs together is of the same hue as the eyes. Such is the appearance of the living Velvet Fiddler; the museum specimens lack much of his brightness and beauty. The name of Fiddler has been given to him, according to Mr. Gosse, " because the see-saw motion of the bent and flattened joints of the oar-feet is so much like that of a fiddler's elbow." You will, I am sure, agree that this is a satisfactory explanation when you see the Velvet Fiddler flinging these feet about in a perfectly unnecessary, and in- e.Tectual manner, considering that he is out of water. When we disturb him during our exploration of the drang, he puts up his pincer-claws in similar fashion to the tactics adopted by the Shore-crab; but we are not to be alarmed in that manner. Pretending to hit him between the eyes with one hand, we slip the other behind him, and catch the longest part of his carapace between our finger and thumb, and his kicks and threats are thrown away. There are seven other species of Swimming-crabs belonging to this genus, Portunus^ found in British waters, but as they all inhabit deep water, and can be obtained only with the dredge, or by arrangement with the crabbers, who regretfully find them in their pots, they are not likely to thrust themselves on the notice of the shore-naturalist. Gazing into the rock-pools, an observer who was acquainted with molluscan life, but not with the Crustacea, would be aston- ished at the marvellous rate at which winkles, dog-whelks, tops, and other shells move over the bottom ; but if he lifted one of these he would discover that the builder of the house had given up possession, and a tenant had taken it for a term. This tenant is one or other of a dozen species of crabs known indiscriminately to the great British Public as /he Hermit Crab or Soldier Crab. The fact that it shuts itself up in a solitary cell is sufficient to account for its name of Hermit-crab ; and a strong tendency to wage war upon a fellow crab, who may CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 143 live in a slightly larger shell, is probably the reason for its military name. The Hermit-crabs are among the curiosities of crab life though for the matter of that, so are all crabs. If there were but one species, we could say it was singular in the fact that the carapace is reduced to the smallest propor- tions, and the greater part of the crab's body without a shell of its own secretion. Nature has been unkind to it in this respect, so the first thought or prompting in the baby Hermit is to look around for a deserted gasteropod-shell. It must be an exceedingly small one to fit him, but he will find plenty such. It has been a matter for considerable debate whether the Hermit is content with an abandoned shell, of which the builder is dead, or whether he first murders and eats the original owner, and then takes possession of his victim's real estate. It is remarkable that naturalists should raise such a question, for anyone who has had any acquaintance with molkisks must know that if a Hermit-crab were to kill, say a Purple, a Top, or a Winkle, he would not be able to get the dead body cleaned out of the shell until putrescence had loosened the muscular attachment. The Hermit could not wait for this process, and therefore I imagine this theory must stand aside until observers have actually seen the crabs in a state of nature forcibly ejecting the mollusk, and appropriating its shell. But it is pretty certain that the Hermits do rob each other of desirable shells, not always with good judgment. A Hermit in my possession lived in a large Top-shell, but coveted a smaller, though large Winkle-shell, which was in- habited by a brother Hermit. For about a week these two were dodging and chasing each other, but to no purpose, for each is powerless to make any impression when the other suddenly shuts himself in his shell with a snap, leaving only the tips of his claws blocking the entrance. However, by some means he got his brother ejected, and eaten by a Shanny ; he quitting his own commodious Top-shell and putting on the Winkle-shell. He was evidently trying hard to persuade himself 144 BY THE DEEP SEA. that it was a splendid fit and most becoming ; but the whole business was absurd. The shell was so small that it did not protect his soft parts, and in case of danger he could not defend himself from an attack in the rear. To add to his troubles he cast his natural shell, and was, of course, much larger than before. For a day or two he still pretended that he lived in a sufficiently roomy house ; then I suppose the pressure on his abdomen became awkward at dinner time, for he publicly owned up that he had committed an error of judgment, quitted the Winkle shell, and resumed possession of his old top-coat, though this necessitated another murder. After he had vaca- ted it a much smaller individual took possession, but as he fitted very loosely it was no very difficult matter for the pre- vious owner to have him out "by the scruff of his neck," and give him his quietus. The most familiar of the Hermits is Eupagurus bernhardus, the Common Hermit-crab, but we are not likely to find full- grown individuals, which keep out in deep water. When full grown, they are about five inches long, and house themselves in large Whelk-shells. The characters by which this species may be distinguished are : the right pincer-claw (cheliped) is usually much larger than the left, and the plentiful granulations of its surface are almost large enough to be described as tuber- cles ; the last joints of the second and third pairs of legs are edged on the upper side with spiny teeth, and they are a wee bit twisted. Prideaux's Hermit-crab (Eupagurus prideaux), is so-called because Dr. Leach, who first identified it as a species distinct from E. bernhardus, received it from his friend Prideaux, who had taken large numbers of it in Plymouth Sound. The granulations of the pincer-claws are much smaller than in bernhardus, and whereas the next joint to the pincers in the latter species has its inner margin decorated with a row of spines, those \i\prideauxaxe innocent tubercles. Then, again, the second and third pairs of legs are nearly smooth, and their o w 04 O CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 147 last joints have no twist, but instead have a groove carved in each side ; the eye-stalks are stouter and the inner antennae longer than in the Common species. It does not attain such large proportions as bernhardus. An interesting point in the natural history of prideaux, is the friendly relations subsisting between it and a peculiar species of anemone the so-called Cloaklet (Adamsia pal/iatd) which attaches itself to the shell serving as the Hermit's cell, and spreads its base out in two lobes, that almost encircle the mouth of the shell. There is no doubt that this commensalism, as such alliances are called by naturalists, is of advantage to both parties to it : the anemone is thus brought into contact with food at the Hermit's own table, so-to -speak, and the crab may be in turn protected from the cavernous jaws of fishes, whose gorge rises at the nauseous odour of all anemones. Several such alliances are known in connection with other species of Hermits. To return to our overhauling of stones : this should be done with care, especially when we are dealing with large masses. I have, when serving my apprenticeship at this kind of work, years ago, had the misfortune, on more than one occasion, to so miscalculate the weight and shape of a large stone, that it has fallen with greater force and in a different direction from that expected and my toes have been on the spot where it fell ! But apart from such accidents, the stone must be turned sharply, or the queer creatures which Nature has specially contrived for living beneath it, will vanish into holes, under other stones, in the sand or mud, or in some other manner. Among those that require a sharp eye to see them is the Hairy Porcelain Crab, Shaggy Flat-crab, or Broad-claw (Porcel- lanaplatycheles). Here is his portrait, but it is only fair to the reader I should explain that, like many other portraits, it was taken after the subject of it had been carefully washed and brushed up. Platycheles is a ragamuffin, a crustacean mud-lark. There is none other like him in the whole range of British crab- life, though several are fond of dressing themselves up in a 148 BY THE DEE? SEA. variety of living rubbish ; but they do not get themselves so be- daubed with mud on a coast where mud has to be searched for if wanted. He has really made it one of the objects of his life to collect that mud, particle by particle, and entangle it in the lux- uriant crop of hair with which he is covered. He is a little fellow only measuring about half an inch from back to front edges SCALY SQUAT-LOBSTER. BROAD-CLAW. of the carapace and I suppose, were he built upon the same plan as other crabs, he would be smaller, if only the same quantity of material were to be allowed ; for he is flattened out, and looks as though he had at one time formed part of a travelling show and the fat woman had sat upon him. His body is flat, but his pincer-claws are flatter, and the area of CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 149 each of the latter is equal to that of his carapace ; they are enormous. And yet, if he had the sense to keep still when the stone is overturned, you would probably fail to see him ; he sits so tightly, and presses the cleaner side of him to the stone. But he has that fatal crabbittess, the desire to fight, and whilst he is sidling off somewhere, he thinks he may as well give you a nip, and he puts up one of his massive-looking pincers, and grips your finger with spirit. With your other hand you grip the offending pincer, and say, "Aha! my friend, you've caught a Tartar this time ; let go ! " He does, but instead of loosing his hold on your finger, he just touches a spring or some other mechanism, and separates his claw from his body without any compunction whatever, whilst his other claws and his body go sliddering off beneath the stone again. If you catch your Broad-claw young, you will find that his upper surfaces are of a ruddy-brown tint, with hair to match, but when he has got this well filled up with filth, he might pass for a daub of mud. Hold him over on his back, if you can, and you will understand why he is called Porcelain-crab. He is smooth and comparatively clean beneath, and his under surface is of a creamy-white colour. Broad-claw has an equally odd-looking relative, the Minute Porcelain Crab (Porcellana longicornis] , which really belongs to deeper waters than our researches at present extend to, but one or two can usually be found under, or among, the stones at extreme low tide. Its colour is red, and its carapace comes very near to being circular. It has not that depressed appearance that makes you pity platycheles for having to support such heavy stones upon his back; in truth, the circularity of the carapace, its convexity, and the fact that it has some depth as well as breadth, makes it appear almost rotund. Its larger pincer-claw is almost three times the length of the carapace ; the other about one-third less, and not nearly so thick. They are both rugged in character, and convex, the larger being slightly keeled on top, and the lesser strongly 150 BY THE DEEP SEA. keeled and grooved. The antennae are very long, a circum- stance to which the creature owes its second name. There is very little hair about this species, and consequently he is able to keep himself clean and neat. In close alliance with the Porcelain-crabs is a group popu- larly known (as far as they are known at all, which is but slightly) as Squat Lobsters. They are not lobsters however, though the long slender pincers, the elongated carapace, and the lobster-like tail all contribute to the likeness. The most plentiful species is that figured on page 148, with Broad-claw, viz. : The Scaly Squat -lobster (Galatliea squamiferd], which we shall find freely under the stones at very low-water in our drang. He is a very lively fellow, who objects to too much publicity, and is very anxious to get into a hole or under another stone the moment you lift the roof off his former retreat. He shoots backwards in true lobster fashion, his pincers held straight out in front. If, however, you interfere with his retrograde movement, the nippers will not be trailed uselessly, but raised and brought into action. Like Broad- claw, he does not set great store by a limb or two, and will willingly part with several as the price of liberty. In colour, squamifera is very dark olive, the carapace covered with waved lines across it, said lines being evenly fringed with short hairs. Similarly fringed scales occur plentifully over all the legs. The carapace begins in front, with a distinct beak, and an awful array of fixed bayonets. The first of these is a stout sharp spine in the very front, and behind it on either side just above the eyes is a series of four similar spines slightly curved, of which the first is the largest, and the fourth very short. Along each side of the carapace is a closely-set row of spines, and the outer edge of the " hand " is protected in a like manner. The next three limbs have smaller spines upon their upper margin, and of larger size, on what might, from its apparent position, be popularly regarded as the knee. All CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 151 these spines, wherever fixed, agree in having red points. But these particulars are not sufficient by themselves to distinguish this species from certain of its congeners, and I am compelled to ask my readers to enter into some minute, and I fear to them, tedious details of description. Of the various appen- dages to the segments comprised in the head of these crusta- ceans, some constitute the eyes, antennae, and jaws. Outside the jaws, and immediately between the pincer-claws of squamifera, is a pair of appendages called the third pair of maxillipeds or footjaws, with long hairy fringes to the extrem- ities. Study these carefully, for from these we can tell at once which of three species we are looking at. Each of these mouth-organs, like the larger legs, is made up of seven joints ; but it is not always easy to reckon these up from the base, because sometimes a joint is hidden or coalesces with another. If now we commence at the other end, calling the top-joint No. 7, and reckoning backwards, we shall have less difficulty. To save further description, and to make easy of reference, I have drawn up a table of distinguishing features for the British species of Galathea : Third footjaws (maxillipeds} with ^ 3rd joint shorter than 4th ,- squamifera ,, ,, longer than and J - - 3rd joint longer than 4th I dispersa r0m eUher { *nd joint longer than 3 rd } str&sa The Spinous Squat-lobster (Galathea strigosd) has spines on his hands along both the inner and the outer margins ; and the antennas are so long that if extended over the back they will reach for some distance beyond the tail. Its colour is inclined to red, with spots and lines of blue. These are the only two we are likely to find in our stone turning, and even strigosa 15* BY THE DEEP SEA. appears to be more at home in deeper water. According to Couch and Spsnce-Bate, dispersa is the commonest form in Cornwall below the low-water mark. Nexa is also a deep- water species. At extreme low water (spring tides) one may be so fortunate among these rocks to come across a stray lobster or two. Just outside you can see the corks which mark the ends of the long series of lobster pots that are put down to catch them, so that it is not very far for them to stray up to this level. I think my readers could be trusted to know the Lobster (Astacus gammarus) if they saw it, without bothering them with a description ? Probably they would not be expecting to see a creature with a coat of the same colour as the uniform of a grenadier guard, instead of blue-black relieved on the under-side by dull orange. They may also be trusted to know the Spiny Lobster, Crawfish or Greek (Palinurus vulgaris], with its very horrid carapace of purplish brown, its lack of heavy pincer-legs, its red-tinted white legs, and its long, thick and strong antennae. If you do not come across either of these at low-water, you may see them when the crabbers bring in their catches. Their boats should be watched as they come in each morning, for you can frequently pick up deep-water specimens of Echini, spider-crabs, and so forth, that have dropped out of the crab-pots into the boat. On our south-western shores you will see, brought in by the crabbers, or occasionally at lib- erty among the rocks, a rough, long-legged fellow called the Prickly Spider-crab, Corwich, or Gabrick (Maia squinado), with a convex carapace of oval form, the broadest part behind. PRICKLY SPIDER-CRAB. His phicer-lcgs are but little CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 155 thicker, though much longer, than the others. On that account he is not greatly esteemed as merchandise, but his flesh is far sweeter than that of the Great Crab. He is a creature of slow and languid habit, who takes as much pains with the " get up " of his carapace as a lady does with her hair or her bonnet. His notion is to make it look like a rough piece of rock, with its characteristic flora and fauna, and to this end he takes cuttings of plants, sponges, ascidians, and anemones, and giving them a lick with his lips, as though they were postage stamps, he carefully sticks them in the valleys between the spines and tubercles on his back, adjusting them by means of his conveniently long arms. The seeker after zoophytic treasures might look in many a worse place for them than on the Gabrick's back. We have now done as much as possible with the crabs of the rocky shore, and must shift our ground for a while to the flat sands that run out from the upper part of the bay, and taking advantage of the very lowest tides, must go, armed with trowel or spade, to dig in the treacherous sands. Many things we may find other than those we came specially to seek, and those we specially want just now may not come to light ; still it is in the sand we shall find the Masked Crab and the Angular Crab, if they occur in the district. The Masked-crab (Corystes cassivelaunus] has a carapace that is much longer than it is broad, almost elliptical in out- line, and so marked with depressions that some specimens present a remarkable likeness to a human face, more especially so if the crab is held in a way that will accentuate the promi- nences by casting small shadows. It is prettily coloured with yellow and red. The male has deeper tints than the female, and his pincer-legs are much longer than hers. Their habit is to burrow into the sand in rather deep water, and lie buried, with only the tips of their long antennae at the surface. These antennas are furnished with a double row of hairs throughout their length, and by placing the antennae so close together that 156 BY THE DEEP SEA. these hairs interlock, a tube is formed through which the crab can draw in the current of water necessary for respira- tion. After storms, great numbers of this crab are sometimes cast up on the shore, dead. Another crab of singular aspect is the Angular-crab (Gono- plaxrhomboides], so-called on account of the many sharp angles of the flesh-tinted carapace. Its pincer-legs look as though they had been drawn out when the animal was soft, for in the adult male they are quite four times the length of the cara- pace in the female and young male they are much less. Another distinction of the sexes will be found in the colour of the moveable finger of the pincers, which is black in the male only. The eyes are mounted on such long stalks that they reach nearly to the sides of the carapace, which run out into a long sharp spine at each front corner for the protection of the eyes. These are mounted very much like the eyes of the Racer-crab (Ocypoda) of other lands, and they are used for a similar purpose. The footstalks are erected so that the crab can see over a wider extent of territory, and behind as well as before. They appear to live in excavations in the mud on our southern and western coasts. They are much esteemed as food by various kinds of fish, and many specimens have been taken from the stomach of the cod particularly. If it be desired to keep living crabs for the purpose of observing them, a shallow vessel will be found the best ; or at least, a vessel in which they can easily get into shallow water. Provision should always be made whereby a crab can climb right out of the water, yet so that he cannot get out of the vessel ; otherwise he will wander all over the house, and either get stepped upon, or get dried up in some obscure corner. It must be remembered that the crab consumes much oxygen, and if specimens of any size are put into tanks con- taining more delicate creatures, much harm may result. It should also be borne in rnind that they are of ravenous and omnivorous appetite, and your choice specimens of soft-bodied CRABS A-ND LOBSTERS. I5Q creatures will not be held sacred by the crabs. We should therefore advise a separate receptacle for crustaceans ; and some of the smaller, more delicate kinds, must be kept each in their own vessels. The smaller species will probably be able to pick up sufficient food from the minute animal and vegetable life of your tanks, but the large ones will require to have food specially provided for them. Small pieces of fish will be found the most convenient for this purpose, and it will be more highly appreciated if it be not too fresh. Like the slum-boy who could not relish farmhouse eggs because they were defi- cient in flavour, the crab prefers his food to be kept for a time. CHAPTER X. SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. POPULARLY there are about three British species of shrimps, including the Prawn ; and the reader whose knowledge of our Crustacea is slight will look for a very brief chapter this time. But he who has paid a little attention to this group will know that we have a difficulty before us in giving anything like a reasonable account of British shrimps without the chapter running into a book. However, our task is greatly lightened for us by the fact that many of these are to be found only in deeper water than lies within the littoral zone, and therefore must be excluded from our survey. By a course of proceed- ing then from the known to the unknown, we would call attention to the largest of the well-known trio. The Great Prawn (Leander serratus), which we fear is best known in its brilliant red colouring, as seen on the breakfast tables of the well-to-do, and in the shop of the first-class fish- monger. Neither of these places offers great advantages for the pursuit of natural history studies so far as the external appearance of living creatures is concerned. It is in the rock-pools that we must make our acquaintance with the noble Prawn in all the glow and glory of life and activity. It is true he then lacks the fine colour of the boiled article, but he has the greater beauty with which Nature has endowed him ; and when you have seen him in his native haunt you will confess that we have not misused the term "noble" in applying it to the bearing of the Prawn. Not many years ago a learned Professor wrote a book on the sea-shore, and- in it stated, among many other curious SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. l6l things, curiously said, that the Prawn could scarcely be called a shore animal except in its younger condition. Probably he had got most of his natural history from the University, and his Professorial dignity would not allow him to go on hands and knees beside a rock-pool that he might learn of the living creatures there : for in all the pools on a rocky coast, Prawns of all sizes, including the giants of the species, are very plentiful. The young prawns, though somewhat lacking the grandeur of the older ones, are more beautiful ; their shelly armour is so crystalline, and their flesh is so clear. But with adult- growth comes a thickening of the armour-plates, and a very pale brown coloration produced by the greater density of the muscular tissue with which it is principally filled. You cannot help being struck with the pretty colouring of those limbs which the late Thomas Bell called the Prawn's hands ; these are the limbs that are furnished with nippers or pincers at their ends, of which the Prawn has two pairs. The first two are very delicate organs, and are only used for delicate work. The second pair the Prawn always carries in front of him, ready for action, but the first are carefully folded up and held close under the jaws. In an aquarium where you have introduced a mossy-looking stone from low-water, you will see the Prawn ranging over it and picking up with his smaller pincers some minute objects that his eyes enable him to see, but which we cannot make out without a lens. In the securing of larger masses of food the heavy " hands " would be em- ployed, but to convey small particles of the mass to the mouth the smaller hands are brought into requisition, and very daintily they perform their work. The Prawn resembles the crab in his bold, fearless spirit, and it is of little moment to him how he comes by his food. In the rock -pools, as in the aquarium, I have seen him pull some tit-bit out from the depths of an anemone's mouth without the slightest ceremony. He does not quarrel not a l62 BY THE DEEP SEA. bit. He just walks up to the anemone, and keeping his body clear of her tentacles by means of his spindly walking legs, reaches to her mouth with his widely extended pincers the larger pair. There is such a matter-of-fact, business-like air about his action that you would scarcely be surprised if you heard him say, " Hallo ! what have we got for dinner to-day? Young goby, eh ! Thanks ; I'll take a little ! " and you see the luckless goby that has been stung by the anemone quickly withdrawn from her throat and taken off to the Prawn's den beneath the big stone at the other end of the pool. In all probability, if he has happened to arrive just too late, when the anemone's meal has entirely disappeared from sight, you will see him giving a sly tweak to her tentacles. The young ones swarm in the pools, and you have only to disturb the drapery of weeds that lines the wall to see a number of them come out into the middle ; but the big fellows, of four inches and more in length, keep close, as a rule, in a hole or under a stone. Oftentimes a huge stone that cannot be lifted will be found in a pool supported upon other stones, or kept away from the floor by the concavity of the bottom. A thin stick introduced beneath that stone and moved from side to side will cause several splendid specimens to emerge from obscurity. It now remains for the disturber of their peace to show his activity by catching them : by no means an easy thing to do. I have already dealt in the previous chapter with the principle of construction in the Crustacea, and the intelligent reader can easily apply the description there to the case of the shrimps here. As in the crabs and lobsters the eyes, antennae, and various parts of the mouth are all modified feet. I would strongly advise my readers to catch a full-grown Prawn, kill it by immersion in fresh cold water, cut the body through at the junction between the helmet-like carapace and the first plate of the abdomen, when the entire contents of SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. both head and body can be cleaned out, and the space filled with white cotton-wool. When thoroughly dry the two parts may be re- united by a mere touch with Le- page'sLiquid Glue. It would be well to do this in dup- licate, and whilst still fresh to take one speci- m e n to pieces, and mount the various appendages on a white card, gumming them down in their natural sequence. Leaving the pear-shaped eyes where they are, we commence with the first or internal antennae, which we shall thus see has its basal joint spread out into a broad scale which ends in a sharp spine at the side of the second joint. It is in this basal joint that the Prawn's organ of hearing is contained. Spence-Bate and others have investi- gated this remarkable organ in various species, and find there is a little chamber with a slit-like opening, only to be seen when the creature has just shed his coat of mail, at which time he picks up with his " finger and THE PRAWN. 164 BY THE DEEP SEA. thumb" a few minute grains of sand and carefully introduces them into this auditory chamber, where they mix with some fine hairs or cilia, and their agitation when acted upon by sound-vibrations transmits sensation to the nerves The third joint gives support to two lashes or " horns," one of which in this species is branched. The basal joint of the second antennae also bears a flattened scale that is enormous, being three-quarters of an inch in length and a quarter of an inch in breadth. There is but one lash (flagelluni) to this external antenna, and this strong, long organ measures over six inches in full-grown specimens ; that is, one and a half times the extreme length of the Prawn from the tip of the forbidding rostrum to the extremity of the tail. We have mentioned the two pairs of "hands" (chef as), and behind these are three pairs of long and slender walking feet. Then, further back, beneath the abdomen, there are five pairs of swimming organs, and to these in the female the eggs are attached. The tail-fan must not be forgotten ; it is a beautiful and most effective organ. The four plates of which it is com- posed are finely fringed with delicate hairs, and are so hinged that they can be partially closed one over the other, or fully expanded to have greater power when opposed to the water. It is by means of this valuable organ that the Prawn takes those astonishingly rapid backward leaps which make him hard to be caught either by man or smaller enemies. Before leaving the Prawn, I would like to say that our portrait of him does not pretend to show the length of his antennae ; and it would be well to make clear how he carries so many to be useful to him. He is always waving these about, and there can be little doubt that he receives impres- sions through their agency, olfactory and otherwise. It does not matter how far away a Prawn may be ; if you give an anemone a small portion of food, and there is a Prawn at the far end of the tank he will know it, and will come prancing up to the right neighbourhood. But his olfactory sense though it SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. 165 helps him to this extent, appears to act best at a little distance from the fragrant object. I have frequently observed a Prawn come quickly to the locality where food has been introduced and evince great excitement and interest ; but his sense has not been fine enough to tell him at once the particular spot in the locality where it lay. I have on such occasions seen him walk over what he was seeking, whilst his hands were nervously scraping the ground and casting around for the delicacy he knew was close by. Now this is the order of his antennae -bearing : of the first or internal antennae that lash which has the short branch is carried half erect pointing out- wardly, the companion lash pointing forwards, so that he cannot run against any obstruction without knowing it. The second or external antennae are borne with a slight curve forward, then far abroad on either side. He is thus fairly guarded by sensitive organs well-nigh all round. There are two other British species of Leander Z. squilla and L.fabricii which occur in the rock-pools, and may easily be mistaken for young specimens of L. serratus. The dis- tinguishing feature is to be found in that awe-inspiring, saw- edged rostrum that projects far in advance of the Prawn's* head, and of which no one has yet discovered the purpose. In the bonafide Prawn this has a very decided curve upwards all the way, and on its upper edge it has seven sharp spines closely following each other, with an eighth lagging a sixth of an inch behind the seventh, and really on the carapace, not the rostrum ; on the underside there are four close together in the middle, and a half-hearted one midway between the first of these and the tip of the rostrum. So much for the type ; now for L. squilla. The rostrum is almost straight with a slight upward curve towards its tip. Like its big relative it has seven or eight teeth above, but two of these are really part of the carapace, and there are only three spines below. The second pincer-legs are not proportionately as robust as in the Prawn, and the creature does not attain to more than half the l66 BY THE DEEP SEA. Prawn's dimensions. L. fabricii has the rostrum nearly straight, with five teeth above and three beneath ; in addition, this species has the rostrum covered with a multitude of minute reddish dots. There are similar dots in the Prawn, but none in L. squilla, with which it agrees more closely in size. These two, with young specimens of L. serratus, get mixed up and sold together under the name of Red Shrimps or Cup Shrimps. There is a somewhat similar form called the ^Esop Prawn (Pandalus montagut). It may be distinguished by the fact that the carapace is distinctly keeled along the foremost half of its upper part, and this keel is continued forward as the rostrum, which is armed above with moveable spines, while below it has five fixed teeth. The outer antennae are long, and marked throughout by alternate light and dark bands. The inner antennae have two lashes, the outer of the two thicker than its fellow. The first pair of legs are not furnished with nippers ; and the second pair are very unequal in length and stoutness. It is reddish-grey in colour, dotted with a darker tint. Its length on our shores, according to Bell, does not exceed two and a half inches ; but on the coasts of the United States it is said to attain to a length of four or five inches. There is a beautiful little Crustacean, which may fitly be named the Varying Prawn (Hippolyte varians) ; it swarms in certain rock-pools and among the rocks at low-water. In such situations it is not so widely distributed as some of the species we have named, but it is worth looking for on account of its remarkable sensitiveness to the, colour of its sur- roundings. Specimens taken from a pool in which the green Ulva or Enteromorpha is the prevailing vegetation are green ; but if transferred to a vessel containing only brown, red, or yellow weeds, will in the course of a few hours be found to have changed their colours to harmonise with their new environment. So complete is this change that one can well understand how this shrimp may be commonly distributed all SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. 167 round our coasts, and yet only known from a few localities, because a careless observer would never see it. Like the species of Leander this has a rostrum in this case quite straight, a sharp point. On the upper edge there are usually four teeth, but this number may be increased to five or even six; on the underside they never exceed two, and there may be only one. Whilst referring to these little-known species of Prawns, we must not forget to mention the very well-known Common Shrimp or the Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris], which affects sandy shores and rivers rather than rocky coasts. The natural colour of the COMMON SHRIMP. Shrimp before it has been in the pot and made to reappear as the Brown Shrimp, is a pale brownish grey, thickly dotted with darker brown, which harmonises well with the sandy flats on which it loves to live. Looking at this species we see how great a finish is given to the Prawns by the possession of that saw-edged rostrum. By comparison the Shrimp has a square front, which is by no means so prepossessing. His eyes are not so distant one from the other as are those of the Prawn, and only one pair of his antennae (the external) are at all long. There are three small spines on the carapace, one on the middle line and one on each side. The first pair of legs are stout, and what is technically described as sub-chelaie, l68 BY THE DEEP SEA. those of the Prawn's being chelate. The Shrimp's nippers have not got the well-formed moveable finger and fixed thumb of the Prawn, but a moveable finger and a little stump upon which it folds down. I do not pretend that it is not as efficient for the Shrimp's use as the better-looking contrivance of the Prawn. The plates of the tail-fan, too, are narrower than those of the Prawn, but the swimming feet are longer. Now these two things would lead us to suppose that the Shrimp depends less on jumping back from danger than on swimming, and this is true. If the Shrimp suspects harm he sinks upon the sand, and setting his swimming feet rapidly to work they " kick up such a dust " in the water that he is hidden in a cloud of fine sand, which as quickly settles down and partially buries him sufficiently so with his sandy hue to effectually hide him. Upon those swimming feet the female carries her eggs. From the fact that shrimps may be found laden with these eggs at almost all seasons, it would appear that they have no special breeding time; and this fact probably accounts for the endless supply of them. In common with most other small Crustacea they are constantly preyed upon by fishes, and we know something of the enormous mortality among them caused by man, when we think of the heaps in the fishmongers' shops and in the baskets of the itinerant vendors in towns. But the united efforts of man and fish do not appear to make them at all scarce. There are quite a multitude of distinct species of British shrimps, but many of them keep away from the shore and are only caught in the dredge or the trawl. Some others swarm after the bait in lobster pots, though the lobster catcher does not want them, and does not even dignify them with a name scarcely notices their existence, in fact. There remain, how- ever, several species to which I must call attention, even though my readers may have expected me to have exhausted the list long before this. SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. 169 The Chameleon Shrimp (Mysis flexuosus) will be found in summer to abound around the rocks and in the pools. It partakes somewhat of the character of Hippolyte variant in respect of colouring. If you take it around rocks that are covered with the Laminaria it is pale brown, or darker if from among Fnci> and in the pools where Ulva, Enteromorpha, and Cladophora prevail, its colour will be a light or dark green. It is a singular-looking shrimp on account of its long and slender carapace and the cylindrical abdomen. It has six pairs of feet, and not one among them all possesses a pair of pincers. The external antennae are very long, and each is accompanied by a long flat scale similar to that of the Prawn's. The eyes are large and very prominent. The carapace is inclined to have a rostrum, but it is a poor attempt, and does not extend to more than a third of the eye-stalk. It is sometimes called Opossum Shrimp, because it has a peculiar pouch in which the eggs are retained until hatched, and where the young pass their early days. There remain several species which should more fitly be included with the Lobsters, but from their small size they may pass muster with the Shrimps. They are exceedingly in- teresting, even if we take but one fact into account: their habit of burrowing in deep sand like mole-crickets. Right back in the early days of the present century an enthusiastic naturalist, Colonel Montagu, was digging for Razor-shells (Soleii) in a sandbank near Kingsbridge in Devonshire, when he had the good fortune to turn up some things he was neither looking for nor suspecting the existence of as a matter of fact they were quite unknown until Montagu unearthed them. Now here is encouragement for anybody and everybody who turns over weeds, pries into rock-pools and crannies, or digs in the sand for Launce or Razor-shells. You may or may not find what you seek, but something of interest you cannot help finding, and it may be a new fact if not a new species. When Montagu published a description of his find in 1808 170 BY THE DEEP SEA. three years afterwards it was under the three-barrelled name of Cancer Astacus subterraneus ; but Dr. Leach, six years later, saw that it could not go into the same genus with the crabs or lobsters, and he called it Callianassa subterranea, by which name it has been known ever since. So far the account is plain sailing enough, but to attempt a description of Cal- lianassa is not nearly so simple. The carapace is very small, with the slightest pretence to a rostrum, flattened at the sides, rounded above. The eyes very small, like those of its fellow- digger the mole, though more exposed than his. There are two pairs of antennae ; the internal ones double. The first legs are adorned with nippers, but they are very unequal in size, one being scarcely larger than the second or third feet, and the other much larger than the carapace, broad, flat, and hairy on the edges. On the outer side of the arm of this big limb there is a process which looks like a reaping hook. Now, the word Callianassa, I presume, is made up from two Greek words (Kalli, anassa), signifying Beautiful Queen; but I fancy that if a female monarch had one of her hands normal and the other bigger than her chest and head combined, none but courtiers would flatter her by declaring she was beautiful, and possibly they might be partly actuated thereby through a wholesome fear of that big hand. However, she is beautiful in respect of colouring a fine bright pink, which departs with life. The second pair of legs are small and terminate in a little pair of pincers ; the third have one finger which works against the enlarged next joint ; the fourth terminate simply in a claw ; the fifth in an intermediate condition as though the extremities intended to develop into pincers. The seven- jointed abdomen is long, the fifth segment broadest, from which it narrows gradually to the front, and suddenly to the rear, where it is finished off with a tail-fan of four plates. From a glance at the Beautiful Queen's hands and with knowledge of her burrowing habits, I should suppose that the bigger of the two served the double purpose of a digger and SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. 171 a street-door ; the latter to keep enemies and prying intruders out of her burrow. Her majesty measures about two inches in length, and her crust is very thin and parchmenty. That was a day to be remembered by Colonel Montagu, for on the same occasion he unearthed another burrower Upogebia stellata new to science. This is more lobster-like than Callianassa in form, though less so in size, for it is only about an inch and a half in length. It is content with having pincers to the first pair of legs, and these are nearly equal in size. All the limbs are liberally fringed with long hairs. The carapace begins with a small and sharp rostrum. Dr. Leach records it from mud in Plymouth Sound. Its colour is yellowish-white, sprinkled with minute orange spots. And now, though we have by no means exhausted the list of British species, we must close this chapter. It should be stated that all thsse creatures go through a series of transfor- mations similar to, but not identical with, those marking the early life of the crab and lobster. CHAPTER XI. SOME MINOR CRUSTACEANS. BESIDES the crabs and shrimps already enumerated there are to be found upon our shores a great variety of smaller species of Crustacea, representing widely differing tribes and orders. We cannot fill a phial with water from a rock-pool without getting a number of specimens of the crystal-cased water-fleas (Entomostracd), of which we are probably already acquainted through several well-known fresh-water forms. We cannot pull up a tuft of fine weed from the same pool but wo shall find on putting it into a tumbler of water that it harbours a multitude of Crustaceans much larger than the water-fleas ; and so when we place in our aquarium a rough bit of rock, because it is the resting-place of a tube- worm, an acorn shell, or a patch of polyzoa, we shall find it is also occupied by little shrimp-like, or woodlouse-like creatures. There is every probability, too, that we shall get with these the minute larval forms of crabs and lobsters. It is a delight to introduce them in this way, and to be constantly making the acquaintance of unsuspected inmates of an aquarium that perhaps only holds a couple of quarts of water. Of course, there is no difficulty in collecting these smaller species of set purpose, any more than there is in looking for anemones and sponges ; but whether the shore naturalist seeks them or not, he is bound to get a large variety. The majority of these will be species of the two important sub-orders, Isopoda and Amphipoda, and one of the most conspicuous, because largest, of them is the Sea-slater (Ligia oceanicd)) represented in our next illustration. It will be found SOME MINOR CRUSTACEANS. crawling up the perpendicular faces of rocks about half-tide mark ; and the finder will not need to have explained to him the fact that it is related to the terrestrial Woodlouse or Slater of our hedgebanks. The whole tribe have the respiratory appa- ratus adapted for breathing air, but they appear to require a damp atmosphere. Among the fringing weeds of the rocks there will be found great numbers of a lively creature of some- what similar build to the Ligia, but very narrow (oblong-ovate is the tech- nical description), and with- out the terminal appendages (uropods] of that creature. It varies in colour from pale -brown to a dark-brown, perhaps mottled with black. There are several British species, but the common shore-haunting kind is Idotea manna. Its great variation has caused it to be called by at least a dozen names. In turning over any or- ganic remains above the reach of the waves, we shall uncover swarms of the Shore-hopper (Orchestia Uito^ed), distinguished from the similar Sand-hopper (Talitrus locusta} by its more compressed body, and by having both the first and second pairs of feet clawed, whereas in Talitrus the second pair are not clawed. Among the dried up, black-looking foliage of Lichina pygmcsa, which grows on the rocks that are covered only for SEA SLATER. 174 B Y THE DEEP SEA. a short time at high-water, will be found the queer Isopod, Campecopea hirsuta, which seems to mimic the plant that shelters it. They curl up tightly into a ball, and roll about if dislodged. The projections at the end of the body (uropods] help their resemblance to the Lichina. This species must not be confounded with the similar and allied Ncssa bid en tat a, which has the sixth segment of the trunk much larger than the others, and produced backwards in the two teeth-like processes, which suggested its Latin name. If one is so fortunate as to get access to the rocks at the equinoctial low tides, which are lower than the ordinary fort- nightly " springs," he will see rocks covered with a muddy felt, much of which appears to be the work of marine worms, who live in it. A portion of this coating should be rapidly prised off with the putty-knife, and put into a bottle of sea- water by itself. At the same time look for a dirty-looking slaty rock, at the same level, and take off the upper flakes, with their investing crust of acorn-shells, corallines, zoophytes, etc. On this will almost certainly be found the absurd acro- bat or contortionist, the Skeleton-shrimp (Caprella linear is] , sprawling about, his walking-feet on the extreme segments of an extremely long and thread-like body. Here will, in all probability, also be found a Crustacean with a body not more than half an inch long, but looking much longer by reason of an enormous development of its outer antennas, which it flourishes about as though they were long arms. The chief use it makes of these is as flails to thresh out its prey, certain marine worms that inhabit the mud-felt to which we have referred. By repeated heavy beatings on the mud with these antennas, the worms are induced to come outside their burrows to see what danger is threatening them, and find out only too quickly. The first time I saw this remarkable creature, I was greatly moved to mirth. I had wrested a flake of rock from a huge mass that was ordinarily covered at low-water, but which now SOME MINOR CR-USTACEANS. 175 at the equinox reared its head high above the waves, and exposed treasures in the shape of the Globehorn and the Rosy Anemones. Corynactis was growing at the edge of this flake, which was placed near the glass of a small aquarium, where it could be easily scanned with a lens. A few hours later I took a glance at my Globehorns, and was astonished to witness the activity and vigour of the varied colony that was settled on these few square inches of stone. Several acorn- shells were in " full swing," a tube-worm (Sabelld) had put out its plumes from the mouth of its tube, a patch of polyzoa exhibited its crowns of prismatic tentacles, a couple of Caprella were sprawling around in an inebriated fashion, whilst near one corner was the figure that chiefly attracted my attention. Corophium longicorne was standing erect in a mud-pulpit, above the walls of which he was flourishing his arm-like antennae as he a Crustacean St. Anthony harangued the other members of the community who appeared to be paying great attention to his discourse. I felt that if I could but restrain my laughter, I should hear the " thirdly, my brethren beloved," and the telling sentence he emphasised by a hearty smack on the pulpit ; the ridiculous Caprellcs profoundly bow- ing in assent to his postulates all the time. CHAPTER XII. BARNACLES AND ACORN-SHELLS. OCCASIONALLY in strolling along a beach after a storm we shall encounter some wreckage that came ashore with the last wave of the incoming tide, and so failed to be washed off again. It may be a spar, a rudder, a stern-board with a name upon it that tells a tale of a vessel that has gone down. It may come in clean, with the splintered wood looking as though just smashed, and we may judge from such appear- ances how long it is since the catastrophe happened. On the other hand, it may bear evidence of having floated in the sea for a long period before getting into a current running coast- wards. Such evidence will consist in the wood being heavily soaked with water, or in its surface being covered with hun- dreds of writhing snake-like creatures with pale-blue heads. We have met under such circumstances, with balks of timber with scarcely an inch of their surface not covered with this foreign growth ; with casks on which they grew all round the edges of the heads and the hoops. A few months ago there drifted into our " porth " a small keg-buoy with a long thick hawser attached, and the sub- merged half of the buoy had a fine crop of the writhing things hanging from it, whilst they hung from the rope in clusters a few inches apart. The finder very kindly hauled it upon the rocks, and coiled the hawser round it that I might photo- graph the entire lot. As it lay there in the autumn sunshine it looked a very pretty group, and I regret that the camera would not reproduce the snaky movements, nor the fine colouring. BARNACLES AND ACORN-SHELLS. 177 Now the creature is no other than the Ship- Barnacle (Lepas anatiferd), one of the chief obstacles to speed in the old days of " the wooden walls of England." When a ship had made an ocean voyage it was necessary to dock her and scrape off the enormous quantities of Barnacles that not merely added to her weight, but offered strong opposition to her passage through the waters. To-day, what with steel vessels and patent anti-fouling compositions with which to paint the ship's SHIP-BARNACLE. bottom, the poor Barnacles find their world much narrower than formerly, and with fewer openings for the enterprise of their race. Should you come across such a barnacle-ridden waif of the sea, consider it carefully. You shall find in it matter of interest, and, in addition to its provision of some- thing for your imagination to play round, in your efforts to get a clue to the vessel of which the wreckage once formed part, the life-story of the Barnacle itself is a romance. 178 BY THE DEEP SEA. Before we attempt to tell this story briefly, let us look at one of the specimens before us. The long and evidently muscular neck ends in a composite shell, which is seen to be composed of four portions, or valves hinged together, opening in front, and strengthened at the back by a fifth valve, a long, narrow, and curved piece. At short intervals the two halves into which this "shell" is obviously divided part in front, and out comes a mass of coiled up, slender, and hairy processes which separate and uncoil as though attempting to catch some invis- ible body, then coil up again and withdraw as though they had really caught it and meant to keep it. Now this is the princi- pal, one might almost say the sole occupation of their adult lives, but writhing is another to which they pay some atten- tion. Probably it may strike you as a monotonous, perhaps senseless way of spending one's days ; but it is quite evident, from the great numbers of Barnacles crowded within a few square feet, and all looking prosperous, that it is a paying game. It must be remembered that however clear and crystalline the sea-water appears, there is really great truth in the remark of the scientific luminary, who said that the sea was a kind of thin soup or broth, holding enormous quantities of animal and vegetable matter in solution, most of it invisible to the unas- sisted vision. Whoever possesses a retentive hand like that of the Barnacle, has only to spread the palms and fingers wide, then close them tightly, to have something enclosed therein. Such is the Barnacle's experience ; and it is by the mere opening and shutting of his hand that he gets a good living. Strictly speaking, this hand is not his hand, but a number of feet and hands w r hich correspond with the limbs of the crabs, lobsters, and shrimps. Strange as the assertion may sound, unlike as the creatures appear, the Barnacles belong to the same great class (Crus- tacea) as the animals described in the last two chapters, though they are partly separated from them and put into an BARNACLES AND ACORN-SHELLS. I7Q order (Cirripsdia) by themselves. No wonder if you hesitate to accept this statement as a fact ; you are in good company, for no less a naturalist than the great Cuvier failed to see the relationship. That this order is an important one will appear when it is stated that the great Charles Darwin wrote an important work in two volumes, devoted to the " recent " Cirripedes, and two other volumes on the " fossil " species of the order. These Cirripedes are divided into two main groups the pedunculated or stalked Cirripedes, represented by the lively Barnacles before us, and the sessile or stalkless Cirripedes, of which the familiar Acorn-shell of the littoral rocks are the examples. Now these two groups may strike you as having little in common, and yet their early history is practically identical, one group with the other. Longfellow was quite right when he stated that " things are not what they seem," at least, they are not always what they seem ; conversely, they do not always seem what they are. We must not be content with taking a couple of creatures at one particular stage in their existence, and say these organisms differ so widely from each other that we must put them into equally widely separated classes or groups ; we must try to find out and compare all the stages in their life-histories, before we can talk of separating or bringing together, except in the most temporary fashion, there to be kept, as it were, in quarantine until we have found out what we wish to know concerning their antecedents. No one, until he had evidence of the successive stages in the life of a butterfly, would dream of putting such dissimilar things as a caterpillar and a butterfly into the same order ; yet their wonderful course of development was long ago traced out, and it is within the power of any person to check off the whole progress from the batch of elegant eggs laid on a cabbage leaf, through the ravenous worm-like caterpillar stage, and the apparently inanimate chrysalis to the beautiful white l8o BY THE DEEP SEA. butterfly that can take no solid food, and which by depositing another batch of exactly similar eggs, completes the cycle, and so assures us we have made no mistakes in our observa- tions. In a like manner we can watch the series of stages, utterly unlike each other, through which a crab, a lobster, a shrimp or a Barnacle passes before it attains the adult condition ; and when we find the early forms of the Barnacle agreeing in a very curious way with stages in the life-history of typical Crustaceans, we are perfectly justified in grouping them in the same class of animal life. We have, in fact, pierced through the disguise with which some of the adult forms have sought to hide their identity, and have found out their true characters. It must be confessed that the course of development in some of these creatures partakes of the character of what has been termed " an Irishman's rise." In the case of the cater- pillar and the butterfly, everybody recognises that develop- ment is progress, that the butterfly is a higher being than the caterpillar. But in others development spells retrogression. Such is undoubtedly the case with the Cirripedes, and with certain crustaceans which lead the life of parasites. The course of development in the Barnacles and Acorn-shells has been very succinctly stated by Darwin. " The larvae in the first stage have three pairs of locomotive organs, a simple single eye, and a probosciformed mouth, with which they feed largely, for they increase much in size. In the second stage, answering to the chrysalis stage of butter- flies, they have six pairs of beautifully constructed natatory legs, a pair of magnificent compound eyes, and extremely complex antennas ; but they have a closed and imperfect mouth, and cannot feed: their function at this stage is to search out by their well-developed organs of sense, and to reach by their active powers of swimming, a proper place on which to become attached and to undergo their final BARNACLES AND ACORN SHELLS. l8l metamorphosis. When this is completed they are fixed for life : their legs are now converted into prehensile organs ; they again obtain a well- constructed mouth; but they have no antennas, and their two eyes are now re-converted into a minute, single, simple eye-spot. In this last and complete state, Cirripedes may be considered as either more highly or more lowly organized than they were in the larval condition. But in some genera the larvae become developed into herma- phrodites, having the ordinary structure, and into what I have called complemental males ; and in the latter the development has assuredly been retrograde, for the male is a mere sack, which lives for a short time, and is destitute of mouth, stomach, and every other organ of importance, excepting those for reproduction." In this early condition these Cirripedes much resembled the minute so-called water-fleas that swarm in our fresh-water ponds and streams, and when upon the point of their last change they laid their heads down upon the spot selected for their future station in life. Then a natural marine glue, that sets under water, exuded from their antennae, and they became fixtures, head downwards. The two valves of their old shells were thrown off, and the new ones, largely composed of carbonate of lime, grew up from the base. Some of the Barnacles on our buoy are apparently dead, and one of these we can take to pieces. Taking off one half of the compound shell, we find the creature attached to the floor of the chamber, evidently on its back. From the upper end there arise the twelve limbs, six on each side, and each one dividing into two branches, each branch a beautiful feather with a wonderfully jointed, supple, purple-black stem, closely fringed with purple hairs. It is from this plume-like cluster of curling limbs that the order obtains its name (Latin, cirrus, a curled lock of hair, and/^j, a foot = curl-footed). When the shell opens and the trunk which supports all these limbs is thrust forward, each branch separates from its l82 BY THE DEEP S~EA. fellows and becomes almost straight, spreading out its hairs as widely as possible. Thus extended, the entire plume of feathers sweeps through a limited space of water, and many minute creatures are entangled in its hairs, and so brought into the currents that flow towards the Barnacle's mouth. Huxley has described the Barnacle as standing on its head and kicking food into its mouth ; but we question whether this partakes of his usual accuracy of description. So far as we have been able to make out the process, the food particles are strained off from the sea-water by this exquisite net, and brought, not kicked to the mouth. It is to this plume of feathers that the Barnacle owes its specific name, anatifera = goose-bearing. It was formerly thought to be a vegetable production, whose fruit, when ripe, gaped open, and dropped out an embryo bird, which fell into the water and developed into a Bernicle Goose. Gerarde, three centuries ago, wrote a wonderful and circumstantial account of the whole business, which he declared he had seen with his own eyes ; and every writer of popular works on the sea since then has seen fit to reproduce his account as one of the curiosities of natural history. I have no intention of doing so, for it is time it had a little rest after being so hard worked. For a similar reason I have in this book utterly ignored Montgomery's " Pelican Island ; " and the equally hackneyed quotations from Southey, Crabbe, and Coleridge, that have been a boon to some of my predecessors in filling their pages, I have also put upon a retired list. Cirripedes, not being so completely boxed up as the majority of crustaceans, can enlarge their dwellings by additions to the edges of the shells, and therefore do not need to throw off the entire envelope from time to time. But it is difficult to entirely get rid of racial characteristics, even when there is no special need to retain them ; and so we find the Cirripedes casting the skins of their bodies from time to time, though the limy shell is made to serve for all their life. BARNACLES AND ACORN-SKELLS. 183 There is a smaller species of Necked Barnacle (Scalpellum vulgare), the shelly portion of which, seen edgeways, looks like a penknife, whence the Latin name. It is usually found grow- ing among corallines ; it is figured in accompanying group. PYRGOMA. SCALPELLUM. ACORN-SHELL. PORCATE-BARNACLE. There is a peculiar little Barnacle called Pyrgoma anglicum, which is parasitical upon the pretty Devonshire Cup-coral (Ca y yophyllia smithit). It is shown on the coral in the upper left-hand side of our illustration above, and may be looked for in any of the localities where this coral occurs. It attaches itself to the outer edge of the plates of the corallum. Let us turn now to the more familiar Acorn-shells (Balanus 184 BY THE DEEP SEA. balanoides] that crust the rocks between tide-marks. We might have used the expression " too-familiar," for whoever has had to put a bare-foot upon them in bathing or swimming from the rocks, will have had cause for remembering their sharp edges. It is not easy to keep the Ship-barnacle in an aquarium ; but a flake of rock, or a disused limpet shell, crusted with Balanus, is conveniently kept in a glass of sea- water, and will long continue at once a thing of beauty and a wonder to friends who are ignorant of natural history. These are sessile Cirripedes, that is, they have no stalks upon which to writhe, but sit directly upon the rock. If we scrape one of these Acorn-shells off the rock with our useful putty-knife, we shall find that it has a thin base of shelly matter upon which it reposes much as the Ship-barnacle does upon the floor of its shelly chamber. But it will be seen that the sloping outer walls of the Acorn-shell are firmly cemented together, and allow of no movement ; the top, however, is open, but the animal within is protected by an interior door of four pieces, that opens in the middle like the cellar-flaps seen in connection with business basements. These doors u butt" together accurately, and open easily by pressure from inside. Then out comes a more beautiful and delicate " hand" even than that of the Barnacle, for this is so fine and trans- parent that it looks a thing of spun glass. There is the same movement as in the Barnacle, the everlasting grasping at something, the opening and shutting of the cellar flaps. Its earlier history is also similar to that of its stalked relation. There is a larger species of Acorn-shell known as the Porcate- barnacle (Balanus porcatus), the name having relation to the form of the conical shell ; porcate signifying that it has ridges between the furrows that mark its outside. Other species, smaller, some almost flat, will be found on some parts of our coast, but we would refer our readers to Mr. Darwin's work* for the further study of the Cirripedes. * A Monograph of the Cirripedia, 2 vols. Ray Society* CHAPTER XIII. "SHELL-FISH." ONE of the greatest hindrances to the unscientific, in the way of a proper understanding of the true nature and relative position of many forms of life, is to be found in our misuse of words our poverty of language, which compels us to make one word serve for quite dissimilar and unrelated things. This unfortunate term, " Shell-fish," which we have felt com- pelled to put at the head of this chapter, in place of the more accurate " Bivalve Mollusks," is a case in point. I really want a name that only includes these ; but in order to be strictly popular in my chapter-heads, I must use this very general term. Just now I turned to a popular and portable diction- ary to see what was a familiar definition of the compound, and I read there, " Shell-fish, testaceous mollusks," but even for a popular explanation that does not go far enough, for Shell-fish also includes crabs and lobsters, which are not mollusks, but crustaceans. I daresay, too, that in a fishery suit, if it served their purpose, lawyers would show plainly that it embraced tortoises and turtles, which are chelonian reptiles. We are all aware that in popular and legal language everything that comes out of the sea is a fish, excepting the coral-polyp which everybody, except naturalists, knows is an insect ! What I really wish to make clear, after this little growl, is that the present chapter will deal only with such creatures as are (like oysters and cockles) sandwiched or boxed between two valves or half-shells, and will not even glance at those mollusks that are contented with a shell all in one piece ; these are relegated to the next chapter. l86 BY THE DEEP SEA. The Mollusca that actually live between tide-marks, though numerous as individuals, do not represent many species ; but those of which we may find the recently-vacated shells, thrown up by the tide from greater depths, will total up to a consider- able number. The bivalves must be sought for on sandy SPINY COCKLE. BANDED VENUS. beaches and mud flats, especially at the mouths of rivers. Most of them are burrowers, excavating a way by means of the powerful foot with which they are provided. This instru- ment is well seen in the Razor-shells (Soleii), or the Cockles (Cardiuni], where it reaches extraordinary development. Even where the animal lives far beyond our limits in deep water we "SHELL-FISH." 187 can, by a little thought, get some notion of their habits by examining the empty shells that are cast up within the littoral zone by heavy seas. Those that are fresh and clean externally, though without any signs of wear from long washing among the shingle, may be safely regarded as burrowers that habitu- ally lie beneath the sand or mud. These, too, will be found to have both valves of the shell almost, if not quite, equal in size and shape^ whilst those which, like the Oyster and the Scallop, lie upon the sea-bottom, have very unequal valves, the under one being deeper and concave, whilst the upper valve is flat and more brightly coloured, to harmonise with its surroundings. Often, too, this exposed upper valve will be crusted with acorn-shells, Serpulce, Sertularice, or seaweeds. It may prevent confusion further on if we now say a few words by way of denning the parts of a bivalve shell, its latitude and longitude, and its relation to the animal whose vital activi- ties produced the valves. The Spiny Cockle, or Red-nose (Cardium aculeatuni) of our" illustration, is on its back. If we were to take it, or any other bivalve-shell, and turn it the other way, so that the hinge connecting the two- valves was uppermost, we should have it in the natural position. A bivalve mollusk is an inferior creature to a limpet or a winkle, because these have heads with eyes, but the bivalve has not. In the larval condition it has eyes, but by a retrograde movement like that of the cirripedes, it gets rid of these as useless in the life it is to live henceforth. But in spite of its want of a head, we know which is its anterior and its posterior end, its dorsal and its ventral surface ; and with our know- ledge of the relation of animal and shell, we are not troubled to open the valve to look at the creature, when we wish to describe the parts of a shell. It will be noticed that each valve curls over near the hinge and takes a form not greatly unlike a beak. This is more strongly marked in some species than in others; anyhow, it is popularly known as the beak, though it is technically distinguished as the umbone, or boss. l88 BY THE DEEP SEA. If these beaks have the slightest tendency to either end of the shell, it will be to the front, where we should expect the creature's head to be, if it had one. This point made clear, by reference to the shell we have just picked up, we can say which is the right and which the left valve. The valves are hinged by a band of a substance that looks much like catgut. It is elastic in character, and is always pulling at both valves, so that the natural tendency of the shell is to gape open. But inside the shell there are, in most bivalves, two much more powerful bands of muscular fibres (the oyster has but one), which, by their tension, can slowly or suddenly bring the edges of both valves closely and tightly together, and hold them so for an indefinite period. You can see the marks where these muscles were attached, one at each end of the valve. Between these two marks (" muscular impressions ") there runs a colourless line marking the area to which the mantle was attached ("pallial impression"), but this line is often interrupted, towards the hinder end of the shell, by a bay or sinus (the " pallial sinus "). The mantle is a delicate membrane on each side of the mollusk's body, which has the power of forming the shell, to which it is attached save at the margins. The " pallial sinus" is caused by the syphons which are protruded at that end of the shell. At the other end, as shown in the figure of the Banded Venus, is the "foot." The "syphons" are two deli- cate tubes, and if you were to put a living Venus, or other syphon-bearing mollusk into a glass of clear sea-water, and drop a little finely-divided indigo, or other colouring matter, in the immediate neighbourhood of these syphons, you would observe a stream of the minute colour-particles rushing into one of these tubes, and a stream of clear water issuing from the other. The inflowing stream passes between the leaf-like gills, or respiratory organs (" branchiae "), where it is effectually strained, all solid matter being retained and passed on to the stomach, whilst the filtered water passes out through the "SHELL-FISH." 189 second syphon. The length and form of these syphons differ in distinct species, but each kind is pretty true to its own type, and, consequently, the impression that it makes on the interior of the shell, taken in conjunction with the muscular and pallial impressions and the hinge-teeth, are a certain guide to the discrimination of species. These are matters that are essential to one's knowledge of the mollusca, and they must be learnt ; but the few species we shall be able to mention in this chapter will be indicated more by their external shape, marks, and colouring. When so identified, the reader should strengthen his knowledge by a practical study of these internal impressions, and the charac- ters of hinge and teeth. This Spiny Cockle, or Red Nose (Cardium aculeatuni], is not the Vulgar Cockle (C. edule), although it is much sought for food on its native Devonshire coasts. It is a very much larger species than the last-named, and gets its name of Red Nose from the brilliant hue of its long strong foot, which is at once a burrowing instrument and a leaping pole. By pushing its pointed end down into the sand, and then bending it into a hook, it can, by contracting the foot, pull the thick prickly shell down after it. On the other hand, by pressing its bent tip against some unyielding substance, it can use it as a spring, which shall suddenly send the shell flying through the water to some considerable distance. The Spiny Cockle is a crea- ture of clean, sandy beaches, where it may be found at low- water, but only on the Devonshire coast. The Common Cockle (C. edule] is very much smaller, its shell free from prickles, and marked merely with bold rounded ridges. It is more likely to be found where the sands are not wholly of sand, but contain a liberal admixture of mud. On some of our coasts it is exceedingly abundant, and in times of famine has saved populations from starvation. It is cer- tainly on record that the people of the Isle of Barra, in the Hebrides, have been thus preserved many years ago, when all IQO BY THE DEEP SEA. the people sought the Cockle on the great expanse of sands at .the northern end of the island. " It was computed that for a couple of summers, at the time alluded to, no less than from one to two hundred horse-loads were taken at low-water, every day of the spring-tides, during the months of May, June, July, and August." The Cockles have gained their name of Cardium and Car- diaceae from the fact that if the shell is viewed " end on " the curving beaks, of course, uppermost it will present the conven- tional heart-shape (Kardia, Greek heart). Some nearly allied genera, exhibit a similar form, but narrower, and therefore not so suggestive of hearts; but the Heart Cockle (Isocardia cor) is more truly heart-shaped than the Cockles of the genus Cardium. It is about three inches across its longest diameter, very thick and heavy, and the beaks are so greatly curled that no one will be disposed to quarrel with the name, either of the genus or the species. It is a deep-water species, but in suit- able localities the empty shell may be found washed in by gales. It is chiefly found on the west coast, and it is probable that its headquarters, in British waters, is around the Isle of Man. Several of our most familiar bivalves are not very distantly related to the heart shells. There are, for instance, the Venus shells of which we have already given a figure of one species, the Banded Venus (Venus fas a ata). It is a solid, heavy little shell, of some shade of brown, with broad bands of a lighter hue radiating from the beak. A series of strong ridges run parallel with the margins, or, as usually expressed, the ridges are concentric. The various species of the genus inhabit sand and gravel from low-water mark to a hundred and forty fathoms. The animal must be obtained by the dredge, but the empty shells are thrown up freely after storms. A much larger species is : The Warted Venus (V. verrucosa), a drab-coloured shell, with very rough and unequal ridges. Jn some specimens these " SHELL-FISH." IQI ridges are so broken by radiating lines, that the ornamentation has the appearance of being warty. The various species of Venus have three strong hinge-teeth on each valve, and the inner edge, though at first sight smooth, is very finely " milled." The finest of these shells is the large, heavy Smooth Venus (Cytherea chione). It is a deep-water species, found chiefly on the southern and western coasts, where, in spite of its great weight, it is frequently washed up after storms. It is wonderfully smooth, inside and out ; even the lines of growth are not high enough or sharp enough to take off this smoothness of the outside, which is coloured of a pale pinkish- SMOOTH VENUS ' brown tint marked by concentric lines of a lighter hue, and by much darker radiating bands. It is all very simple, but very effective. The inside is coated with white, and the muscular and pallial impressions are very strongly marked, though in no way interfering with the general plan of entire smoothness. The edges, too, are rounded and as smooth as the edge of a tea-cup. It is three and a half inches across the longest diameter of the shell, and its circumference, at right angles to the last measurement, is eight inches. The hinge-ligament is an inch long, and the teeth are very strong and prominent. It is by no means a common shell outside the districts men- tioned, but I have frequently found it on sandy shores in Cornwall, thrown up by storms, with the living animal still within. I believe most of the entire shells found on beaches have been thrown up whilst the animal is still in possession, and evidence upon this point may be obtained by examining the ends of the shells. It will be found that those which came to the surface with the animal are more or less chipped at the ends, where a Puffin, or other sea-bird, has cracked off a por- tion to enable it to prize the valves open ; additional evidence will be found in portions of the muscular bands still adhering to the valves. N I Q2 BY THE DEEP SEA. RAYED ARTEMIS. On the same sand and pebble beaches we shall find in greater plenty another of the Venus shells, the Rayed Artemis (Artemis exoleta). We presume that Linnaeus, in giving this species its name of exoleta (Latin, worn-out), was struck by the fact that however fresh a specimen may be, it has the appearance of having been knocking about with sand and shingle for some time. The shells are white, with variable rays of pinky-brown (sometimes entirely ab- sent), and finely and evenly marked with concentric grooves. In propor- tion to its size, it is a very thick shell ; very round in outline, except that a piece appears to have been nicked out of the edge in front of the beak. When the shell is closed, these marks on the two valves, coming together, form a heart-shaped depression of a brown tint, and called the lunule. The lunule is not peculiar to this species, but is shared by a large number of bivalves. It is well-marked in the Smooth Venus, but not so completely heart-shaped as in the Rayed Artemis. There is a finely-developed set of hinge- teeth, and the pallial impression is deeply sunk. A closely allied species, the Smooth Artemis (A. lincta), is smaller, not banded, and the concentric ridges are finer and less perceptible. It is this peculiar type of smoothness that suggested the specific name vilincta (Latin, sucked), its appearance being as though a specimen of exoleta had been sucked until smooth. Both these have a hatchet-shaped foot for digging into the sand. Great quantities of this bivalve are washed up in winter, and I have frequently come across a piece of rock protruding through the sand, around which there were dozens of these shells, broken or chipped, giving evidence, from their fresh muscles, that they had but recently been destoyed. It has "SHELL-FISH." 193 reminded me of the favourite stone under the hedge, whereto the Thrush brings her snails to be hammered until the shell yields up its luscious contents. Artemis has met with a fate similar to that of the hedgerow snails, for her fortress has been broken by gulls, puffins, or even by ravens when winter has taught them not to be too particular about their food. There is a group of Venus-shells whose exterior is ornamented with concentric and rayed rounded ridges, in some cases strong, though regular and even, whilst in others they are but slightly perceptible ; but their place is, to some extent, taken by colour. They bear the generic name of Tapes (Latin, tapestry) which is exceedingly appropriate, for the patterns of some species is very suggestive of tapestry and carpet. Especially is this so with the Cross-cut Carpet- shell (Tapes decussatd), whose ex- terior looks like the back of a piece of | tapestry carpet, both in texture and colour. The latter is of a nonde- script drab, with occasional tinges CROSS-CUT CARPET-SHELL. of red and stain-like smears of bluish-grey. The ridges radiate from the beak, and they are nicely rounded, but their lines are by no means straight. They are cut across by fine con- centric incised lines, which, with the grooves beside each rayed ridge, produce the cross-cut, or decussate appearance which suggested the name. The interior is dull white, like the surface of an enamelled card, the muscular and pallial impressions polished, and consequently very obvious. The Virgin's Carpet-shell (T. virgined] is smaller, the exterior very smooth, the ornamentation taking the form of shallow concentric lines. The colouration is a mottling of salmon-pink, with little specks of white showing through, and irregularly-shaped spots of dark-brown sprinkled sparingly over all. Viewed not too closely, it will be seen that the whole surface is divided between about six broad rays of IQJ BY THE DEEP SEA. lighter and darker tints. The interior is white and glossy, deepening to pink or yellow towards the beak and hinge. The Golden Carpet-shell ( Tapes aured) is similar, but some shade of yellow takes the place of the pink in the last-mentioned species. The Pullet Carpet-shell (T. pullastra) is broader from the hinge to the edge of the shell, in proportion to its length at right angles with that measurement. Its name, pullastra (Latin, a pullet), has evidently a relation to its colouring, which is similar to that of virginea, though darker. If the two are compared it will be found there is a further difference in the fact that whilst virginea can scarcely be said to have any radiate-grooves, pullastra is covered with them ; but they are not appreciable to the sense of touch, and scarcely so to ordinary eyesight, unless special attention is drawn to them they are so exceedingly finely cut. Inside, the shell is white, that part lying between the impressions and the hinge being dull like the whole interior of decussataj but the impressions and the outer margin are polished. The Tapes animals spin a byssus like the Mussel ; they buirow in the sand at low-water with their thick fleshy foot, or spin up to the roots of Laminaria and other seaweeds among the low-water rocks. Around the shores of the European continent they are used as food, but do not appear to be so utilised in Britain. The Scallops are familiar to all in a general way, from the frequency with which one species occurs on the fishmongers' slabs. This is the largest British species, and is generally distinguished as the Common Scallop, Quin or Queen (Pecten opercularis], a deep-water species, whose valves are frequently washed up on the beach. They occur in beds, but are not fixed like the Oyster ; on the contrary, by the sudden closing of their valves and the consequent rapid expulsion of water, the shell shoots hinge foremost through the water to some considerable distance. The young ones can attach themselves " SHELL-FISH." IQ5 by a byssus to the rocks, as is done by the Mussels, Carpet- shells, and others. It is a peculiarity of the Pectens that they have a pair of " ears " to the shell, the edges of which afford a good foundation for the hinge ligament, whilst in lieu of hinge- teeth to keep the valves firmly together when closed by the muscles, the corrugations of the valves extend right to the COMMON SCALLOPS. margins, and the ridges of the right valve fit into the furrows of the left valve and vice versd. It will be noticed that these ears are not a good pair one is always larger than the other, and the smaller one is popularly supposed to have been broken ; that, however, is a mistake, the Pectens are built that way. The most prominent ear is always the front one, and below that of the right valve there is a notch where the byssal threads issue. In the Common Pecten these ears are much more nearly equal than in the others, whilst in P. Darius there is a great contrast in the size and shape of the two, and in P. tigrinus one is almost absent altogether. The Common Pecten is sometimes dredged for, but as a ig6 BY THE DEEP SEA. rule it is avoided by the fishermen, on account of the risk to their nets and the small price realised for the mollusks after they have caught them. It will be noted more conspicuously in this species, on account of its size, that the right valve, which is the lower one when the creature is lying on its bed, is far more convex than the left or upper one. It is exceed- ingly variable in colour. The Variable Pecten (P. va- rius] carries out its name to the letter, for out of a score one could scarcely find two that agreed in colour and the dispo- sition of the markings. Their usual tint will be found among the red series of the chromatic scale; sometimes almost white with dark-red blotches, at other times dark red -brown with faintly perceived cloudings of a still darker hue. The exterior is or- namented by about twenty-eight bold ridges radiating from the sharp beak, and each of these, as it approaches towards the other edge of the shell, gives off irregular spiny processes. There is a rare variety of this almost entirely white. P. varius is not content with using its byssus only in the days of its youth, but continues to do so, even when at full age ; it may sometimes be found thus hung up to a rock, as shown in our illustration, or attached to the roots of Laminar ia. A live Scallop of any species, in a glass vessel of sea-water, is a beautiful object. It will soon open its valves and exhibit the richly-frilled edges of its brightly-coloured mantle; this SCALLOP HUNG UP. " SHELL-FISH." IQ7 organ, in fact, has a double margin, the inner of the two finely fringed, and at its base a row of eye-like beads. When prying curiously about the rocks at low-water, under the scrub of weeds and corallines, we are sure to discover little flat pearly shells which we shall almost as surely decide to be young oysters. They are a kind of oyster, though not edible oysters of the genus Ostrea, but Saddle Oysters, of the genus Anomia (/4. ephippium). Although they appear to be firmly cemented to the rock by the lower (right) valve, this is not really so. The thin blade of a penknife gently pushed beneath will move it off with the merest touch, for instead of being fixed by its whole under-surface, it is merely attached by a muscular plug that passes through a comparatively large oval hole in the under shell, near the hinge, and sticks like a sucker to the rock. As it grows older it will probably alter its form, to adapt itself to things it comes in contact with, as its diameter increases. Small specimens, not so large as a three- penny-bit, usually have a colony of much younger individuals located on their upper shell. Odd specimens of the Common Mussel (Mytilus edulis) will be found among the roots of weeds on the low-water rocks, but to obtain them in quantity one must go to a mud-bank, as at the mouth of a river ; or they may be found clinging in masses to the wooden piles of piers and breakwaters by means of their byssus-threads. The first thing a mussel does on being placed in an aquarium is to attach itself to the side by this means. Possibly he will wander a little, by means of his foot, to make sure of the right spot upon which to cast anchor, but having settled that point and found that he has made the right choice, there he will remain. A mussel is the best of all bivalves for aquarium life. It is true he is not very lively, and does not flit through the water like the young Scallops. He is anchored, and there he stays, simply opening his shell a little way and putting out the frilled edges of his mantle, with their openings for the inward 198 BY THE DEEP SEA. and outward currents the inward bringing both oxygen and food, the outward carrying off carbonic acid gas and other waste. The large, thick, coarse-looking mussel shells we occasionally find on the sands, measuring five or six inches in length, belong to a different genus, and are called Horse Mussels (Modiola modiohis). The valves in question may not have come far, for the species occurs in sand and mud as near as low-water. But it will not be found moored to rocks and weeds by its byssus; instead, it burrows and weaves its enormous byssus into a nest with sand and gravel mixed up with the threads. They are said to be coarse and unpleasant tasting, so that they are not used as food, and hence the name, Horse-mussel; the prefix, horse or dog, before a popular name for animals or plants, denoting its worthlessness as food, the sole criterion of worth to the popular imagination being found in the answer to the query, " Is it good to eat?" A very handsome shell, as well as a common one, is the Comb-shell (Pectunculus glycimeris], whose thick round valves may be found rolling on the beach, where they have been washed up from the zoophyte ground in deep-water. It is very variable in its mark- ings, and yet there is so strong a family likeness running through all its variations, that there is not the slightest difficulty in its identification. COMB-SHELL. To the touch the exterior is quite smooth, though not glossy, but examined with a lens it will be found to be covered with very fine and regular lines running from the beak to the opposite edges. So fine and close-set are these, that a line an inch long, drawn across them at right angles, will cross about ninety of them. The valves are more or less covered with a colouring of rusty red, relieved by numerous long sharp wedges of white. These are on parts or the whole of the shell, sometimes so plentiful that there is no room for solid masses of the red colour, and it only shows in zigzag lines. " SHELL-FISH." IQQ It is difficult to get two shells that at all agree in the distribu- tion of white and red, and even the two valves of the same shell will differ widely in this respect. The interior, also, exhibits characters sufficiently striking to prevent its mis- identification. There is a broad flange below the hinge, whereon are cut about twenty teeth, in two series. Immedi- ately below the ligament is a smooth space, clear of teeth, but these are arranged in a row of about ten on each side of this space. As the shell grows the flange lengthens, and more teeth are added to the ends of the rows farthest from the beak ; but those nearest the smooth central space are being rubbed down or absorbed at the same rate, so that the net increase is about nil. The free edge of the valves, internally, has a series of raised marks, like the tips of the teeth of a comb, and it is from these the creature gets its name. The pallial impression is much deeper than those of the muscles at each end of it, and it is uninterrupted by any sinus. This shell is about two inches in length. We must not omit to mention a group of shells that are fairly common upon many shores, and are usually found among the bucketful the children have collected. First of these is the bold Rayed Trough-shell (Mactra stultoruni), more plentiful in the north than the south of Britain. The various species of Mactra are inhabitants of sand in deep-water, but their shells are freely cast up on the shore. These are smooth, except that the annual periods of rest from shell- making is plainly marked in deep con- centric grooves. Like that of the Spiny- RAYED TROUGH-SHELL. ~ , i jv r , r ^ T l_ Cockle, the foot of Mactra can be ex- tended and used like a finger, and also as a leaping-pole. They are destroyed in great numbers by star-fish, and many empty valves may be found with the clean round boring that shows the animal fell a victim to the whelk. M. stultorum 2OO BY THE DEEP SEA. is usually coloured some shade of brown, with a number of white bands radiating from the beak. The hinge arrange- ments in this genus are worthy of note, as indeed they are in all the genera, and must be carefully studied by anybody who wishes to have anything more than the merest superficial knowledge of conchology. In the Trough-shells the ligament of the hinge is short and thick, and contained in a spoon-like cavity in each valve. Immediately in front of it there are two shelly teeth, joined above in the form of a A, and from each side of the beak there runs off a strong ridge-like tooth, the surface of which is " milled" like the edge of a shilling or a sovereign. The Elliptic Trough-shell (M. elliptica) is not so triangular as M. stiiltorum, and is without the white rays. The Cut Trough- shell (M. truncatd) might be appropriately styled the hatchet shell, for its truncated ends give it a very close likeness to the head of a hatchet. , Related to the Trough -shells are the Otter-shells (Lutrarid), of which we have two species. They burrow in the mud and sands, of estuaries especially, and are found from low-water to about twelve fathoms. Having found a complete, though empty-shell, you will be surprised to discover that it will not close properly, and you not unnaturally suppose that you have got hold of a malformed specimen, whose shell has got a twist somehow. That, however, would be a mistake, as you would find when other specimens came in your way, and you found they all had the same objection to closing at the ends. From one end, when the creature is alive, protrude its united syphons, large and thick ; and from the other end is thrust out the useful "foot," with which its burrowing is effected. Where you happen to find the usually broken valves of the Otter-shells, it is worth while to dig in the muddiest spots thereabout at extreme low-water, and you will probably be rewarded with perfect specimens, and have the greater satis- faction of seeing the living creature within. "SHELL-FISH.'* 201 Then there are the Tellen-shells (Tellind), a bright and delicate-looking group, with shells that appear as though they had been subjected to considerable pressure. They are finely grooved with concentric lines, and decorated with broad bands of pink. One of the most plentiful of these is the Thick Tellen (Jellina crassd), in which the pink bands radiate from the beak across the shell. Thick is a comparative term, and is so used here, for the shell, as compared with a Mactra, for instance, would be considered rather thin ; but in contrast with other Tellens, it is solid and substantial. The interior is delicately tinted with pink or orange. The pallial sinus is large and rounded. The Fragile Tellen ( T. tenuis] has thin shells that are very easily broken. Its surface is very smooth, of an orange tint marked with bands of pink and white. There are half-a-dozen other British species. The Tellens burrow slightly in sandy mud, frequently in shallow water. They may be dug for on a suitable beach between tide-marks, though their range extends to about fifty fathoms. Somewhat similar to the Tellens in their delicacy and style of ornament are the Sunset-shells (Psammobia), so called on account of the crimson patch around the beak, from which rays of a similar hue run off to the margin. If the shell is so placed before you that the beak is downwards, these rays suggest the far-reaching rays from the sun that streak all the western sky, when Sol dips below the horizon for the night. There are four British species. The two ends of the shell are nearly equally rounded, but in an allied genus The Wedge-shells (Donax}, the hinder end is much more acute than the front, so that their popular name is very suit- able. They have a suggestion of sunset rays, too, but not so strong or so symmetrical as in Psammobia. The most familiar species is the Common Wedge-shell (Donax anatinus], which may easily be distinguished from the others by the milling of the interior edge of the valves. The Polished Wedge (D. politus] may be equally well separated by its superior gloss, and by a white band which runs backward from the beak. 2O2 BY THE DEEP SEA. Then there are the familiar Razor-shells (Soleri) that must be dug out of the sand at low-water ; and quick work you will find it, if you succeed in catching any specimens. Very good examples may often be picked up on a wide sandy beach, but minus the animal. They are sought for food, and the profes- sional catchers are very expert in their movements they need to be, or the business would not pay a dividend. Everybody knows the razor-handle-like shells of Solen siliqua, if they have no acquaintance with the animal. They are flattened cylinders, widely open at each end for the extrusion of the foot and the syphons. The hinge is near the front extremity of the shell, the ligament in a full-grown specimen measuring an inch and a half. There are two teeth in each valve, though some have three in the left; but it is difficult to pick up empty shells in which the teeth are intact. The Razors spend all their lives buried vertically in the sand. When the sands are covered by water they rise to the mouth of their burrow and protrude the syphons, but those that are situated so far in shore as to be uncovered at low- water, then plunge in to a depth of a foot or two. They never leave their burrows, except on compulsion, in the shape of the salt and spade of their enemy, the fisherman. The species, with a very straight margin to its shell, is the Pod Razor (S. siliqud) which attains a length of eight inches ; that with a distinctly curved outline is the Sabre Razor (5. ensis). A brief glance at some borers and excavators must suffice to close this long chapter. The small, upper figure in accom- panying plate is the Red-nosed Borer (Saxicava rugosd), a species that largely helps the sea in its ceaseless attacks upon the coast line. It is the office of the Borer to excavate cells in the face of the rock, and as it is never solitary in its work, but attacks a rock in " gangs," as a human excavator would put it, the result is the complete honey-combing of the surface. They may often be found free in crevices of the rocks and ?.bout the roots of seaweeds that Alsatia for a very varied Q W 03 a o w OS g o Q Q " SHELL-FISH." 2O5 population. The shell has a distorted look about it, and the valves will not fit properly, the ends gaping to allow the foot and the syphons free play. It is very variable, however, and consequently has been a splendid subject for the variety- mongers and species-splitters, who have manufactured quite a long list of species and genera out of it. It changes a good deal at different periods of its life, and thus affords opportuni- ties for careful descriptions made from isolated specimens utterly disagreeing with each other ; therefore, the individuals described must belong to different species ! In its early state the shell is symmetrical, and has two minute teeth in each valve ; but before it has reached maturity it has lost its claim to be considered graceful or symmetrical, and has either worn its milk-teeth out or abandoned them as useless. The shell is covered with ridges and wrinkles, and it is by their help that it carves out its chamber in the rock. Sometimes on turning aside a curtain of weeds from a rock-face you will see a large number of crimson points, which, however, instantly disappear if they have been ever so lightly touched by the weeds. These are the ends of the borers' syphons, protruded from their ventilation holes ; they are united almost to their extremities, and present the appearance shown in our figure. The Piddock, or Finger Pholas (Pholas dactylus), is a much larger species with some difference of structure. Its pure white shell, though thin and fragile, is covered in front with rasp-like ridges, and by means of it the chambers and tunnels of the rock are bored. Holding to the rock with the clear crystalline foot, the Pholas gives its shell a swing half-way round in one direction, then a swing back, and so by alternate half-revolutions, the rasping of the shell gradually excavates a chamber sufficiently large to shelter it, communication with the outer world being maintained by the large syphons. So far there is no very great difference between the Pholas and the Saxicava ; but the Pholas is peculiar in that it possesses neither ligament nor hinge, and in addition to the orthodox 2O6 BY THE DEEP SEA. two valves, it has some additional ones. The hinge-plates are reflected back over the beaks, and a powerful muscle is attached thereto to keep the ordinary valves together. Above these, and to protect this muscle, are two short accessory valves, and a third, which is long, and extends back over the dorsal edges of the big valves. In other species of Pholas these arrangements give scope for variation. And now it is time we gave some thought to the one-valved and valveless mollusks of the shore. CHAPTER XIV. SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. MOLLUSKS that have their shell all in one piece are technic- ally known as the Gasteropoda, or belly-footed creatures ; but for our purpose the term sea-snail will serve admirably, for it is a popular term that will not cause misunderstandings, as many popular general terms do. The sea-snails, as living creatures, are more amenable to study by the shore-naturalist, than is the case with the bivalves ; and every rock, whether it be thickly clothed with weeds, or bare and exposed to the full fury of the waves, will provide us with specimens. It is true, that all visitors to the sea-shore are well acquainted with the most plentiful of these the periwinkle, the purple, and the limpet. But though they are familiar with the forms and names of such common objects, there may be among my readers some to whom the principal facts in the economy and structure of these species may be new or interesting. I fear, that in popular estimation, there is but one kind of Limpet. As a matter of greater exactitude, I may say that eight or nine species may be found on our shores ; and we may find some points of interest even in the too common species (Patella vulgatci). Only those perhaps who have been badly in want of bait for a little fishing have troubled to see what is beneath the conical shell ; but the shell itself is worthy of a little attention. What could be better adapted for the animal's mode of life than this ? The Limpet is not a deep-water mol- lusk, but lives between tide-marks, where it receives the full force of the waves as they beat and hammer the rocks in o 20S BY THE DEEP SEA. stormy weather. But the Limpet has a broad foot, which exudes a thick glue, whereby it sticks tightly to the rock. Then his muscles are powerful, and by their aid he pulls his conical roof well down till its edges fit into the little pit he has sunk in the rock surface, and thus ensconced he can defy the hardest gale that may chance to blow and the heaviest water- hammers that the sea uses against the land. The Limpet is LIMPETS. PURPLES. typical of the Briton, alike in his tenacity of purpose and his love of privacy. But with all his exclusiveness John Bull likes to open his doors and windows wide to let in the air, and we shall find the Limpet resembling him in this detail ; for if you seek him when the tide is out, you may surprise him with his roof so lifted up that the edges are a quarter of an inch away SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 2OQ from the rock. Then is the time to take him unawares, and force his foot from its firm hold. Having secured him, we are at liberty to inspect the owner of this strange house, but we can best do this by placing him in our clear glass bottle, and letting him crawl up the side. That which is known as the mollusk's "foot" has no re^ lationship with the feet of vertebrate animals, the name being suggested by the similar use to which dissimilar organs are put. We have already explained that the term gasteropod signifies " belly-fcot," and if we were to cut through the " foot " of the Limpet, we should find that it is indeed its belly, for it contains the principal portion of its viscera. We are not going into the anatomy of the mollusca, just now, but will confine our attention to its exterior. It has now begun to climb up the glass, and we can see that the foot is spread out so that it occupies the greater portion of the area covered by the shell. At the fore part it has a distinct head, with a pair of tentacles, ditto eyes, and a very evident mouth, for the Limpet's principal occupation appears to be to lick the surface upon which it is gliding. Around the foot and the head there runs a frill which is really the creature's breathing apparatus, and between that and the shell there is, of course, the mantle by which the shell was secreted, and is enlarged as occasion requires. The Limpet is now in rapid motion, and we can see that it pro- gresses in exactly the same fashion as do the garden snails and slugs, that is, by a series of muscular contractions, evi- denced by the constant ripple along the surface of the foot. The foot exudes a very tenacious slime, which enables it to obtain perfect contact with the surface over which it is gliding, or upon which it is resting. It is perfectly astonishing how much nonsense is still written in books upon this subject by persons who ought to know better, and who could easily test the correctness of their views by occasionally studying Nature, instead of relying so much upon academical teaching, and that of an antique character. Their statement is, that the 2IO BY THE DEEP SEA. Limpet holds on so tightly by creating a vacuum, some say under the foot, others under the shell. So ancient an authority as Reaumur disproved these notions. He tested the matter by cutting a Limpet in two, shell and all. According to the teaching of the vacuumites, the animal's hold should then have loosened ; but no, the two portions still adhered to their base. Anyone by observation can testify to the truth of Reaumur's explanation ; there is the same powerful hold in the foot of a garden snail on a damp surface, but in that case it does not seem so great, because his shell affords a better hold for the experimenter. The annoying feature of the Limpet is the shape of his shell, which prevents our taking hold of it. Where the surface of the rock is friable, as some of our Cornish Killas rocks, and the chalk rocks of the Kentish coast, the Limpet's foot, when forcibly pulled up, brings with it particles of the surface, which have separated from the parent rock more easily than from the glue of the mollusk's foot. A wonderful thing about the Limpet is its power to sink a shallow pit in the surface of the rock, corresponding to the shape of the shell ; and this, of course, has led to much theorising to explain how it is accomplished. Patent solvents secreted by the animal, the carbonic acid gas given off from the breathing apparatus (which strangely does not destroy its own shell ! ), and so on. A little study of Nature would show that the wonderful organ which enables them to scrape away the surface in long zigzag lines, as they crop the minute vegetation, would be equally effective if applied to the spot upon which they prefer to roost, and to which they habitually return after their pastoral wanderings. The action of this tongue on the rocks can be very distinctly heard on the shore, though possibly not in the library or the museum, where only the empty shells are admitted. It is worth while dissecting a Limpet, and getting out this remarkable tongue, which is a ribbon-shaped organ, closely studded with minute hooks of flint, to the number of nearly 2,000. A similar lingual ribbon, as it is termed, will be found in most of the Gastercpods. SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 21 1 I have dealt at such length with the Limpet, because its structure will enable us to understand the other mollusks we have to mention, widely as they may appear to differ in the forms of their bodies and shells. The Limpet's shell is a low cone, and the shell of a Whelk is a greatly elongated cone, coiled spirally upon itself ; the animal adapting itself to that form. In addition to the Common Limpet (Patella vulgata) we have the Smooth Limpet (Patella pellucidd), which must be sought at low-water on the borders of the laminarian zone. It feeds upon the Great Oar-weed, and a peculiar variation will be found between the specimens feeding on the smooth flat fronds and those feeding on the great stems. The shell of the first is coloured a pale brown, pellucid as its specific name suggests, the apex set very far forwards, and from it there start backwards from three to six exceedingly fine radiating lines of a dazzling brilliant blue. The specimens that live upon the Oar-weed's stems look entirely different, for the shell becomes SMOOTH LIMPET. SMOOTH LIMPET, THICK VARIETY. thickened, and consequently much more opaque, and its shape alters to enable it to sit close on a rounded surface. It was formerly considered a distinct species, and was named Patella Icevis. So, too, the little Tortoise-shell Limpet (Acmcea testu- dinalis}, changes its form when feeding upon the leaves of the Grass-wrack (Zoster a marina), and has then had the name of Acmcea alvea bestowed upon it. There are other forms of Limpets (though not species of Patellidae) to which we wish to refer, but we are getting far 212 BY THE DEEP SEA. away from our illustration of the Purple (Purpura lapillus], on page 208, to which we must now hark back. The Purple is often known as the Dog Winkle. It abounds upon the rocks between tide-marks, whence it may be picked without the formalities necessary in the case of the Limpet. It comes off easily, for its foot is small, but the moment it is disengaged from the rock it retires into its shell and closes its door. Now apart from the difference in the shape of the shell, here is another departure from molluskan arrangements as illustrated by the Limpet. It is called an operculum (Latin, a cover or stopper), and is so attached to the foot, that when the Purple withdraws from public view this comes last, and fits the mouth of the shell so accurately that there is no getting inside. In this case it is a homy oval disk, but in some species it is strengthened by the deposit of layers of shelly matter until it becomes of considerable thickness and quite stony. If we mark our disapproval of the Purple's lack of courtesy in slamming his door in our face, by pushing against his door, he retaliates by exuding a purple fluid, which is said to permanently dye fabrics a similar hue. The Purple is riot a vegetarian like the Limpet. His mouth forms a fleshy proboscis, which contains a marvellous boring apparatus the modified tongue. Often you may pick up bivalve shells on the beach, of which one has been pierced with a very clean and smooth round hole near the beak. If you did not know otherwise, you might suppose that this was the work of a person who desired to make a shell-necklace or other orna- ment, and had bored this hole with the greatest of care, and then had unfortunately dropped it on the beach. The truth is, it is the work of the Purple, or some other carnivorous sea- snail. He has the reputation of being very destructive to mussel-beds, by boring these workmanlike holes in their shells, and literally eating the poor mussel out of house and home. That is the style in which the Purple gets his living ; but he has a Nemesis in the shape of the Star-fish, and I have seen SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 213 one Star-fish eating or digesting three Purples at once. It is a case of " diamond cut diamond," for you would think a Mussel or a Limpet would be safe enough with the shell closed down, and so you might suppose the Purple's operculum would shield him from the Star-fish ; but as I have already described in an earlier chapter, the Star-fish knows well how to deal with obstinate victims who won't show their noses out- side the door when their enemy calls he digests them first, and swallows them afterwards. Here is a complete reversal of the Shakespearean motto, " May good digestion wait on appetite; " to be complimentary to the Star-fish we should say, " May appetite on good digestion wait ! " In the bottom left-hand corner of the purple-and-limpet illustration, is a baker's dozen of nine-pins : they are the egg-cases of the Purple, which may be found in larger or smaller patches on any rock where these mollusks abound. Among the weeds on the rocks we are sure to find the Netted Dog- whelk (Nassa reticulata), with a rather dirty-look- ing shell. It is covered with broad grooves cros- sed by fine lines at right angles, producing the appearance of net- work, which gives it the distinctive name, netted. Its scientific name also is suggested by the same appearance, for Nassa is Latin for a special kind of fishing-net. Like the Purple, the Dog-whelk is carnivorous. There is a prettier species, with a thick lip, called Nassa incrassata. The true Whelk (Buccinum undatuni) only comes within our province in the shape of empty shells cast up on the NETTED DOG-WHELK. 214 BY THE DEEP SEA. beach, for its range is from low-water to a hundred fathoms. In deep water it is very plentiful, and fishermen who want it for bait, let down baskets containing pieces of fish, which attract a large number to their doom. Their remarkable clusters of egg-nests are frequently washed ashore with seaweeds ; each capsule in the bunch contains about half-a-dozen eggs. The shell of the Whelk, rubbed down on a smooth slab of stone, affords an admirable vertical section illustrating the structure of gasteropods. The Red Whelk is the Fusus antiqittis, so-called because it abounds in a fossil condition in the Red Crag of Essex, where also occurs a reversed form that is, with the spire coiled the contrary way, and hence called Fusus contraries. In Scotland RED WHELK. it is the Buckie, or the Roaring Buckie, for this is the shell in which the roar of the sea resides. It is more esteemed than the Common Whelk as food by the poorer population of Scotland. It occurs, like Buccinum, from low-water to a hundred fathoms. There is a fairly common shell, similar in size and general form to the Purple, but bristling all over with flattened re- curved hooks, in clusters of threes. It is generally known as the Sting-winkle (Murex erinaceus), one of a genus from which the celebrated purple dye of ancient Tyre was obtained. Its familiar name it owes to its sharing in the hideous crime of destroying edible species for the sole purpose of gratifying SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 215 its own base appetite. The fishermen have actually noticed it in the act, and seeing the peculiar boring apparatus at work, have thought this a sting. It is far worse than that, for a sting may be survived, but no mollusk, I believe, gets over the attack of the boring tongue, which changes its function when the boring is finished, and becomes an instrument for tearing and masticating its victim's flesh. The exotic representatives of the great Cone -family of shells are familiar and admired objects in collections as well as on nick-nack tables in the drawing-room. We have no native species of the genus Conus, but we have a number of repre- sentatives of the family in the Pleurotomas and Mangelias, though they do not approach very closely to the typical form of a Cone-shell, with which we commonly associate the spotted Cone (Conus marmoreus) of Chinese seas. The Seven-ribbed Conelet (Mangelia septangularis] is like a tiny Buckie-shell it is but half an inch long with bold longitudinal ribs, of which you can count seven in one revolution of the shell. The shell is thick, of a dull pinkish hue, and unprovided with an operculum. The outer lip is notched where it joins the previous whorl. There are several British species. One of the most charm- ing of our native shells is the little Cowry (Cyprcea europed), which is so pier- tiful on most of our shores. Most of us who have visited the sea-shore in childhood have had the delight of COVVKV - hunting for this shell, empty and clean, among the ingredients of a fine beach ; but probably some of those who are most familiar with it as an empty shell would scarcely recognise it for the same species if they saw the living Cowry gliding along with his shell on his back. He carries a pair of tentacles, with eyes at their 2l6 BY THE DEEP SEA. * base, and the long curved tubular tongue ready for service ; but the most singular feature is that his mantle is used not merely to clothe the delicate body, but a portion of it comes outside, and closely wraps the greater part of the shell. In its younger days it had not its present beautifully arched lip, which almost closes up the doorway of the shell, and leaves but a narrow slit, delicately denticulated, to allow the foot and mantle to pass through. Before maturity it had a wide mouth, with a sharp thin edge to the outer lip, but that, you see, has now grown over towards the inner lip. The colour of the shell may be described as a flesh-tint on the upper surface, varying in intensity to both lighter and darker. Many specimens bear on the crown of the shell three ill-defined blotches of a very dark brown. The under surface is white. The whole shell is ornamented by very regularly disposed transverse ribs, which are rounded and polished. There are several other cowry-like shells to be found gener- ally distributed, but by no means so plentifully on our coasts. One of these is the Smooth Margin-shell (Erato lavis), smaller than the Cowry, and with the lip curved outward, instead of inward as in the Cowry : it has thus an external margin, whence the name. It is white and exquisitely smooth. The animal is very similar to Cypraa, and it envelops its shell in the same fashion. Of similar habit is the Poached Egg (Ovula patuld], though the shell is very different. The mouth of the shell gapes widely, and the lip is thin and sharp. Its colour is white with a pink tinge, and its appearance is so suggestive of its name that there is little likelihood of mis-identification. It is a South Coast form. A solid-looking shell, with a highly-polished surface, over which three lines of arrow-heads are chasing each other, a perforation of the shell just outside the inner lip, a fairly wide mouth, closed when at rest by an operculum : these are the principal features of the Necklace Natica, so-called because it deposits a large number of eggs, so agglutinated into a broad SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 217 spiral band, that the whole has been likened to a necklace. So it is called Natica monilifera, and monilifera means neck- lace-bearing. The animal is an odd creature, whose mantle laps partly over the shell, and the large foot is furnished in front with a broad fold, which is turned back as a protection to the head. It is herbivorous, and crops the seaweeds on sandy and gravelly shores, from low-water to about ninety fathoms. There is a very thin, ear-shaped shell, clear and fragile, known as Lamellariaperspicua. It is not sufficiently capacious to accommodate the whole of the animal, so parts of it have to remain permanently outside ; the mantle, for instance, can- not be withdrawn, and it folds over, completely wrapping up the shell and hiding it from view. It is an awkward thing to have your house so small that you cannot get right inside, because in the sea there are so many hungry creatures always roving about, and snapping up any delicate morsel that is unprotected ; and even some that are protected get swallowed up in like manner. But Lamellaria has learned how to make up to some extent for Nature's stinginess in the matter of shell-stuff. About a quarter of a century since, Giard showed that Lamellaria was to be found in association with com- pound ascidians, a group to which we shall call attention in a later chapter. Quite recently' 1 ' Prof. W. A. Herdman, Director of the Port Erin Biological Station, added greatly to the interest of Giard's observation by one of his own, which shall be given in his own words : " Lamellaria perspiaia is not uncommon round the south end of the Isle of Man, and is frequently found under the circumstances described by Giard ; but I met lately with such a marked case on the shore near the Biological Station at Port Erin, that it seems worthy of being placed on record. The mollusc was on a colony of Leptoclinum maculatum, in which it had eaten a large hole. It lay in this cavity so as to * " Conchologist," 1893. 2l8 BY THE DEEP SEA. be flush with the general surface ; and its dorsal integument was not only whitish with small darker marks which exactly reproduced the appearance of the Leptoclinum surface with the ascidiozooids scattered over it, but there were also two larger elliptical clear marks which looked like the large com- mon cloacal apertures of the Ascidian colony. I did not notice the Lamellaria until I had accidentally partly dislodged it in detaching the Leptoclinum from a stone. I then pointed it out to a couple of naturalists who were with me, and we were all much struck with the difficulty in detecting it when in situ on the Ascidian. *' This is clearly a good case of protective colouring. Pre- sumably the Lamellaria escapes the observation of its enemies through being mistaken for a part of the Leptoclinum colony ; and the Leptoclinum being crowded like a sponge with minute sharp-pointed spicules is, I suppose, avoided as inedible (if not actually noxious through some peculiar smell or taste) by carnivorous animals which might devour such things as the soft unprotected mollusc. But the presence of the spicules evidently does not protect the Leptoclinum from Lamellaria, so that we have, if the above interpretation is correct, the curious result that the Lamellaria profits by a pro- tective characteristic of the Leptoclinum for which it has itself no respect, or to put it another way, the Leptoclinum is pro- tected against enemies to some extent for the benefit of the Lamellaria which preys upon its vitals." Since the publication of Prof. Herdman's note, I have frequently found Lamellaria on the undersides of large stones at low-water on the Cornish coast. I have always found it on Leptoclinum gelatinosum, and can quite endorse his remark as to the difficulty of distinguishing it. On one occasion I found no less than four specimens feeding upon one patch of the ascidians, and pointed them out to a friend, who, however, SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 2ig failed to see them until they were absolutely touched by my finger. The shell is exceedingly delicate, and in the hands of most persons would be hopelessly ruined at the first touch. The ordinary methods adopted by conchologists for getting the animal from the shell will not answer in this case ; but I have a plan which succeeds admirably. I give a specimen of Lamcllaria to an anemone of refined tastes, who will deal with it carefully. Bunodes verrucosa is my favourite assistant, and he returns the shell clean and sound in a day or two. There are several species of Spire-shells (Rissod) to be found feeding in great numbers on Grass-wrack and Sea-lettuce, and we shall also find the empty shells in the sand. There are, however, other forms that may be confused with them and with each other, that are very plentiful in sand. These are the comparatively large Turret-shell (Turritella communis], which is ornamented with spiral ridges, each one running continu- ously from the apex to the mouth. In the Ruddy Pyramid (Chemnitzia rufescens), which is much smaller, but of similar form, the ridges run across instead of along the whorls, whilst in the Horn-shell (Cerithium reticulatuiri), a similar effect is obtained by several rows of very regularly arranged round dots in high relief. A more distinct member of the family of Cerites is to be found in the well-known Pelican's-foot or Spout-shell (Aporrhais pes-pelicani), in which the whorls are boldly tuberculated When the shell has grown to its full length, its annual stages of growth take a somewhat different direction, and spread out in expansive lobes and corrugations until it bears a fanciful resemblance in outline to the foot of the pelican. The shell is about an inch and a half in length, and very thick. The animal is carnivorous. Delicate specimens of the well-known Wentletraps (Scalarid) may be found among fine sands. They are readily known by their dazzling whiteness, the nearly round and flat-lipped mouth, and the bold curved ridges that stand out across the whorls like cogs on a wheel. To this genus belongs the BY THE DEEP SEA. PELICAN-S-FOOT. Precious Wentletrap (S.pretiosd), from China, for a single specimen of which as much as forty guineas has been paid. This was in the days when shell-collecting without any scientific object in view was a mania with some wealthy peo- ple; just as we have had the tulip-mania, and now have the orchid-mania affecting persons who are impelled by fashion rather than a love of knowledge or the beautiful in Nature 4 . However we may be inclined (Littorina Httored) as a species too common to need any attention, it is bound to thrust itself upon our vision at every turn among the rocks, where it swarms. It appears strange that whilst this species is so largely eaten by the poorer classes in towns as a "relish" for tea. the allied and almost equally common species, L. rudis, should be let severely alone. But the explanation is probably to be found in the fact that whereas littorea deposits her eggs in the ordinary way, rudis retains hers until they have hatched out. Now seeing that the Winkles of both species develop their hard stony shells before they hatch, it would be impossible to eat L. rudis without the great in- convenience of having these hard gritty infants damaging one's teeth. The smaller red, or bright yellow shell, that may be found in abundance on the rocks and weeds between tide- marks, is Littorina littoralis. The seeker for shells on a sandy shore must do as the children do throw himself prone upon the beach, and hunt thoroughly, inch by inch, examining the topmost layer first, then lightly scraping it off and bringing fresh treasures to light. In this manner he will certainly turn up the exquisite little SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 221 Pheasant shells (Phasianella pullas), that have the misfortune to be so small, or they would be greatly esteemed for their rich colouring. They are very smooth, and of a white or pale yellow hue, but so thickly covered with fine crimson lines that at first sight this appears to be the colour of the shell. These lines run parallel with each other, but with many curves, some flowing gently, others short and acute. These lines vary much in thickness throughout their length, here being very fine, there thickening gradually and thinning off again. The shells are less than a quarter of an inch in length, and the mouth is closed with an operculum. The animal has the peculiar habit of moving first one half, then the other, of its foot in pro- gressing. One of the handsomest of our common rock-shells is the so- called Common Top (Trochus zixyphinus), though it is scarcely as plentiful as the much smaller Grey Top (Trochus cinereus). THE COMMON TOP. It is pyramidal in form, with an almost flat, broad base; the mouth closed by a spiral, horny operculum. In some species there is an umbilicus, in others it is wanting. The animal has two small fringed lobes between the tentacles, and similarly fringed lappets to the neck. The sides, too, are lobed, and several tentacle-like processes are given off from them. 222 BY THE DEEP SEA. The Grey Top (T. cinereus] is variable in colour. Usually it is a dull yellowish grey, with inconspicuous dark zigzag marks upon it ; sometimes the ground colour is pinkish-white, with decided pink markings, which present a checkered appearance. There is a deep and wide umbilicus. In Trochus zizyphinus there is no umbilicus, and in the large Painted Top (T. magus), again, there is a very wide one. This last- mentioned species lacks the smoothness of outline exhibited by the other two, its whorls being more boldly ridged at their junctions (suture]. The animal has the head-lobes largely developed, and it is brilliantly and variously coloured ; hence its name. The Tops are vegetable feeders. On our South-western shores, when strong winds have blown from the S.W. for days together, there are borne to us on the waves, and wrecked upon our beaches, singular sea-snails from the mid-Atlantic. There the Violet-shells (Tanthind) float in myriads, and consume the still more plentiful " Sallee-man" (Velelld), a Jelly-fish we have mentioned in a previous chapter. There are many singular features about this lanthina. Like a shipwrecked mariner, it constructs a raft, secreting glutinous material from the foot, in the form of many air-chambers VIOLET-SHELL, RAFT OF VIOLET-SHELL. cemented together, and bearing beneath a large number of egg-capsules. The shell is of somewhat similar shape to that of the Tops, but with a much larger mouth. Its material, too, is so thin it can almost be seen through ; and on the upper part it is white, whilst beneath it is coloured violet, whence its names. The animal has its head produced into a thick muzzle, with a pair of tentacles and a pair of eye-stalks, but no eyes. The breathing organs are two plume-like gills which protrude from the shell. SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 223 We must return now to certain limpet-like forms, of which one, the Key-hole Limpet (Fissurella grcecd), might be easily passed by as a Common Limpet that has got damaged. In form and appearance the shell is not unlike the common kind ; the peculiarity consists in a short and narrow slit at the summit, which has suggested the name. As a living mollusk it must be sought in the laminarian zone, but the empty shells are to be found between tide-marks. A smaller, but not very dissimilar shell, has the key-hole not on the apex, but a little in advance of it. This is the Perforated Limpet (Puncturella noachind). It is rarer than the last, and is to be sought on the North coasts, where it lives below the twenty-fathom line. Yet another species is depicted in this cut. It is the Slit Limpet (Emarginufa reticulatd), in which the notch or slit is in the fore edge of the white shell ; length of slit variable. Internally the shell is thick- ened near the notch, and outside it is deeply grooved, so that strong ribs radiate from the summit, and are themselves partly cut up by lighter grooves transversely to the others. It comes up to low-water mark, so may be taken alive from the shore. There is a second British species, the Rosy- ,., T . /,'/. i j SLIT LIMPET, v slit Limpet (E. rosed), much smaller, and sometimes with the slit rosy, but this is not a reliable character. On our Southern shores may be found frequently on oysters a shell that may be said to be the highest development of the limpet type. Seen from the point of view taken for our illustration, there is a long gentle curve from the mouth to the beak, which is spirally twisted. The general effect is to remind one of the conventional representations of the Cap of Liberty. Owing to this cap-like form, it is known as the Hungarian Cap, and the Torbay Bonnet (Pileopsis hungaricus). In colour it varies from brown to an indefinite dirty- white hue. 22.\ BY THE DEEP SEA. The miniature elephant's tusks represented in the illustra- tion with the Hungarian Cap are really shells, called Tusk or Tooth-shells (Dentaliuni). They are represented of the natural size. The shell is open at each end, and is tenanted by a strange little . animal who is at- tached to it near the small end. The Dentalium is not a very highly devel- oped creature, for though it has a head, it is quite a rudimentary one, without eyes. But though it lacks eyes, it has a mouth, surrounded by eight tentacles, and into this go foraminifera and other minute crea- tures it picks up on the sands and mud in deep water. We have two British species, of which HUNGARIAN CAP. TUSK-SHELL. we may occasionally rind the empty shells washed up on the sands. Of these the Elephant's-tusk (Dentalium entalis) is very smooth and quite white throughout ; whereas the Grooved- tusk (D. tarentutuni) is delicately grooved at the larger or fore end, and tinged with pink at the small end. In chipping off fragments of rock at lew-water, upon which anemones and other specimens are sitting, you may often get more than you had thought, for sometimes when the piece SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 225 of rock is placed in an aquarium, other creatures will make their appearance, which were unobserved before, owing to their colour, and the closeness with which they attach them- selves. One of these is the Bristly Mail-shell (Chiton fasci- cularis), distinguished from other British species by the posses- sion of little bunches of short bristles, which are arranged along the shell-border opposite each plate of mail. There is considerable resemblance between these creatures and limpetr t though there are also important differences. Instead of the shell being in one piece, it is composed of eight transverse plates, which overlap at their edges, and allow it to be rolled up like a woodlouse. Each plate is attached to the mantle by its front margin, and the mantle forms a narrow border all round the shell. The animal, like the lim- pet, has a broad foot upon which it creeps, mostly at night, so far as my observations of C. fascicularis go. Its head chiefly con- sists of its mouth and jaws, eyes and ten- -, , ,. . ... SMOOTH MAIL SHELL. tacles being dispensed with as unnecessary to its manner of life. The breathing organs are similar to those of the limpet, but are arranged round the posterior end of the body only. The shell is very flexible in all directions, so that the animal is not constrained, like the limpet, to return to the same roosting spot each time it wishes to rest. There are a number of British species ; the one figured is known as the Smooth Mail-shell (C. Icevis). It has a glossy shell of a reddish hue, with a central ridge. The largest of the native forms is the Marbled Mail-shell (C. marmoreus), whose delicately sculptured shell is further ornamented with a mott- ling of browns and yellows. It is about an inch and a quarter in length. The British species is almost as long, but of much more slender proportions. The most plentiful form is the Grey Mail-shell (C. cinereus], which does not greatly exceed half an inch in length. It is not entirely grey, though this is I^. '-4 226 BY THE DEEP SEA. the prevailing tint, but there are delicate mottlings and streaks of many colours upon it. We now reach what we may very fitly term the Sea-slugs, for they are creatures that externally have considerable resem- blance to the land-slugs, though structurally they are very differ- ent, and they are far removed from each other in classification. The land-slugs (Limax) carry a little shell embedded in their back, and their breathing organs are internal ; the Sea-slugs are entirely shell-less, except in the embryo-stage, and their breathing apparatus is always exposed, and situated on the back or sides. In consequence of this characteristic, the Sea- slugs, as a group or section of the Gasteropods, are called the Nudibranchiata, or naked-gilled mollusca. They are plentiful on rocky coasts, where they range from half-tide to SEA LEMON. a great depth. The best plan is to seek for them at low spring-tides, turning over stones at the edge of the laminarian zone, when the slugs will be found at rest on the under surfaces, in a more or less collapsed condition. They will readily respond, however, to the attention paid them by put- ting them in the calm clear water of our collecting bottles, and extending their tentacles and branchial plumes, will explore their new quarters. One of the most striking of these sea- SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 227 slugs is the Sea Lemon (Doris tuberculatd), which is about three inches in length, broad, and with the upper surface thickly studded with tubercules ; this, in conjunction with its colour, gives it a very close likeness to the half of a lemon adhering to the rocks. As will be seen in the illustra- tion, there are two tentacles, and these are retractile within special cavities. The branchial plumes are arranged in a crown-like circle in the middle of the back, but near to the posterior end ; and these also can be withdrawn at the crea- ture's will. There are several British species, some of them very small, and they range from low-water to twenty-five fathoms, feeding upon zoophytes, sponges, anemones, and their own kind. Doris johnstoni is a smaller species than tuberculata^ but is worthy of attention on account of a certain resemblance to Lamellaria. It is " got up " to mimic a sponge. There are no tubercles on its surface, which is very finely roughed, so that it is sponge-like to the touch. In colour it is creamy, wonderfully speckled with larger and smaller spots of pale brown, that produce the effect of the porous surface of a sponge, and the large spots are touched up with a darker brown, to give depth to these false pores. When it is explained that D. johnstoni feeds on sponges like Halichondria panicea, this colouring is easily understood, but its marvellous nature is not lessened. Some species of allied genera are quite remarkable, one might almost say eccentric, in their ornamentation. dZgirus punctilucens, a species found between tide-marks, is elabo- rately covered with large tubercles and shining points ; the branchial tufts assuming quite a tree-like growth in miniature, around the orifice, which is placed further forward than in Doris. The Crowned Eolis (Eolis coronatd) has a slender body, long slender tentacles, that cannot be withdrawn, and the back is covered with long papillae, gathered into a dozen 228 BY THE DEEP SEA. spreading bunches. The two erect tentacles behind the long pointed pair, if examined with a lens, will be found to be beautifully ornamented by a series of annular plates. It may be sought among the rocks at low-water, feeding chiefly on the sertularian zoophytes. It is an active species, gliding over the rocks, or swimming at the surface with its back downwards. They are constantly waving their tentacles and moving their papillae, from which they exude a milky fluid when irritated, and even throw them off, as a crab " shoots " his lesser limbs CROWNED EOLIS. under similar circumstances. If kept in an aquarium without suitable food, they become cannibals. Eolis papillosa is a similar species, the upper surface almost completely covered with papillae. It will be found under stones at low-water, feed- ing on Botrylli and other ascidians. If on a white species, it will be wholly white, for like Lamellaria and Doris, it goes in for protective colouring. Introduce a specimen from a white ascidian into a vessel containing, say, a crimson or brown Beadlet Anemone, and after a few hours you will find the Anemone has disappeared, whilst the Eolis has changed to the colour that the Beadlet was of. The papillae of the Eolis are really continuations of its digestive apparatus, and by this simple arrangement a protective harmony is set up as often SEA-SNAILS AND SEA-SLUGS. 22Q as it may change its diet. Scientifically these papillae are termed cerata. The last of our Sea-slugs does not belong to the Nudibran- chiata, for its branchiae are concealed, and it possesses a shell a thin, flexible, translucent, convex plate, that covers the SEA-HARE. branchial plume, and is itself covered by the mantle. My first Sea Hare (Aplysia depilans], was taken in ignorance. A hurried glance at a globular mass of purple-brown jelly, among some small weeds, as I was hunting for anemones, assured me I had something new to me, and I put it down at the moment as a colony of compound ascidians ; but on putting 230 BY THE DEEP SEA. it into an aquarium, I saw my mistake at once. The bundle unrolled, and some loose wraps, shaking themselves out, re- solved themselves into tentacles and marginal lobes. The foot lengthened out, and I saw the creature had a distinct neck, with a broad muzzle between the first pair of tentacles. The second pair were folded, so as to present a strong sug- gestion of the ears of a hare, and this is precisely the idea suggested to fishermen in many countries, by whom the Aplysia was first called Sea-hare, or Leptis marinus. When it is viewed from the I front, as in the smaller illustration, the | illusion is strengthened. It has the habit of pouring out a violet fluid from the j edge of the mantle when handled, which \ is probably intended, like the Sepia's I ink, to produce a cloud, under cover of | which the Sea-hare can safely retreat, j In other days, this fluid was regarded with horror as a poison, and an indel- ible stain. From this last notion the creature got its name, Aplysia, which is from two Greek words, meaning unwashable, filthy. Its second name, depilans, is also reminiscent of those old notions, for it was thought that mere contact with the dreaded creature would cause the hair to fall off. The Sea-hare of the present generation, however, is quite harmless, as I can testify, what- ever may have been the real or assumed character of his ancestors. SEA-HARE, FRONT VIEW. CHAPTER XV. CUTTLES. THE old trouble about a name crops up again. We have had to endure star-fish, jelly-fish, shell-fish, and now there remains cuttle no, we will not say cuttle -yfr^. My neigh- bours, the brave Cornish fishermen, do not say the word, neither will I. With them it is " cuddle," with me it shall be Cuttle, Squid, Octopus, and so forth. The term Gasteropoda has been explained as comprising those mollusks whose belly is also their locomotive base, so it will be easy to show that the class Cephalopoda consists of those mollusks whose feet (tentacles) are ranged round their head (Greek, Kephale, head, and poda, feet). They are the most highly developed of all the mollusca, and consequently come nearest to the back-boned animals (vertebratd). In them we find the first form of a skull, for the nervous system is more concentrated, and the brain has a cartilaginous cover- ing. The head is distinct, and there are two large and prominent though stalkless eyes. The jaws are powerful, and these work in a similar manner to the bill of a bird. There is a thick, fleshy tongue partly covered with hooks for tearing flesh. The round or elongated body has usually a flap on each side, which serve the office of fins. The respiratory apparatus consists of two plume-like gills, enclosed in a large branchial cavity, communicating with the outer waters by a siphon or funnel. They also possess a bag of reliable black ink, of so readily soluble and miscible a character that a little ejected through a special duct will raise a dense cloud in the water with great rapidity, and under its cover the cuttle can 233 BY THE DEEP SEA. quickly disappear. The tentacles number eight in some species, ten in others, and they are studded with a great number of suckers, which appear to be set to work almost automatically on coming into contact with any animal sub- stance, to which they adhere so perfectly that, unless the will of the animal interposes to release their hold, it is easier to tear off the tentacle from the cuttle's body than to separate it from its victim. The Cuttles cannot strictly be called shore creatures, but they are very active, and come into every zone, the littoral as well as others ; and though we are not very likely to come across the animal itself, we are sure to find Cuttle-" bones " upon the beach, and bunches of their eggs. In our investiga- tions of the rocks at low water, we may perchance come across a specimen of the Octopus, hiding in its hole under the weeds, or beneath a big stone we have just overturned. Occasionally, too, it may be found in a pool that is covered by a fathom or so of water at ordinary low tides. On being discovered, it CUTTLES. 233 immediately, and with considerable force, ejects a stream of water through its syphon from the branchial chamber, and by the recoil is sent backward through the water. As it does so we can see the play of colour over its body, showing that the pigment-cells are ever ready to accommodate themselves to the surroundings, that the Cuttle's skin may imitate them. It is not very likely to discharge its inky cloud, for Octopus vulgaris is not so ready as other species to empty its ink-bag, and the ink is of a thicker, less soluble nature. The principal food of the Octopus appears to be the smaller Crustacea, and their hunting period after sunset. This is the reason why so common an animal is so little seen. The shell is represented in the Octopus by two short rods of shelly matter embedded in the mantle. The body is like a round- bottomed bag, there being no side expansions (so-called fins], and the arms are connected by a web at their base, the suckers in two rows. The eyes fixed and staring. Much more in evidence as a shore animal is the Sepia, the true Cuttle (Sepia officinalis], which lives in shallow water, and whose egg-clusters and broad internal shell we frequently encounter on the beach. The Octopus has but eight arms all told ; the Sepia is adorned with other two, but these are differ- ent from the eight, and may be more correctly distinguished as tentacles. They are much longer than the Sepia's body, very narrow, and without suckers, except near their free ends, where they expand considerably. The outline of the body, apart from the head and arms, is like that of a shield with pointed base. There are narrow expansions right along the sides, serving as fins, the suckers are stalked, and the large eyes are moveable in their sockets. There are four rows of suckers on each arm, and the arms are short. The shell is the familiar " Cuttle-bone " sold by bird dealers, to provide im- prisoned songsters with the necessary lime, and by chemists to be pounded and used as a dentifrice. These shells are familiar to all, and need not be described. They are exceed- 234 BY THE DEEP SEA. ingly light for their size, one of average proportions (7! by 2^- inches) weighing less than one ounce. This is the average of the large shells one finds upon the beach, but a full-sized one would be about ten inches in length. It is technically known as the sepiostaire, but " Cuttle -shell " (not "bone") is good enough for common use. It should be observed that this shell serves as a complete shield for the back of the Sepia, it being merely covered by the mantle, to which, however, it is not attached. Besides its value as a shield to the Sepia, it is also useful as a float, for the Sepia is an active swimming creature, not a crawler on the sea-bottom like the Octopus. The Sepia's ink-bag must not be forgotten; you are not likely to forget it if you capture a Cuttle. On one occasion when I had been out in the sean-boat capturing mackerel, I saw several Sepias swimming about among the imprisoned fish, and a couple of these contrived to be dipped up in the tucking mound, and cast into the boat with the fish. One of these I claimed as part of my share, but when we landed the creature was in such a mess with his own spilt ink that I essayed to wash him in a pool. I soon tired of that, for the more I washed, the more freely the ink was poured out. The Sepia sometimes visits the fish-nets and scans in shoals, and does great damage to the catch ; but fish are equally fond of Sepia, and if you can get hold of a couple of these, or of Squid, on starting for a fishing excursion, to cut up for bait, you will scarcely want anything better. The Sepia's eggs, in clusters not unlike bunches of grapes, are frequently cast up on the shore by storms, and there is no great difficulty in hatching out such of the eggs as have not been injured by CUTTLES. 235 the buffeting against rocks and shingle they have experienced. The young Cuttle is a miniature replica of its parent, and con- ducts itself as " a chip of the old block." The Squid (Loligo vulgaris) is a much longer and narrower species of Cuttle, similar to the Sepia in its head parts, but the arms have but two rows of suckers on each, though the clubbed ends of the ten- tacles have four rows. The fins are short and angular, placed at the hinder end of the body, which runs off to a long sharp point behind them. The shell is not a broad expansion like that of Sepia, but more like a pen with a long holder or shaft in front of it. Whilst the Squids are splen- did swimmers, they also crawl, head down- wards. This is the species that is chiefly sought for bait, and vast numbers are used in the Newfoundland Cod-fishery. There are a number of species of Cephalopods to be caught off our coasts, but the only other that we are likely to find any trace of upon the shore is the Little Cuttle (Sepiola rondeletii]^ whose body is short, with rounded side fins, contracted at their base, and whose entire length is only a couple of inches. The suckers are in two rows on the arms, and in four rows on the tentacles ; in this respect it agrees with Loligo, to which it is much more nearly related than to Sepia. It is a very active swimmer, and it has a small pen similar to that of Loligo. SQUID (Joligo). CHAPTER XVI. SEA SQUIRTS. THE other day I was down in our porth when some of the fishermen of the village came in after hauling their trammels. There had been a " good bit of sea " running during the night, and the trammel had got fairly rilled with weed, so that it was necessary to bring it ashore to clean it. If the naturalist is about when this happens, he stands a chance of obtaining some deep-water specimens of interest to him. My eye fell upon several masses of a clear greenish-white jelly, pear- shaped, and firm to the touch. I knew what they were, but always anxious to get local names for natural objects where they exist, I asked the fisherman what they were. " Oh, I dare say you know, sir ; but we always call they congealed water. Isn't that right?" I admitted that they were com- posed almost entirely of water, but denied that it was con- gealed. It would be better, I added, to speak of it as a living leather bottle full of water and other things. "What was it?" Popularly speaking, it was a Sea Squirt. A naturalist would speak of it as a simple Ascidian A. mentula, to wit; and on being further pressed, might tell you that the Ascidiaceae con- stitute an order of the Tunicata, which is now included among Vertebrate animals, though no Tunicate possesses a back- bone. Our description of it as a leather bottle is more to the point, and equally scientific, for the naturalist who bestowed the name Ascidian upon this remarkable group of animals got that name from the Greek word askos % a leathern bottle. SEA SQUIRTS. 237 Look at these diagrams : they represent two common forms of Ascidians, and it will be noted that they have a general agreement in shape with the large specimens of A. mentula we were looking at just now. Like that, these have each two necks, though those of mentula were closed, and these are open at their mouths. If we had these in a glass vessel, but still attached to pieces of the rock upon which they grew, we should be able to see why one bottle need have two necks. If we were then to drop a little finely-divided colour-powder such as indigo, into the water, we should see two currents were in operation, one flow- ing to the animal, the other proceeding from it. The first would be flowing to the neck marked a in the figures, and the second would be issuing from the mouth of b. Natur- ally, we should at once sup- pose that by means of some internal mechanism and sys- tem of valves, the same current that was being in- duced at a, was being continued through the creature's body, and pumped out at b. Our supposition would be proved correct by the fact that the colour grains streaming in were also streaming out. But what happens to them between entering and departing we cannot clearly see. By the aid of another diagram (next page) we may get a better notion of the Ascidian's internal arrangements than by gazing through its integuments. Here are all its parts marked with a letter as a guide to its anatomy. It is a matter of astonish- ment to many fairly intelligent people, to find that such soft creatures as Sea-squirts, Jelly-fishes, Slugs and Caterpillars, A. ASCIDIA VIRGINEA. B. CYNTHIA QUADRANGULARIS. 238 BY THE DEEP SEA. are provided with a more or less intricate machinery for carrying out all the functions of life. But so it is ; and here is the typical plan of arrangements inside our Ascidian. Here the necks of the bottle are marked a and n respectively, and a, by which the current of water flows in, is called the oral orifice. Just inside is a series of tentacles (), and below these we are in the branchial chamber (c), where the great work of supplying the blood with oxygen is carried on. The walls consist of a lattice -work of blood-vessels, through whose tissues the blood takes up the molecules of the life- supporting gas. Below this chamber the gullet opens and is continued into the stomach (g), and beyond it is the intestine (h), which in turn opens out through the anus (/) into another roomy chamber, the atrium (m) or atrial chamber, with its external opening (n). O is a ganglion or small brain, and f indicates the heart. Now in order to get a correct idea of the Tunicates as the group in which the Ascidians are included is called I wish you to note the figures d and e in the same diagram. You will see that they indicate two separate envelopes. The outer of these, represented by the thick dark line, is of a tough, leathery nature, and is much akin to vegetable cellulose in its character a fact that caused some little commotion in scientific circles years ago, when it was first satisfactorily made out, for prior to that date cellulose was considered to be purely a vegetable product. This outer coat is known as the tunic, or test, and from the fact that all the species are enclosed in such a tunic, the group gets its name Tunicata. The inner coat represented in the diagram by the clear space between the thick and thin marginal lines, is of a more delicate, more DIAGRAMMATIC SECTION OF . AN ASCIDIAN. SEA SQUIRTS. 239 animal nature : it is composed of soft though powerful muscu- lar tissue, and by its contraction the water, which always fills the interior of this " leather bottle," can be violently spurted forth a phenomenon which has brought upon these creatures the name of Sea-squirts. This muscular coat is known as the mantle. The Ascidian has no proper system of blood-vessels, as we are generally acquainted with them in higher animals. The ORANGE-SPOTTED SQUIRT (Cynthia aggregata). blood flows about the general body cavity, and is not confined to narrow channels as in our arteries and veins. There is a heart, it is true, but one of the simplest character, without any 9 240 BY THE DEEP SEA. elaborate system of ventricles and auricles, with their regula- ting valves. The Ascidian's heart is simply a tube open at each end, and by its steady pulsation that is, its alternate contraction and expansion, it sets the blood flowing to the blood-vessels that line the walls of the branchial cavity, where it absorbs oxygen from the continuous flow of fresh sea-water that passes through it. When this end has been attained, a curious and unique " reversal of the engine " takes place : Ascidia mentula. CURRANT-SQUIRTER (STYELA GROSSULARIA). there is such an opposite action of the heart, that all this vivified blood is withdrawn from the neighbourhood of the Branchial chamber and sent flowing to remote parts of the body. SEA SQUIRTS. 241 The flow of water through the branchial chamber is kept up by the regular and unceasing lashing of eye-lash-like cilia y with which the blood-vessels are fringed. This constant inflow at the oral orifice forces the water through to the atrial chamber, from which it is pumped out by the contraction of the mantle. Minute particles of matter that serve as food are also brought in by the current, and find their way into special grooves for their reception and digestion. The other arrangements of the creature are equally simple. The ner- vous ganglion, to which we have made reference, is its only brain, and it has no proper eyes, only some pigment granules near the tentacles appear to be sensitive to light. Most of the Ascidians inhabit deeper water than comes within our range, but we shall find specimens at low- water attached to stones and the roots of seaweeds. We may even find specimens of Ascidia mentula in rock-pools, and others we shall discover on smaller stones and shells that have washed in on sandy shores from greater depths. Among such will be the Quadrangular-squirter (Cynthia quadrangtilaris), so-called on account of the squareness of its apertures; and the Currant-squirter (Styela grossularid), a very common form on dead shells, which gets its name partly from its colour and partly from its form when it has closed both apertures and become more rounded. But there are many other forms of Tuni- cates that haunt our shores either in deep water or upon the vegetation of the lower z rocks. There are some of more slender, more elongated form that live together in bunches, their bases being connected by a kind of running rootstock, which has the power to produce young individuals by budding from it. This form is known as Clavelina lepadifonnis, and is only about an inch in height, of the form shown in the CLAVELINA. 242 BY THE DEEP SEA. annexed diagram. In the figure the reference letters are of the following signification : # , branchial apertures ; , atrial apertures ; c, young individuals arising from the runners s. From this form it is an easy transition to the Ascidians known as Salpce. These have the branchial aperture (b) at one end, and the atrial opening (a) at the other. In the figure the heart is shown at e, and the branchial chamber at d. These Salpce are both solitary and compound Ascidians, for it is a singular fact that the solitary form as here shown produces buds which develop into a connected series or chain of indi- viduals. These, in turn, instead of reproducing the species, in a similar manner produce eggs, each of which gives rise to a solitary individual. In our figure of Salpa maxima, the letters c indicate the points of attachment of the Salpa colony ; and the next figure represents a portion of the Salpa-chain. SALPA MAXIMA. PART OF A CHAIN OF SALPJ3. Frequently, in gazing down the sides of a still, deep rock- pool, we shall observe a coating of dark-grey jelly, in patches as big as one's hand, and on carefully taking off an inch or two of this, and examining it with the lens, or a low power of the microscope, we shall observe a number of elegantly-formed jars to be set in the jelly, and as we look their mouths and necks are raised above the surface of the jelly and opened. SEA SQUIRTS. 243 These are the branchial apertures of a colony of Ascidians (Leptoclitium gelatinosum), and if we search around the mass we shall shortly find a cone-shaped opening in the clear jelly, through which a current of water flows. This is the common atrial chamber of the whole colony. The clear jelly is the common outer tunic of the whole community. On the walls of overhanging rocks, at low-water, many fleshy clusters, like pale-coloured strawberries will be found, of firm gelatinous material, with a clear jelly envelope, through which the crimson dots of the contained squirts may be seen. One form has a thick trunk, with but slightly enlarged head, and consisting of a number of groups of squirts : this is Apli- dium; it has no common aperture. A more globose head on a shorter stalk has a distinctly marked common opening : this is Polyclinum. Amaroecium has a corrugated exterior, and is more cylindrical in form. BOTRYLLUS. Other species will meet us of more symmetrical form, on flat weeds, smooth stones, and under the overhanging brows of the large rocks at low-water. These are of varied tints accord- ing to species, but each with a starry pattern worked in with 244 BY THE DEEP SEA. little purple or yellow Ascidians. It looks as though six or seven of these had agreed to live together for company's sake and for economy; and here we find them set in the jelly, and radiating from a central aperture, the common atrial opening of the colony. Here is a figure showing part of a patch of Botryllus ^ violaceus, such as you may find abundant on the rocks. C shows the combined tunic of the colony, the branchial BOTRYLLUS VIOLACEUS . openings, and b the common atrium. The general verdict on a patch of Botryllus would probably be that it was some low form of sea-plant, for a naked-eye view of it reveals no evidence of animal processes ; yet, in spite of its vegetative condition, this in common with other Tunicates is held to approach nearest to the great back-boned races, the aristocracy of animal life. But it is a sad story of missed opportunities and consequent degeneration that the Tunicates have to tell of their race. Some evolutionists hold that in the primeval Ascidian we must look for the progenitor of the vertebrates. We know what the primeval Ascidian was like, for the form is retained, according to a natural law, in the larval stage of its present- day representatives. Roughly speaking, it was like a tadpole, with a broad head-and-trunk combined, and a very long, narrow tail, by the lashing of which from side to side it made way through the waters, much as the boatman gets along by sculling from the stern. At the front there was a rudi- mentary mouth with three suckers, an optic organ, with a retina, lens, cornea, and so forth ; an auditory organ ; the promise of a well-formed brain and nervous system ; and a rod in the tail might be developed into that backbone which is the distinguishing mark of all the birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, and man himself. SEA SQUIRTS. 245 Some of the primeval squirt-larvae are supposed to have cultivated these possibilities, and the LARVA OF A TUNICATE. grand vertebrate division of the animal kingdom is said to be the result ; but others went in for the status quo and inglorious ease. No developments for us, said they. They may even be supposed to have anticipated the prayer formerly taught to rural school children : " God bless the squire and his relations, And keep us in our proper stations." Then they gave up wandering at random through the waters, and settled down to a quiet and retired life on a piece of rock at the root of a branching weed. Taking hold with theii suckers, they soon discovered that tails and sense organs were of no use to those who had forsworn wandering, so they threw them off, and gradually assumed the wine-skin shape that has ever since been the ruling fashion among Ascidians. All that remains of the tail is a few fatty cells in the posterior part of the trunk. The suckers by which it was attached disappear, and the test grows over surrounding objects; the auditory organ disappears, the eye retrogrades into a mere pigment spot, and the nervous system degenerates into the solitary ganglion to which we have already referred. It will thus be seen that the life history of the Tunicates is a dismal story of degeneration instead of development ; but it is none the less interesting on that account. CHAPTER XVII. SHORE FISHES. WE have no intention of attempting to give in this little book an account of British marine fishes. That is a task that needs several volumes for its accomplishment. But without going from the shore we may make acquaintance with a con- siderable number of fishes. Where trawlers come in we may, of course, see fish of all sorts, but as in most cases the trawlers put in with their catch to the nearest market-port, we shall take no account of this method of increasing our knowledge. From time to time the local fishermen get strange things in their trammels, such as enormous angler-fishes ; one day one of our fishermen got a porpoise in this way, and brought it ashore for my special benefit. But these things also I shall treat as outside our bounds, which includes only the fish we can find in the rock-pools, or under stones at low-water, or can catch from the fringing rocks as they haunt the weedy jungles of such places. To begin, let us take some fair-sized rock-pool, between tide- . marks; one with irregular walls overgrown with green and purple weeds, and pinkish coralline with miniature caverns and clefts in the walls, and a heavy stone or two at the bottom. In such a pool and we know hundreds such we shall not fail for several examples of fish, though we are not likely to find all the species here named in one and the same pool. Three or four species of fish at the most is what we may expect from one pool ; but in several basins within a few yards of each other we may get a greater variety. SHORE FISHES. 247 In all probability the first species we shall see in the pool is the Smooth Blenny or Shanny (Blennius pholis), which the boys in my neighbourhood (South Cornwall) call Janny, and in other districts it is the Mulligranoc. It is a true rock-fish, never venturing into very deep water, and preferring those pools between tide-marks where it can find convenient shelter in holes, or if so inclined can climb out and pass a few hours under the moist weeds which the ebbing tide has left un- covered. But it is never many inches from the water, and on the least sign of alarm it is in the pool and invisible. In many respects it is a clumsy, heavy fish, but its quick intelligence makes up for defects of form and we may add, makes it an interesting fish to keep in a shallow pan with a few stones. You must have the stones if you would have the Shanny comfortable, for he is strongly averse to too much publicity. He likes to see and not be seen ; and his favourite attitude, so far as I have observed a number of specimens in confinement, is on his side under a stone, with the head just peeping out. In this position he appears to have one eye on the floor of the tank, the other on the surface of the water. Look at him and he follows your every movement with one eye. In this position he reminds me strongly of a dog; indeed, in certain aspects of his profile his head much re- sembles that of a dog. He acts like a dog, too, when he has taken a limpet unawares, and has wrested it from the rock. This is not an easy thing for a fish to do, and you might almost as well speak of taking a limpet off-guard as of 248 BY THE DEEP SEA. catching a weasel asleep. But for some reason perhaps to thoroughly ventilate his shell, or for the submarine equivalent for ventilation the limpet occasionally lifts his shell so that there is about an eighth of an inch clear space between the edges of his shell and the rock. He still retains his hold by means of his powerful sucker-foot, but the wily Shanny, creeping silently up seizes the shell in his strong lips, and before the limpet can exercise his muscular powers by pulling down the shell and pinching the shanny's lower jaw, the fish, with a shake of his head, has wrested it off the rock. He carries it about for some time, biting at the flesh and gradually reducing it in quantity. Each Shanny occupies his own private corner or crevice of the pool and shuns the company of his fellows. In this matter he appears to be a very morose fish, and further he resents anything in the way of a friendly call. Should the Shanny, who lives in the grotto about half way along the southern side of the pool, seek to call upon his neighbour who lives in that delightful retreat at the bottom of the west end, the latter will rush out at him like a mad bull and effectually put the visitor to the rout. In every pool there are a number of juvenile Shannies of various ages and sizes, but of these the adults do not appear to take much notice. One of the most noteworthy things about the Shanny shared I admit with many other fish, but still worthy of observation is the rapidity with which he can make himself practically invisible. It is not easy to describe the Shanny's coloration and markings, because it varies so much in different individuals, and even in the same individual at different times; but it may be said to be a mottling of greenish-grey or brown marks, of which the strongest elements are a series of dark broad stripes, running from the back to about half way down the sides. The whole of the upper surfaces are liberally sprinkled with small black or grey dots, and larger ones are scattered over the dorsal fin, which is SHORE FISHES. 249 continuous from above the gills right along almost to the tail, which is similarly spotted. There are very few spots on the long anal fin which is hidden when the fish is resting ; but the expansive oval pectoral fins, which are often spread out widely, have the rays well-spotted. You lift up a big stone from the bottom of a pool and out rushes a big Shanny, causing a great commotion in the water. He makes for a narrow cleft where there does not seem to be nearly sufficient room for so big a fish as he; but he has vanished. Knowing where he disappeared you rout him out again, and once more he frantically flies round and round the pool, perhaps leaping right out of the water into a tuft of overhanging Fncus serratus. But as likely as not, after dodging about for two or three turns and splashing the water about, he will quietly drop to the coralline-covered floor right under your eyes, and you cannot see him. So admirably does the indefinite marking of his upper surface harmonise with the coralline and other matters, that he has become as invisible as a nightjar on the moorland, or as certain moths on lichen-covered tree-trunks. It will do you no harm to carefully scrutinise every millimetre of the pool's floor until you have detected the Shanny's whereabouts, but probably you will be assisted in this by the Shanny himself, who, observing your quietness, will imagine all danger is past and make a move. Juvenile Shannies, though as ready to rush into cover as their elders, are endowed with considerable curiosity ; and if in early summer you come upon a dozen of them sporting about a rock-pool, and will lie down with your head and shoulders over the water, you will find that their inquisitive- ness is greater than their fear. One after another will come from his retreat among the weeds and look up at you, rolling his little eyes knowingly. Then they will creep up the sides of the pool, using their ventral fins as feet, until their muzzles are out of water. Dip in the tip of a finger., and they all 25 BY THE DEEP SEA. vanish for a moment ; then out they come again, and slowly approach until they reach your finger ; they attempt to bite it, but their mouths are as yet too small, and then rush off again. So you may keep them employed for some time, and it will not be many minutes before several prawns join in the fun. This may read like an ordinary " fish-story," but it is a fact that may be verified by any visitor to a rocky shore. Next to the Shanny we shall probably find the most reliable fish as a pool habititt is the Father Lasher, Horny Cobbler, or Sting-fish (Cottus scorpio). Put but the point of a stick in the pool where the Father Lasher has his retreat under a stone, or drop a winkle or a pebble in ; in an instant he is out with open mouth ready to swallow anything not too large for his very capacious maw. His singular name appears to have been given to him on account of his pugnacity and the villainous expression of his countenance, which are supposed to belong to a creature who would not hesitate to give his own parent a thrashing. My own opinion, based upon con- siderable personal acquaintance with the Father Lasher is, that he is not nearly so villainous as he looks. His case is similar to that of the bull-dog, whose face is no index to the qualities of heart I am told he possesses. The artists have not been fortunate in depicting the Father Lasher, and I am not greatly surprised, for even the camera fails to give a correct and life-like impression of him, which depends not alone upon curves and lines, but upon colour also. In some respects he resembles the Shanny in build, but is much broader across the head and shoulders. He has the same wealth of fins, though the dorsal fins are not continuous as in the Shanny, and the fin rays though stout are soft. There is an inclination towards the tadpole form, especially on the under side, and this tendency is exaggerated by the fish puffing out his gills and sticking out his pectoral fins when threatened or alarmed or when he wishes to inspire with awe. Just behind each eye and at the top of each gill-cover he has SHORE FISHES. 253 a bony spine, with smaller ones all over his head, and the inflation of his jaws and gills is for the purpose of forcing these out. Whether he makes any use of them in actual warfare I am unable to state, but they certainly add to his ferocious aspect, and in that way may protect him from many assaults. The more barbarous of the coast-boys delight in fixing corks to these spines, and setting Father Lasher free, get amusement out of his vain efforts to seek his hole at the bottom of the pool. The Father Lasher's colouring is a confusion of bands and circles and spots ; of browns arid greens and greys ; a service- able coat that harmonises well with all its surroundings, and one that is capable of adaptation when the fish moves from a bare rock basin to one that has a coralline lining. It can change from dark to light, or vice versa. I have had them almost white by keeping them in a white porcelain dish. The underside is delicate yellow, or pearly white, or iridescent green with darker mottlings. In his native pool the Father Lasher likes to take up his quarters under a stone at the bottom, from which he can suddenly rush out at anything he sees move across his field of vision. He does not wait to see what it is ; sufficient that it moves. Satisfied that movement is a sign of life, he secures it in his cavern-like mouth, and then finds out whether it is a palatable morsel or not ; if not, it is summarily ejected and, as he thinks, no harm is done. An angler who simply desires sport can get it in a pool where lives a Father Lasher. Drop down a baited hook, and it will soon be seized by him, but, as he immediately retires to his den to chew it over, you may pull and pull before you get him out. Probably you will lose several hooks before you secure your fish. He is not at all a bad subject for an aquarium proportioned to his size, and he soon becomes quite affable, allowing himself to be taken out to exhibit the beautiful marbling of his underside to friends. For this purpose I have held him gently with my finger and 254 BY THE DEEP SEA. thumb behind his pectoral fins, when he would obligingly open his enormous mouth to show how well the jaws and palate are furnished with teeth. When fully grown he attains a length of five or six inches. Our illustration on page 251 contains a portrait of the long and slender Worm Pipe-fish (Syngnathus lumbriciformis), besides that of the Father Lasher. A more striking contrast could not be desired between fishes of the same length, for the Father Lasher is thick and spiny, whilst the Worm Pipe- fish almost comes within the definition of a line, "length without breadth," and in addition he is as smooth as an eel, though of harder exterior. This little fellow might more easily pass muster as a worm than as a fish. It will more frequently be found under stones at low-water, but occasion- ally we shall find it in the pool twining S-shaped round some seaweed. The peculiarity of the pipe-fishes, of which we have several native species, is to have these long tapering bodies, with the snout drawn out into the form of a beak, but which instead of separating into two mandibles, opens only at the extremity with a little mouth. Another distinguishing feature is found in the gills : instead of these being a series of crimson frills covered by a large plate, fixed only by a small portion of its edge, and freely opening to allow the passage of water to and from them, their blood-vessels are gathered into little tufts which are arranged in pairs. These are all covered in by a bony plate that is fixed all round, with the exception of a small opening near the top edge. Then instead of the body being covered with scales as in many, or most, fishes, these are encased in large plates of mail. In the male of our Greater Pipe-fish or Greater Sea Adder (S. acus], there is another remarkable item in the shape of a marsupial pouch of the same practical value as that of the Kangaroo, into which the female transfers her eggs, and where they not only remain until they are hatched, but the young fish also use it as a SHORE FISHES. 255 shelter for a time, coming home unfailingly to roost. This is a fish that may be taken freely among the weeds of bays and harbours, and as it reaches a length of from twelve to fifteen inches, it is a giant compared with the little Worm Pipe-fish. The Worm Pipe-fish has no fins except that along the back (dorsal], and its tail-fin is almost non-existent; it can, how- ever, be found by looking for it. It has no marsupial pouch, but the female contrives to transfer her eggs to the abdomen of the male, where each sinks into a little pit in which it is held until hatched. How this is accomplished I have not observed; but as I have found the strings of ova indepen- dently in my aquaria, I should suppose the male presses his body upon them until they adhere. These eggs are one millimetre in diameter, amber-coloured, and opalescent. They are firmly attached together in rows of twos or threes, and these rows in circular strings. They are firm to the touch and not at all adhesive, so the glutinous matter, necessary for their adhesion to the male, must be contributed by that parent. It is* interesting to note that when these tiny creatures leave the egg the tail has a proper broad fin at its extremity and extending along both the back and under- side. It has also pectoral fins ; but all these except a part of that along the back become absorbed, or are otherwise got rid o? is the fish grows and becomes more worm-like. So smooth and round is this species that it presents little evidence of being clothed in plates instead of scales, until one looks very closely, when the outlines of each plate will be found indicated. If the Worm Pipe-fish be captured . with care, and soon transferred to the aquarium, it will be found quite a hardy and interesting inhabitant. Of course, its comfort must be studied, and to this end you must provide a flat stone, so propped up that it is very close to the. bottom of the tank, yet with sufficient space beneath for the Pipe-fish to wriggle about. I write these notes with such an arrangement before 256 BY THE DEEP SEA. me, and as I look down through the shallow water I see five slender cylinders protruding like the barrels of tiny rifles from an ambuscade. Couch makes the extraordinary statement that, " observation seems to show that it is not able to raise itself above the ground, on which it creeps in its endeavours to escape being caught, with a serpentine motion much like that of a slow-worm." Observation in my case serves to controvert Couch. It certainly prefers to remain under stones, and it is not constructed as a constant swimmer; but it does swim for short lengths in its pursuit of minute crustaceans, and can be very active when it pleases. There are other blennies in the pool besides that one called the Smooth Blenny or Shanny, and among those that we fancy are young Shannies we may chance to find Montagu's Blenny (Btennius gaieritci], a species easily distinguished by a crimson crest with fringed edges, which it erects on its head just above the eyes. Its tail and its pectoral fins, too, are tinged with crimson. Another Blenny, though by no means so likely to be found generally distributed along the coast is the striking Butterfly Blenny (Blennius ocellaris). It is much like the Shanny, but with larger and more rounded pectoral fins, and a much higher dorsal fin. This fin is the feature that at once enables us to identify the Butterfly among Blennies. It is often divided by one or two depressions, so that it appears to be two or three fins ; but the important sign is a large deep blue spot surrounded by a light ring over the centre of the body. This eye-spot gives it the specific name ocellaris. It should also be noted that the first ray of this dorsal fin is considerably longer than the membranous portion of the fin. The colour of the fish is olive mottled with brown, but of course it varies considerably like the species we have already described. Ocellaris has two little crests upon its head similar to Montagu's Blenny, and the Tompot as afterwards mentioned. In the illustration of the Butterfly Blenny there is a portrait SHORE FISHES. 257 of a little rock-fish, one of the numerous tribe of Gobies. Several of them occur in the pools, among them the Rock Goby (Gobius niger), or Black Goby, as he is more often but inappropiately named, for he can scarcely be said to have any permanent colour when his hues constantly change as he changes his surroundings. Living among rocks he is more LITTLE GOBY. BUTTERFLY BLENNY. often brown than black, with lighter and darker mottlings according to circumstances. The reader is advised to make himself .acquainted with the names of the various fins, and to count the rays in each, for these vary with the species, and are often used in describing 25 8 BY THE DEEP SEA. and identifying species. We have introduced the names of these already, but we think it would be an advantage to repeat them here, and then to use them throughout the remainder of this chapter. The Dorsal fin is on the back ; if more than one they are first dorsal and second dorsal. The Pectoral fins are a pair having their origin just behind the gills. The Ventral fins are a pair on the belly, behind and below the pectorals. The Anal fin is single, in the middle line of the underside between the vent and the tail. The Caudal fin is the termination of the tail, and the form of this is very important. The Rock Goby has two dorsals, the first with six rays de- creasing in length as they get further from the head; the second with fifteen rays of equal length. The pectorals are rounded behind ; so are the ventrals, which are united by a membrane. The anal fin is just under the second dorsal, if we reckon from the tail forwards, but the second dorsal is longer than the anal. The space between the dorsal and anal fins is occupied by eleven or twelve lines of scales. Full- grown specimens vary from six to nine inches in length. The species figured in our illustration (page 257) is the Little Goby (G. minutus], a fish from two to three inches in length, of a yellowish ground colour minutely stippled with brown, its sides alternately streaked with long and short dark stripes. Dorsal fins two, the first rounded, narrow from back to front ; the second wide from back to front, and with slightly concave outline. It appears to be more at home on the sandy than the rocky shore. In pools that are lavishly decorated with hanging weeds we may find a number of pretty fishes of a clear green or a rich brown colour. They are the young of the Corkwing Wrasse, or Rath, as Cornish fishermen term it (Crenilabrus melops], a species that grows only to a length of six or seven inches. The Wrasses proper (Labrus), of which we shall have some- thing to say directly, are distinguished by the oblong form of body, by having the gill-covers laid over with scales, and by o o o SHORE FISHES. ?6l the long dorsal fin spread partly over spines and partly over soft rays. The spiny portion is the three-fifths nearest the head, the remainder being supported by soft rays. Other characters are thick, fleshy lips and protruding teeth. The Corkwing is included in the genus Crenilabrus, which is separated from Lab'rus on account of the margin of the first plate of the gill-covers being toothed. In general the colouring of the Corkwing Wrasse is brown above, nicely merging into green on the sides ; the gill-covers ornamented with stripes of red and green. But as we have already indicated, individuals vary much in colour. From immediately behind the head there runs parallel with the outline of the back a dark line (the lateral line), which ter- minates in a well-defined round black spot close to the tail. We must not look for large specimens, nor for the larger species of Wrasse, in the pools; but if we get on the edge of the rocks when the tide is coming in we are almost sure to see some of considerable size gliding in and out the waving fronds of the rock weeds. They are easily taken on a line cast from the rocks at this time, the hook being baited with pilchard or a piece of shore crab. Many are caught in this way for sport, and then handed over to the crabbers as bait for their pots. For this purpose they are much appreciated, and special pots are put down to capture " rath " for bait. One of the commonest species is the Ballan Wrasse (Labrns maculatus], which is the Wrasse. The ground colour is usually some variation upon golden orange, and many of the scales have a large pale spot which earns for the species the name maculatus. The spines in the dorsal fin are twenty, and the soft rays ten or eleven. Certain forms are known as the Green Wrasse and the Comber Wrasse, under the impression they are distinct species, whereas they are really colour varieties of the Ballan Wrasse. The length varies in adults from fifteen inches to two feet, with a weight of eight or ten pounds. 262 BY THE DEEP SEA. The Cook or Cuckoo Wrasse (Labrus mixtus) is another common kind, not so large as the Ballan, but more striking in its vivid colouring. This varies from yellow to red as a ground tint, with two roughly parallel purple or bright blue thick lines running from above the eye nearly to the tail. The large eye is crimson with a purple ring round it, from which run off three short bands of blue or purple across the gill-covers. All the fins red, the fore part of the dorsal suffused with blue ; a triangular patch of blue also on the upper and lower parts of the tail. The dorsal fin has eighteen spines and thirteen soft rays. Should we desire to see the life of the rocks without troubling to obtain " specimens," it is a good plan to repair at low tide to the edge of a drang, and, selecting a station where we shall have a high rock in front of us and a channel between ourselves and that, wait until the tide turns. At first there is nothing but the rough floor of the drang, with stones and rocks of all sorts and sizes scattered untidily over it. The great broad, leathery fronds of oarweed and the smaller fronds of bladder-wrack and knotted-wrack hang over the rocks in great shaggy masses, and here and there, as though in utter collapse, . are the flaccid forms of the green and drab Opelet Anemone. But as we are taking stock of the sur- roundings, there comes a ripple of water along the deeper ruts and pools of the drang. Silently it streams along filling the holes, and then gradually spreading right across the stony floor, and creeping up and up the rocks until there is an inch or more of it. Then what a change ensues. The free ends of the weeds float in the stream, the smaller weeds on the bottom pick themselves up, and shapeless masses become forms of elegance and beautiful colour. What a few minutes ago looked like the " abomination of desolation," is now full of life. The waters are teeming with forms that seem to rise out of the ground. Certainly they did not many of them come in with the tide. No, they were hidden in holes, under SHORE FISHES. 263 stones, under the limp weeds, and in crevices of the rock. Here they come. Prawns in shoals, little Wrasse and big ones, the long lithe forms of Gunnel and Rockling, the attenuated Fifteen-spined Stickleback, the Weever, and many another. Our attention is taken by a waving black form near at hand, and for a few minutes we are at a loss to make out what it can be. It appears to be a plant of strange nature, for it is evidently rooted at the bottom. And then a suspicion arises that the swaying and waving of the ribbon is not entirely caused by the influx of the tide, but we have not decided what it is, when up it comes with a green shore crab at the other end of it. It is a small Conger that has been struggling to bring into the light of day this crab, which it had tracked to his hole in the bottom. In such a position the crab had evidently something to cling to, but the Conger had fixed his teeth in the crab, and it was only a question of time when the crab should be unable longer to hold out. The Conger is rapidly off to his own special haunt, there to eat the crab in peace. The Conger Eel (Conger vulgaris] is for its size among the most powerful of our fishes. The largest specimens, of course, are taken in deep water, but individuals of con- siderable size are taken from the rocks, where they have their retreats in little caverns beneath the broad fronds of Laminaria. Jonathan Couch remarked that he had a note of a Conger that had been taken weighing one hundred and four pounds, and of another measuring seven feet two inches which weighed ninety pounds. Even much smaller monsters than this have to be treated with caution when caught, the fishermen usually striking them a smart blow on the tail to disable them and so prevent much mischief. The upper jaw of the Conger projects over the lower one, which is the reverse of what obtains among the true eels (Anguilld) ; the dorsal fin, too, begins much nearer, and as in the eels combines with the ventral fin to form the tail. 264 BY THE DEEP SEA. When on the floor of the emptied drang turning stones and lifting weeds aside, we shall probably hear a great splashing in the shallow pool behind us, and turning quickly see the waters in commotion, but fail to detect the cause. But we know from former experience that it is either a Tompot, a Gunnel, or large Rockling. Fixing our eyes upon a large stone towards which the surface ripples are setting, we advance towards it and turn it over. " There he is ! quick ! " But no ; he is as slippery as butter and glides rapidly through our hands, though not so quickly but that we could identify him as the Gunnel or Butterfish. We set out after him again, and rout him out of the corner into which he had retired in fancied safety. Next time he attempts to shelter under a stone where there is a cavity only large enough to accomniS'date his head and shoulders, but ostrich like, he thinks he is wholly concealed. Keeping our shrimp-net close up, we seize him just behind the head, but with a rapid turn his head is with- drawn from the hole and his body glides through our hand again, and he rushes headlong into the net. Safe this time, and soon he is transferred to the glass jam-jar where we can admire his lithe form. The Gunnel (Centronotus gunnellus] looks as though by continually pushing his way through narrow crevices in the rocks, he had become laterally flattened. Were he a little rounded we might say his shape was eel-like, for he gT^ "*"" is very long, and his dorsal Vs-^31 __ ^ni fin stretches from above GUNNEL. the pectoral fin along to the root of the tail. On the lower side the anal fin similarly extends to the tail, but neither of them merge into the tail-fin as in the Conger. The colour is a yellowish-brown, darker on the upper side, which is slightly mottled. Pectoral fins yellowish. Close up to the dorsal fin on each side of the back is a series of from eight to twelve usually nine very dark round spots, each encircled with pale SHORE FISHES. 265 brown. The head tapers gently from the dorsal fin to the small, equal jaws. It is generally known as Butterfish, and anyone who has undertaken to capture one with his hands alone will appreciate the fitness of the name, for it is so slippery that it might have been freshly greased. Other local names for it are Swordick, in allusion to its sword-shape ; and Nine-eyes, suggested by the ocelli on its back. The name by which it is best known in books is the Gunnel, which originated in a singular manner, according to Couch. It appears that John Ray, the celebrated naturalist, made his acquaintance with this fish on the Cornish coast, where it is common, and applied to a native for its name. The native was probably a fisherman, one of a class that takes little account of the inhabitants of the deep unless they are marketable sorts. He knew no more about it than John Ray did, but casting around for some analogy in the shape of the fish, he answered, " It looks like a gunwale " (pronounced " gunnel "). He thought it resembled ths gunwale of a boat ; but Ray naturally took "gunnel" to be the local name for the fish, and so he inscribed it in his book, and Gunnel has been the English book-name ever since, and has also been Latinized into gunnellus to form a scientific name. To those who are satisfied with a cursory glance at natural objects as they flash by in life, the Rocklings might pass for Gunnels, and the Gunnel for a Rockling. The Rocklings' colour, though more ruddy and deeper, and their general form though much rounder, are sufficiently similar to warrant the superficial observer in classing them together. Their habitat, too, is much the same as the Gunnel's ; and if we go down at low-water to the edge of the tide, and turn over the large flat stones that are there, we shall be sure to find a few Rock- lings of various sizes some a foot or more in length. Our turning-over of the stone is the signal for an excited rush, and a splashing up of the water as the Rockling dashes from stone to stone, from hole to hole. After having let him 266 BY THE DEEP SEA. slip through our fingers, or over our hands, several times, we corner him at last, and transfer him to a large bottle in spite of his slipperiness. He proves to be the Five-bearded Rockling (Motella musteld), as we see at once by the four barbs on the upper jaw and the solitary one beneath. These are really sufficient for identification purposes, for no other of our shore-haunting fishes is decorated in precisely the same manner. However, we will briefly indicate the appearance of the fish. The dorsal fin commences at about one-third of the Reckling's length, reckoning from the front, and continues close up to the tail. The anal fin starts a little beyond the vent and continues near to the tail below. Pectorals rounded ; ventral long and pointed. Just before the beginning of the dorsal fin there is a long, narrow, and delicate membrane that THREE-BEARDED ROCKLING. looks like another dorsal fin, but is not. Of the barbs from which the fish gets its distinctive name, two are directed forwards and upwards, two forwards and outwards, whilst the fifth goes forwards and downwards. The Three-bearded Rockling (Motella vulgaris) is very like the last-named species, but has only one pair of barbs on the upper jaw, and a single one on the lower. Mr. R. Quiller Couch discovered that one or other of the Rocklings, probably all three for there is another species, the Four-bearded (Motella cimbria] build a kind of nest by jamming fragments of coralline into a cranny, and depositing their eggs in the mass as the work proceeds. From one nest-building fish to another is a very easy transition. w > w w u * O CO O 2 8 Pu YeUow CO 'I!) CO O E l| 5 T3 TJ ITd CO O 2 2 P 1 ^ ^^ ^ .a-l _5^ rS CO rt CO co O CO O E 8 CO O CO O Er Q ' M 1 1 r^J 1 1 r^J O 1 1 i 1 CO j? *2 u "^ oj 3 P-. PQ <1 Q ft P-. CO a 2 6 uo 0) Q, 10ii 11- 1 ill j||j||.| ^'t? rt ^J g 2 4T l) -g ^3 *S8 fl o S-gS g ||||4.| a, g^0 JH ^ c CQ m S PQ H "S g| H ^*^ CD ^ ^ 'o ^ PQ a ,2 S c Q 'co ^0 4) 6 3 co 5 > > >< Q a CO CO Q a 13 rfl H o CD CD ^ a Q 1 1 | I fi 1 T^ jo ommon Gull g O 1 % esser Black- backed r'ter Black- backed CD 1? PQ O ffi O S3 BIRDS OF THE SEA-SHORE. 28 5 RAZORBILL. The Razorbill and the Guillemot are common birds on most of our coasts where there are cliffs, but we shall see them chiefly as swimming and diving birds as we walk along the shore. The Razorbill (A lea fordo) when swimming carries its tail parts higher out of the water than the Guillemot (Uria troile}, and is further distinguished by the high compressed bill with white trans- Averse stripes, the white stripe from the bill to the eye, and the dark- brown throat. The Guillemot has a l n > straight, pointed beak, white throat crossed by a greyish cravat, continued from the mottled black and white of the back of the head and neck. It is too common as a dead, sodden-plumaged bird in the rock-pools after winter storms, which prevent it fishing, and starve it to death. The legs and feet are greyish, the webs black. The Black Guillemot (Uria grylle) breeds on cliffs in Scot- land, Ireland, and Man, but in winter also visits the south and south-west coasts. Its summer dress is wholly black, save for a patch of white on the coverts, but in winter the black is all replaced by white and very pale grey. The legs and feet differ, too, from those of U. troile in being vermilion in the present species. The Puffin (Fratercula arcticd) is identified readily, wherever seen, by its conspicuous com- pressed orange beak of great depth from top to bottom. -I This gives it a humorous as- pect that belongs to itself alone; but it is useful to it also, for it makes a very efficient cracking instrument wherewith 286 BY THE DEEP SEA. certain of the thinner shelled bivalves may be utilised for the Puffin's food. It is a great diver, and sometimes the habit is its ruin. I have a fine specimen that was drowned by running its head into the mesh of a mackerel-net, and failing to extri- cate itself in time to prevent death by drowning. Young specimens are sometimes blown in exhausted during winter gales. Many other birds are similarly overcome. The pretty little Storm Petrel, or Mother Carey's Chicken (Procellaria pelagicd), whose stuffed body is before me as I write, was blown in early in November, 1895. I tried to restore it to vigour, but it was too far exhausted to take food, and this appears to be the common condition of those that are blown in. On the same day many Gulls, Guillemots, and Shags were washing into our "porth," and several of these were cared for, restored to health, and given their liberty a few days later. The Great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis) and the Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis] are also winter visitants to most of our shores. It is thought the Diver may breed on some of our extreme northern islands, but there appears to be no evidence that it does so. It is a regular visitor to the Cornish coasts in winter, and it is well worth watching from some rocky headland. It is large and powerful, and excels not merely as a proficient diver with plenty of "staying power," but is a vigorous swimmer, and a very capable flier. It is a pity those who see it are not more content with the sight, instead of being possessed with the desire to get a gun and shoot it. One would like to see it more often alive, and less frequently adorning the halls of country houses near the coast. The Fulmar is not of such general occurrence as the Diver, except in the far north St. Kilda, Orkney and Shetland. St. Kilda is its breeding-place, and they are merely stragglers that put in an appearance during winter on more southern shores. The hooked-bill and tubular nostrils distinguish it from the gulls at a glance. BIRDS OF THE SEA-SHORE. 287 The Manx Shearwater (Puffinus anglorum) breeds on islands all down the western coast as far south as Scilly ; it is therefore a more frequent visitor to our southern and western coasts, especially before and after it is engaged on the important work of hatching and rearing its solitary chick. CHAPTER XIX. SEAWEEDS. IT is to the rocky shore we must first turn our steps, if we desire to obtain a wide acquaintance with the British Sea- weeds : that is the grand hunting-ground for the Phycologist. In the rock-pools he will find very many of the smaller species, and thickly coating the fringing rocks are the larger, tough and leathery species of Fucus and Laminaria, forming at once a breakwater that largely destroys the force of heavy seas, and a splendid cover for the soft-bodied creatures that swarm on the rock-surface, and feed on the plants that pro- tect them from the fury of the waves. The ancients called them inutiles alg with flat, branched fronds and mid-rib, the branches mucM broader than in Bladder Wrack, and the edges cut into bold, sharp, distant teeth. Its usual length i? from two to three feet, but it may occur as long as five or six feet. The width of frond also varies, for it may SAW EDGED WRACK. BLADDER WRACK. 2Q2 BY THE DEEP SEA. be anything between half an inch and two inches. Where the frond branches the mid-rib becomes thicker and bolder. It is quite innocent of bladders. The name of the genus is founded upon the word Phukos, which is the Greek name for a seaweed. Almost equally plentiful with those species of Fucus we have named, is the Pod-weed (Haltdrys stliquosa), with long atten- uated compressed fronds, four or five feet in length, much branched, most of the branches being exceeding short, but others ending in air vessels. These are ribbed transversely, and bear a very close likeness to the seed-pods of the furze. They run out to a narrow point at the free end, and are divided into small air-chambers within. But there are other pods that contain the reproductive elements, and these may be known by the pores by which their surfaces are perforated. The name Halidrys, signifies sea-oak (Greek, Hals> the sea, and drus, oak), but the why and wherefore of the name are not easily determined. If the abun- dant pod-like vessels are kept in mind, there is no difficulty in knowing this species the first time it is seen. At low-water, you will often find, at- tached to the rocks, a shallow horny cup, or button, of olive hue, about the size of a penny. This is the Sea-thongs (Himanthalia lored), which gets its name from a very long, branched, strap-like growth from the centre of the cup. The cup is the frond the plant proper and the extraordinary straps, which may be half an inch wide and twenty feet long, are merely the receptacles containing the reproductive organs, which open by pores all over their surfaces. The receptacles are not produced until the second year of the plant's life, so that many examples will be met consisting of the cup-like frond only. It is a local plant, and not therefore to be found on all parts of the coast. POD-WEED. SEAWEEDS. 293 In the lower series of tide-pools, a tufted weed attracts the sight by reason of its brilliant iridescence, which often causes it to be plucked from its native pool, only to be thrown back again, for on emergence from the water all the beautiful play of colour has gone. It does not appear to have any common name, but to give it a chance of being popularly known, let us call it the Rainbow Bladder- weed (Cystoseira ericoides). The many branches of its frond are full of little bladders, whence its scientific name (Kystos, a bladder ; sezra, a cord), and it gets its specific title of ericoides from its habit somewhat resembling that of the Heath-plant (Erica). A tuft pulled up and care- fully overhauled will afford the zoologist a number of diverse forms of life. Several species of Crustacea make it their home, and the leaf- worms hide themselves in the centre of the little bush. Mollusks, sponges, and ascidians are there also, and the description of the animal inhabitants of such a tuft would make a fair chapter. All the species of seaweeds to which we have already referred, are members of the class Fucaceae. We have now to take a glance at other brown and olive weeds, some of which are the giants of the tribe, but which belong properly to the deeper waters, though every gale will make us well acquainted with their forms heaped up upon the shore. In this class known to botanists as the Phaeosporeae the reproduction is generally of a lower type than in those we have been consider- ing. In the majority of forms there is no sexual process, the species being reproduced, as a rule, by zoospores, which are somewhat similar to the antherozoids of Fucus. They are produced in special cells, the contents of which break up into a number of these zoospores, which escape through a pore, and germinate. Getting down into a drang at extreme low spring-tide, we shall find the rocks to seaward covered with Tangle (Lam- inaria digitatd), whose huge round stems clasp the rocks with their claw-like false-roots. The leafy portion is broad, of a 2Q4 BY THE DEEP SEA. pale olive-brown, and slit up into several sections, so that the whole frond has a rough resemblance to the diverging fingers of a huge hand : hence its name, digitata (having fingers). The substance of the frond is thick and leathery. A species with undivided glossy narrower fronds, puckered and frilled, is the Sugar Tangle (Laminaria saccharind) , so-called because, when drying, it produces on its surface a white powder of a sweet taste, called mannite, or manna. This substance can also be obtained from the cells by maceration-. Subsequent evapora- tion of the brew results in a deposit of crystals. This is the species that inland trippers carry away on their visit to the coast to act as a hygrometer, hanging it on a nail, and feeling it from time to time to find if it is dry and hard, or moist and pliable, for its cells readily absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and as readily part with it when the air is again dry and clear. A third species is called the Sea Furbelows (L. bttlbosa), and it may often be found washed up in great heaps after a storm. It springs from a great hollow sphere, which is perforated, and thus affords a home for many creatures. This so-called bulb is sometimes a foot across, and from its stem there is a great expanse of thin leather split up into many broad ribbons. These three species, with the larger Fuct, are largely used by farmers near rocky coasts for manuring their fields, and in former days, more widely than now, they were employed in the manufacture of " kelp " and iodine. These Laminarians have the curious habit of casting off the lamina or blade of the frond each year, by a constriction above the stem, whence a new one grows. This, too, it should be stated, is the growing point, the blade increasing in length by additions near the stem, instead of by the lengthening of the free end. The spores are produced in large patches upon the surface of the frond. The Badderlocks or Murlins (Alaria esculentd) of our north- ern coasts, belongs to this group, but is distinguished from the Laminaria by the possession of a mid-rib or central nerve. SEAWEEDS. 295 The stem is short and cylindrical, and the blade of the frond ranges from three to twenty feet in length, usually much torn by the waves. There are a number of finger-like receptacles given off by the stem, and in the outer coats of these are the conceptacles bearing the spores. The plant is used as food by the poorer classes resident on the shores where it is plen- tiful, and is eaten raw, when it is said to be the best of our esculent seaweeds; the parts preferred are the mid-rib and the receptacles. " Badderlocks " is a corruption of Balder' s locks, the split fronds being likened to the locks of the Scan- dinavian hero Balder, to whom all plants except mistletoe swore fealty. To this class also belongs the slender and very extensive Sea Lace (Chorda filum), which consists of a rounded frond, hollow, and without branches. It is remarkable how tenacious the thong-like, slimy fronds are, and it is not difficult to imagine the difficulties of a swimmer who should have to force his way through a bed of them. The tubular interior is divided up into a number of cells by transverse partitions ; and the spores are embedded in the outer surface. It prefers a sandy or muddy bottom in creeks and harbours, and in such places it grows in dense patches, the fronds attaining a length of from twenty to forty feet. The free end is constantly dying off, but the plant increases by growth at the lower end, just above the false roots. The Fennel-leaved Net- weed (Dictyosiphon fceniculaceus) is abundant in rock-pools all round our coast. As its name implies, the frond is much branched and thread-like. It is a light olive in colour, and grows in tufts on stones and larger weeds. The arrangement of the cells in the walls of the frond produce a net-like appearance. Everyone knows the thin flat transparent fronds of Sea Lettuce (Ulva latissimd)^ which grows everywhere on the coasts, its margins crisped, folded, torn, or otherwise diversi- fied by Nature, or the many things that feed upon it. It is 296 BY THE DEEP SEA. mentioned out of its place here, in order that we may bring into its proper order a plant that is frequently taken as a mere aberration of the CJlva. This weed is the Asperococcus turneri, a hollow green bladder on a short stalk, and rough with the spore-bearing organs. It is commonly found adhering to stones between tide-marks One of the most beautiful of our sea- weeds is known as the Peacock's-tail (Padina pavonid). It is really a tropical species, but its range of distribu- tion extends to our most southern shores, and, strange to say, without suffering any deterioration in its brilliance of hue or its stature. From a very narrow base the frond gradually expands to a broad fan - shape, and the edges are curled in so that it assumes a cup-shape. But the chief beauty of the plant is given by a number of concentric lines and bands. Several of these bands are white, as though they had been chalked : their colour is in fact due to a chalky powder, calcium carbonate, which is secreted by the plant. Many of the lines are formed by a fringe of glistening hairs, which reflect the light and break it up into all the colours of the spectrum, and a more distinct fringe decorates the upper margin of the frond. Reproduction takes place by the formation of large spores, which are found in heaps between the zones. These are known as tetraspores^ PEACOCK S TAIL. SEAWEEDS. 297 because the contents break up into four smaller spores. Sometimes this weed is what botanists term proliferous, that is, it produces new plants upon its frond. Like all those showing iridescence, it is a much more beautiful species in the water than in the herbarium ; though it is not without beauty there, and it is a prize eagerly sought by collectors. It is worthy of note that freshwater Algae are, with very few exceptions, green, whilst few of the marine species are truly green; brown and olive, and red, are the prevailing hues. The green marine weeds are nearly all found in shallow water. Of course, they all possess the green colouring matter called chlorophyll, but in the deep-water species, according to Murray and Bennet, "it appears to be essential .... that the green colour of the chlorophyll should be masked by a coloured pigment, red in the case of the Florideae, brown in those of the Phaeosporeae and Fucaceae." It is from these latter classes our examples have been already drawn ; we must now give a turn to the Florideae, which contains many of the most popularly sought species, because they are often so charmingly tinted and so delicate in structure. It must not be supposed from the foregoing remarks that the whole of this class are red weeds ; the majority are not only red but brilliant red ; whilst others are purple, brown, yellowish, or dirty-white. They are chiefly small weeds, but they make up for the want of stature in their delicacy of texture and fine- ness of division. A very beautiful genus of delicate red and purple weeds, chiefly growing upon the larger and coarser kinds, is called Callithamnion (Greek, Kalli, beautiful, and thamnos, shrub). Some attain the length of half a foot, but most of them are much smaller. They require careful examination with lens or microscope to decide the species, and oftentimes in order to distinguish them from other finely branched red- weeds. For their proper discrimination we advise reference to a book devoted exclusively to Seaweeds, such as Lands- 2Q8 BY THE DEEP SEA. borough's, Gray's, or the splendid " Phycologia Britannica " of Harvey. The general characters of the genus are : frond branched, often pinnate, consisting of jointed threads, with tetraspores scattered along the branches. Other small red seaweeds will be found, representing several genera, but they require the assistance of coloured figures to make descriptions interesting and useful. There is the silky Ptilota, with finely divided fronds, consisting of cells alter- nately filled with a pink and a transparent fluid ; the rosy red Griffithsia, with thread-like fronds and clear transparent joints; the forking threads of Ceramhim, their tips curled in towards each other; the exquisite Plocamium, with its flat crimson, hair-like branches, toothed on one side only. The Coralline (Corallina officinalis) grows in every pool, and its stony-coated joints are well-known, though it is a shock to some persons to find it classed among plants, when they had long imagined it to be related to the corals of which neck- laces and islands are constructed. There are, in fact, several genera whose members secrete carbonate of lime, and so hide their vegetable character. The coralline was, however, once soft and flexible. Melobesia is equally stony, but grows in thin horizontal pink and purple plates or solid masses. A little weak muriatic acid will soon dissolve the lime, and reveal its true character. Jania somewhat resembles Corallina, but its branches are exceedingly slender, and much shorter than Corallina. Among the larger red weeds that will attract attention at low-water, is the coarse textured Halymenia ligulata, of dark crimson hue, whose strap-shaped fronds support other straps by very slender attachments. It is closely related to Rhody- menia palmata, a very common red seaweed, that is eaten in Scotland, Ireland, and on the West coast of England, under the name of Dulse or Dillisk, though it is said to be a not very desirable food when anything else is to be obtained. Its fronds are roughly fan-shaped, consisting of a great number of SEAWEEDS. 2Q9 radiating ribbon-like lobes, of a purple colour. Its texture is like that of parchment. It will be found parasitic upon the stems of Fticus and Laminaria, at very low-water. A more slender and ragged, thin textured species is Rhodymenia jubata, with irregular outgrowths all along its edge, some of these fringes developing into long lobes. Another species that is also eaten as Dulse is the Iridea edulis, which glitters with bluish iridescence when immersed. It has fronds about six or seven inches long, expanding into a broad oval at the free end, and thinning off to a wedge-shape at the base. It is rep- resented in the illustration of the Prawn, on page 163. The Pepper Dulse (Laurencia pinnatifidd) is a much smaller species, that grows abundantly in the pools and the rocks around them, standing the repeated scorching-up when the tide withdraws, as well as does the Channelled Fucus, its companion. It roughly resembles a miniature Polypody fern, but of a purple colour. Another edible weed is the well- known Irish Moss or Carrageen (Chondrus crispus), which was in such favour years ago as an inva- lid's food. It is well shown in the illustration, but is subject to great variation, especially as regards colour, ranging from greenish- white, and yellow, to a dull purple. In some of its forms it closely resembles Gigartina mamillosa^ to which it is not very distantly re- lated, and the danger of confusing the two is increased by Gigartina often growing amongst Chondrus. The tips of Gigartina 's frond, however, are usually broader than those of Chondms, and the frond is rough, with little tubercles like 300 BY THE DEEP SEA. grape-stones (Greek, gigartori), which contain the spores. The usually purplish fronds will be found, on cutting them across, to be not solid, as they appear, but composed of delicate threads, in a firm clear jelly. A pretty little red weed, that is abundant in the rock-pools, growing upon other weeds, is the Chylocladia parvula, which has swollen, cactus-like ovate joints, of a clear red, appearing as though they were skins filled with liquid. It is allied to Plocamium and Rhodymenia. The most striking of all these red-spored algae, at least, so far as the British flora is concerned, is the (for a seaweed) ex- traordinary Ash-leaved Seaweed (Worm- skioldia sanguined), whose frond has a distinct leaf- like form, with a mid-rib and branching nervures. Its texture is so very thin, that in spite of its beautiful rosy tint, if a specimen were laid upon this page, the print could be read through it. Its mar- gins are more lax than the mid-rib, so that when mounted for the herbarium, the edges show many foldings over. The plant was formerly placed in the genus Delesseria, but is now separated on account of im- portant differences in the matter of prop- agation. In this species minute leaf-like organs spring from the mid-ribband may be taken for young plants springing from the parent, but these are really the bodies that bear the spores. The Winged Delesseria (Delesseria alatd) is a finely and intricately branched plant, of a rich dark crimson colour, with a suggestion of a mid-rib, along each side of which is a narrow expanse of thin mem- brane, the "wings" of its popular and technical names. It occurs in thick tufts on the stems of Laminaria digitata. ASH-LEAVED SEA-WEED. SEAWEEDS. 301 My space is getting rapidly used up, though I have only been able to mention a few of our fairly common seaweeds. There are still two or three that I must mention. One of these is an exceedingly pretty little form, which would be very like a soft feather that has been cast by one of the greener varieties of the canary-bird, if it were not so vividly green. The weed is called Bryopsis plumosa. It will be found grow- ing on the shaded walls of deep pools, and if the eye is placed just over the edge of the pool, the Bryopsis will be found growing at right angles with the wall, and looking so very feathery that it will be identified at once. Another green weed that should be mentioned is the Enter- omorpha compressa^ of the same texture as the Sea Lettuce (Ulvd), already mentioned, but forming a narrow tube of rugged shape, that is ordinarily collapsed, but sometimes inflated with oxygen gas. It is represented in the illustration of the Sand Launce on page 275. A tuft growing on a stone or limpet-shell, is a valuable addition to the aquarium, for it will continue to grow, and many of the animal inhabitants will find their food in it. Crustaceans, fishes, and mollusks are all fond of it. The reader who has patiently accompanied me thus far, will probably make up his mind to preserve some of these beautiful weeds, and I should strengthen any such intention ; but let me advise that some care be expended upon the work. -Select your specimens with care, and be not satisfied until you have, by patient seeking and overhauling, secured fairly perfect examples with, as far as possible, the fruiting organs. These must be carefully laid out, and gently pressed between sheets v of absorbent paper, just as in the case of flowering plants. But it should be always remembered that the specimens as taken from the sea are more or less coated with salt, and will never thoroughly dry until this is removed. The first care then should be to well rinse them in clear soft water, a few speci- mens at a time, to avoid leaving any for long in the fresh 3O2 BY THE DEEP SEA. water, which rapidly destroys certain species if they are left in it for more than half an hour. Lay them out in as natural a manner as possible, separating the delicate divisions of the frond with a camel-hair brush. When thoroughly dry and hard, mount specimens of one species only on the same sheet of paper, and neatly write the name of species near the bottom left-hand corner, and near the opposite margin, the place where, and the date when, collected. CHAPTER XX. FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS. JUST as in walking along the shore we have on one hand a region inhabited by specialised races of animal and plant life altogether different from those of the land, so also on the landward side we have flowering plants distinct in most cases from those found but a short distance inland. Strictly speak- ing, the stretch of shore, whether it be shingle, sand, or rocks, does not form a barrier separating sea plants from those of the land, for the terrestrial and the submarine overlap through the medium of the frondose lichen, Lichina pygiM which, belonging to a terrestrial group, spends half its day in the water and the other half exposed to the atmosphere. The pretty Sea-Milkwort (Glaux maritimd) takes up the connect- ing thread on the land side, and establishes its roots and woody base jammed in the crevices of rocks, where they must absorb more salt water than fresh, and at times it must be entirely covered by the sea. That this salt is thoroughly congenial to its nature we may gather from the fact that the only inland localities where Glaux grows are the salt-produc- ing districts. It attains to only a few inches in height, and its small, smooth, stalkless, glaucous leaves are thickened like many other shore plants, and dotted all over with minute pits. The flowers are devoid of petals, but the bell-shaped calyx is coloured of a flesh-tint, and sprinkled with very small dots of crimson. Its flowering period is from May to August. In similar situations grows the beautiful little Sandwort Spurrey (Spergularia nibra), with many slender compressed, ruddy stems radiating from a woody rootstock; the leaves 304 BY THE DEEP SEA. slender, awl-shaped, unequal in size. Petals fine, bright rosy ; anthers yellow. Flowers June to September. Like conditions of life often produce similar effects on different organisms. Growing close to the Sea-Milkwort, just above high-water mark, and continuing thence some distance up the cliffs, is the Samphire (Crithmum maritimuiri), with similar woody rootstock similarly wedged in rock crevices, and with all its parts thickened. The glaucous leaves are cut up into cylindrical fleshy segments, and the yellow flowers are borne in clusters, the fleshy stalks of the individual blossoms radiating from a common centre like the ribs of an umbrella. It may be unnecessary to explain that this type of flower- cluster is characteristic of the Natural Order Umbelliferse, to which the Samphire belongs, and that it is to the same order that such well-known plants as carrot, hogweed, fool's-parsley, and celery belong. Samphire is much sought for pickling, and this has led to its extermination on many parts of the coast. It flowers from June to September. Fennel (Foeniculum officinale) is another seaside umbellifer, and its tall, straight, and polished stems may be found grow- ing up the face of the cliffs, the much-divided feathery leaves producing a green cloud-like effect. The same glaucous tint characterises the whole plant, except that the flowers are yellow. July and August are the months in which it may be found in blossom. One other umbelliferous plant that is strictly confined to the shore is the so-called Sea-Holly (Eryngiuin maritiinuui] , though this must be sought not on the rocky cliffs, but on sandy shores. Its dense heads of pale-bluish flowers without a stalk nestle close to the broad and spiny-edged glaucous leaves (glaucous again), that bear a wonderful primd facie resemblance to those of the unrelated holly-tree. It flowers in July and August, but the plant is easily recognised out of its flowering season by means of the bold leaves. But the glory of cliff vegetation to my mind is the beautiful FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS. 305 Thrift or Sea- Pink (Armeria maritime?) , whose tufts of thick, narrow, grass-like leaves extend from the wave-washed rocks right up the cliff-side, and over the stony hedges at the top. It flowers sparingly all the year round I have gathered it within a few days of Christmas but the brilliant display is in April and May, when every clump supports many long-stalked, half- round heads of the rosy flowers, that make so beautiful a setting for the nests of the cliff-building birds. Thrift is not absolutely peculiar to the coast, for it is found also on high mountains ; in the Scottish Highlands it occurs at an altitude of nearly four thousand feet above the sea. There is a larger and more rigid species (A . plant agined) that grows on sandy banks in Jersey. A relation of the Sea- Pink is the Sea- Lavender (Statice limoniuni), which grows where sand and mud are more abundant than rocks, and in some places covers the sand- hills with a growth not unlike that of the heather on inland sand-hills, and at a distance the purplish flowers are very suggestive of heather in such a situation. They are not gathered into a compact head as in Thrift, but are scattered along a branching spray. It has a creeping rootstock of a woody character, from which all the leaves spring directly. These are oval in general outline, running off to a point at the upper end. It flowers from July to November. On the sandy shore where grows the Sea- Lavender there will, in all probability, also be seen a bold-leaved plant, with large, golden yellow flowers, which the tyro in botany will notice at a glance has some sort of relationship with the familiar Eschscholtzia of the garden. It is the Yellow Horned- Poppy (Glaucium luteum}, and the above-mentioned tyro will say that this time the glaucous hue of the leaves (from which this species and Glaux both derive their scientific names) is not wholly due to its seaside habit, for the same hue is characteristic of Eschscholtzia and the Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferuni), which are cultivated flowers. Quite so, but 3O6 BY THE DEEP SEA. probably their original home may be near the sea, though the texture of their leaves is not so fleshy as in our maritime plants of glaucous hue. The bold, rough leaves make the plant conspicuous even in winter. The name of Horned Poppy is suggested by the form of the seed vessel, which is similar to that of Eschscholtzia, but thicker. It is a prominent feature of the flower which loses its petals after one day's blossoming but they ultimately extend to a foot in length. The flowers may be found from June till October. Saltwort (Salsola kali) is also a plant of the sandy shore, with rigid brittle stems, striped and bristly, and fleshy, glaucous leaves, nearly cylindrical in shape, with spiny points. At their base the leaves become broader and partially clasp the stem. The little flowers are leafless, borne in the axils of the leaves, and to be seen only in July and August. This is one of several plants that were formerly burned to make Barilla, an impure carbonate of soda, much used in the manu- facture of soap and glass, before the discovery of the cheap production of soda from common salt. If my friend the reader is acquainted with the beautiful white-flowered Bladder Campion (Silene cucubalus), of inland hedgebanks, and he should chance to come upon the nearly allied Sea-Campion (S. maritimd), he will think he has the old familiar plant, so closely are the two related ; but a com- parison will convince him there are differences. For instance, the stems of waritima are shorter and less erect than those of cucubalus. The flower cluster (panicle) is in cucubalus many- flowered ; in maritima the flowers vary only between one and four in a cluster, and their petals are not so deeply cleft. The two scales that are obvious at the base of the broad part of the petal in maritiina, are very obscure in cucubalus. Mari- tima, too, has smaller leaves and larger flowers, and the scales (bracts) below the flowers, which are dry and semi-transparent in cticubalus, are here more fleshy. It flowers from June to September. FLOWERS OF THE SHORE AND CLIFFS. 307 Everybody is well acquainted with the pretty Field Convol- vulus, or Small Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), and as they have just seen it growing in abundance in the fields they passed through on the way to the shore, they may reasonably conclude that these larger, more richly-tinted blossoms that grow on the sandy shore, are simply more luxuriant examples of the same species. In reality they are produced by a distinct kind, the Sea-Convolvulus (C. soldanelld), which differs from the common kind in the fact that clasping the base of the flower and covering the sepals, there are two large leaf-like bracts, whereas in arvensis these are small and placed at some distance below the sepals. The leaves are fleshy, broader than long, the stems are shorter, seldom more than a foot in length, and very rarely do they twine around anything. The flowers, as we have said, are larger and more richly coloured, only one on a stalk, whilst the common sort have usually from two to four. The Sea- Rocket (Cakile maritimd) is abundant on most sandy shores. It is a large succulent plant, about two feet in height, with zigzag branches, and smooth, fleshy, glaucous leaves; flowers with four purplish white petals, arranged cross-wise. The flowers are succeeded by large succulent pods, that are divided into two by a cross-partition ; each chamber contains a solitary seed. It is this pod that is most 1 likely to arrest attention. It flowers in June and July. Wall Pennywort, or Navelwort (Cotyledon umbilicus), is an abundant weed in the rocks and walls of the west coast, but travels no further east than to Kent. Its tuberous rootstock is wedged into the crevices of the rocks and cliffs, or between the flakes of which stone dykes are built. The leaf, as the name suggests, is round, with the stalk in the centre ; it is also thick and fleshy, the severity of the margin taken off by a series of low, rounded teeth. Some of these leaves are large as much as three inches across. When the flowering stalk makes its appearance, another type of leaf comes with it 308 BY THE DEEP SEA. spoon-shaped. The flower-stalks bear drooping cylindrical flowers, greenish-white in hue, densely crowded, and all hanging downwards. It is a very striking ornament of the places where it is common, especially from June to August, when it flowers. In company with the Navelwort, on rocks and walls, will be found one, if not two, species of Stonecrop (Seduni}. One of these, the common Yellow Stonecrop or Wall- Pepper (Sedum acre), is too well-known to need describing. The other is the White Stonecrop (Sedum anglicuni), of similar habit, but with the inevitable glaucous leaves (those of S. acre are not glaucous, but bright green) ; though sometimes these take on a reddish hue. The flowers are more star-like than those of 5. acre, and of a whitish or pinkish colour in evidence from May to August. I do not pretend to furnish an exhaustive list of the plants of the sea-shore : that properly treated would make a volume by itself. Such as I have mentioned belong almost solely to a habitat where they can receive the salt spray upon their leaves. Mention should also be made of the Sea- Spleen- wort (Asplenium marinunt], among ferns, that loves to grow over the entrance to a sea-cave, there hanging down its boldly-cut and well- varnished dark -green fronds, well out of reach. Then there is a distinctly marine Carex, the Sea- Sedge (Carex, arenarid) , which shares with Marram-grass (Ainmophila arenarid), the work of binding the sands together with its thick, creeping rootstock. But the seaside visitor, with botanical tastes, will find the shores abundant in vegetation generally, and he must have recourse to a special handbook to help in their discrimina- tion. Were it not for fear of laying himself open to a charge of presumption, egoism, favouritism, and a few other isms, the author would, in this connection, recommend his own " Wayside and Woodland Blossoms," Second Series,* which includes many of the maritime flowers. CLASSIFIED INDEX Species mentioned in the foregoing pages. ANIMAL KINGDOM. S ub-kingdom ProtOZOa. Class LOBOSA Amseba, 21 Class RETICULARIA Textularia variabilis, 22 Cristellaria subarcuatula, 22 Polymorphina lactea, 22 Globigerina sp., 23 Rotalina, 23 Nonionina, 23 Polystomella, 23 Class RADIOLARIA Podocyrtis schomburghii, 23 Class RHYNCO-FLAGEL- LATA Noctiluca miliaris, 25 Sub-kingdom Parazoa (Spon- Class CALCAREA Grantia compressa, 34 ; G. ciliata, 35 Class SILICISPONGTA Halichondriapanicea 31, 34 ; H. incrustans, 34 ; sanguinea, 34 Chalina oculata, 35 Sub-kingdom Coelenterata. Class HYDROZOA Haliclystus octoradiatus, 44 Cyanea capillata, 50 ; C. chrysaora, 55 ; C. arctica, 62 Aurelia aurita, 53 Sarsia tubulosa, 57 Coryne pusilla, 42 Clava-turris mullicornis, 42, 55 . Plumularia cornucopiae, 41, ,43 Salacia abietina, 40 Thuiaria thuja, 41 [44 Antennularia antennina, Calycella fastig'ata, 40; C. syringa, 44 Sertulada pumila, 39 ; S. fusca, 40 ; S. tricuspi- data, 40 Diphasia alata, 40 ; D. pinnata, 40 [40 Aglaophenia tubulifera, CLASSIFIED INDEX. Campanularia johnstoni, 41 Thaumantias sp., 55 ^Equorea forbesiana, 59 Physalia pciagica, 56 Velella scaphoidea, 59 Class ACTINOZOA Actinia equina, 64 Sagartia rosea, 68 ; S. pallida, 69 ; S nivea, 69 ; S. venusta, 70 ; S. miniata, 72 Cylista undata, 70 ; C. viduata, 71 Anemonia sulcata, 74 Bunodes ballii, 77 ; B. verrucosa, 76 Urticina felina, 78 Corynactis viridis, 79 Metridium senilis, 79 Cribrina effoeta, 80 Adamsia palliata, 80, 147 Pleurobrachia pileus, 59 Sub-kingdom Eehinozoa. Class ECHINOIDEA Echinus esculentus, 100 ; E. miliaris, loo [102 Strongylocentrus lividus, Class ASTEROIDEA Uraster rubens, 86 ; U. glacialis, 90 Cribella oculata, 90 Solaster papposa, 91 Asterina gibbosa, 92 Class OPHIUROIDEA Ophiocoma neglecta, 92 ; O. granulata, 96 ; O. brachiata, 97 Ophiothrix rosula, 96 Class CRINOIDEA- Comatula rosacea, 98 Class HOLOTHUROIDEA Cucumaria pentactes, 105 Sub-kingdom AnnulOSa: Di- vision Scolecida. Class PLATYHELMIN- THES Planaria nigra, 123 Eurylepta vittata. 123 Astemma rufifrons 123 Tetrastemma quadriocu- latum, 124 Polystemma roseum, 124 Lineus marinus, 124 Division Anarthropoda. Class ANNELIDA Serpula contortuplicata, 1 12 ; S. triquetra, 113; S. verrnicularis, 113 Sabella alveolaria, 108, 112 ; S. bombyx, in ; S. tubularia, 112 Spirorbis communis, 114 Terebella figulus, 115; T. littoralis, 115 Arenicola piscatorum, 114 Nereis pelagica, 114, 117 Cirrhatulus borealis, 115 Nephthys margaritacea, 117 Phyllodoce lamelligera, 117 ; P. viridis, 118 Eunice sanguinea, 118 Polynoe squamata, 121 ; P. cirrata, 121 Aphrodita aculeata, 1 21 Division Arthropoda. Class CRUSTACEA Sub-class Cirrepedia Lepas anatifera, 177 Scalpellum vulgare, 183 CLASSIFIED INDEX. Balanus balanoides, 183 ; B. porcatus, 184 Pyrgoma anglicum, 183 Sub-class Malacostraca Talitrus locusta, 173 Orchestia littorea, 173 C-iprella linearis, 174 Corophium longicorne, 175 Ligea oceanica, 172 Idotea marina, 173 Campecopea hirsuta, 174 Nsesa bidenta, 174 Mysis flexuosa, 169 Leander serratus, 160 ; L. squilla, 165 ; L. fabricii. 165 Pandalus montagui, 166 Hippolyte varians, 1 66 Crangon vulgaris, 167 Astacus gammarus, 152 Palinurus vulgaris, 152 Upogebia stellata, 171 Callianassa subterranea, 170 Galathea squamifera, 150 G. nexa, 151 ; G. dis- pcrsa, 151 ; G. inter- media, 151 ; G. stri- j gcsa, 151 Porcellana platycheles, } 147 ; P. longicornis, j 149 Eupagurus bernhardus, ! 144; E. prideaux, 144. Maia squinado, 152 Gonoplax rhomboides, 156 Corystes cassivelaunus, 155 Portunus puber, 140 Carcinus msenas, 139 Pilumnus hirtellus, 138 Xantho incisus, 137 ; X. hydrophilus, 137 Cancer pagurus, 131 Sub-kingdom MollUSCa, Class GASTROPODA^ Fissurella grseca, 223 Emarginula reticulata, 223 ; E. rosea, 223 Patella vulgata, 207 Patella pellucida, 211; P. laevis, 211 Acmaea testudinalis, 21 1 Phasianella pullus, 221 Trochus cinereus, 221 ; T. magus, 222 ; T. zizyphinus, 221 Scalaria communis, 219 Tanthina fragilis, 222 Cerithium reticulatum, 219 Turritella communis, 219 Natica monilifera, 216 Pileopsis (or Capulus) hungaricus, 223 Littorina littoralis, 220 ; L. littorea, 220 ; L. rudis, 220 Rissoa ulvoe, 219 Aporrhais pes-pelicani, 219 Cypraea europea, 215 Ovula patula, 216 Erato isevis, 216 Murex erinaceus, 214 Fusus antiquus, 214 ; F. contrarius, 214 Buccinum undatum, 213 Nassa incrassata, 213 Purpura lapillus, 212 Aplysia depilans, 229 Doris johnstoni, 227 ; D. tuberculata, 227 Eolis coronata, 227 ; E. papillosa, 228 Class SCAPHOPODA Dentalium entalis, 224; D. tarentinum, 224 312 CLASSIFIED INDEX. Class CEPHALOPODA Sepia officinalis, 233 Loligo vulgaris, 235 Sepiola rondeletii, 235 Octopus vulgaris, 232 Class LAMELLIBRAN- CHIA Pectunculus glycimeris, 198 Isocardia cor, 190 Cardium aculeatum, 187; C. edule, 189 Tapes aurea, 194 ; T. decussata, 193 ; T. pullastra, 194 ; T. virginea, 194 Cytherea chione, 191 Venus fasciata, 190; V. verrucosa, 190 Psammobia sp, 201 Tellina crassa, 201 ; T. tenuis, 201 Donax anatinus, 201 ; D. politus, 201 Mactra elliptica, 200 ; M. stultorum, 199 ; M. truncata, 200 Lutraria sp, 200 Saxicava rugosa, 202 Solen ensis, 202 ; S. siliqua, 202 Pholas dactylus, 205 Mytilus edulis, 197 Modiola modiolus, 198 Anomia ephippium, 197 Pecten opercularis, 194 ; P. tigrinus, 195 ; P. varius, 196 Sub-kingdom Gephypsea. Class SIPUNCULOIDEA Sipunculus punctatissima 1 06 Class POL YZOA Crisea eburnea, 47 Scrupocellaria reptans,47 Bugula avicularia, 47 Flustra foliacea, 47 Membranipora pilosa, 47 Sub-kingdom Veptebpata. Class TUNIC ATA Clavelina lepadiformis, 241 Ascidia mentula, 236 ; A. virginea, 237 Cynthia aggregata, 239 ; C. quadrangularis, 241 Styela grossularia, 240 JBotryllus violaceus, 244 Leptoclinum gelatinosum 218, 243; L. macu- latum, 217 Polyclinum, 243 Aplidium, 243 Amaroecium, 243 Salpa maxima, 242 Class PISCES Syngnathus acus, 254 ; S. lumbriciformis, 254 Conger vulgaris, 263 Liparis montagui, 273 Lepadogaster bimacula- tus.27O;L gouani 273 Ammodytes tobianus,276 Motella cimbria, 266 ; M. mustela, 266 ; M. vulgaris, 266 Rhombus punctatus, 275 Pleuronectes flesus, 275 Labrus maculatus, 261 ; L. mixtus, 262 Crenilabrus melops, 258 Centronotus gunnellus, 264. Gasterosteus spinachia, 269. CLASSIFIED INDEX. Cottus scorpio, 250 Trachinus draco, 269 ; T. vipera, 26,9 Gobius minutus, 258 ; G. niger, 257 Blennius galerita, 256 ; B. gattorngine, 270 ; B. ocellaris, 256 ; B. pholis, 247 Class A VES Alca torda 285 Uria grylle, 285 ; U. troile, 285 Colymbus glacialis, 286 Phalacrocorax c a r b o , 2 79 ; P- graculus, 279 Sula bassana, 280 Sterna cantiaca, 283 ; S. fluviatilis, 283 ; S. minutus, 283 Larus sp. 283 Procellaria pelagica, 286 Fulmarus glacialis, 286 Puffinus anglorum. 287 Tringa canutus, 282 ; T. striata, 282 Calidris arenaria, 282 Hsematopus ostralegus, 281 Ardea cinerea, 281 Corvus corax, 279 ; C. monedula, 279 Pyrrhocorax graculus 278 Anthus obscurus, 277 VEGETABLE KINGDOM. Sub-kingdom Cryptogamia Thallophyta. Class FLORIDE& Callithamnion, 297 Griffithsia corallina, 298 PJlota, 298 Ceraminm, 298 Corallina officinalis, 298 Melobesia, 298 Halymenia ligulata, 298 Chondrus crispus, 299 Gigartina mamillosa, 299 Rhodymenia jubata, 299 ; R. palmata., 298 Chylocladia parvula, 300 Plocamium coccineum 298 Delesseria alata, 300 Laurencia pinnatifida, 299 Ulva latissima, 295 Enteromorpha com- pressa, 301 Class FUCACE^E- Himanthalia lorea, 292 Halidrys siliquosa, 292 Fucuscanaliculatus.289 ; F. nodosus, 290 ; F. serratus, 291 ; F. vesi- culosus, 291 Cystoseira ericoides, 293 Class PH/EOSPORE^ Alaria esculenta, 294 Laminaria bulbosa, 294 ; L. digitata, 293 ; L. saccharina, 294 Chorda filum, 295 Dictyosiphon fsenicula- ceus, 295 Asperococcus turneri,296 Padina pavonia, 296 Class MUL TINUCLEA T^. Bryopsis plumosa, 301 Vasculares. Class FILICI- Asplenium marinum, 308 CLASSIFIED INDEX. Sub-kingdom PhanerOg- amia. Class DICOTYLEDONES Glaucium luteum, 305 Cakile maritima, 307 Silene maritima, 306 Spergularia rubra, 303 Cotyledon umbilicus, 307 Sedum acre, 308 ; S. anglicum, 308 Eryngium maritimum, 34 Fceniculum officinale 304 Crithmum maritimum, 301. Armeria vulgaris (mari- tima) 305 ; A. planta- ginea, 305 Statice limonium, 305 Glaux maritima, 303 Convolvulus soldanella, 307 Salsola kali, 306 Class MONOCOTYLE- DONES Carex arenaria, 308 Ammophila arenaria, 308 INDEX. (The popular names are printed in italics^ PAGE PAGE Acmsea alvea - 211 Artemis exoleta 192 ,, testudinalis - 211 Ascidia mentula - 2 3 6 Acorn- she i Is - 179 A. virginea - 237 Actinia equina 64, 65* Ash-leaf Seaweed - - 300 Adamsia palliata 80, 147 Asperococcus turneri - 296 ^Egirus punctilucens - 227 Asplenium marinum - 308 yEquorea forbesiana 59 Astemma ruhfrons - - 123 slLsop t rawn - 1 66 Asterina gibbosa - 92 Aglaophenia tubulifera - 40 Aurelia aurita 54 Alaria esculenta - 294 Alca torda 285 Badderlocks - 294 Amoeba 21 Balanus balanoides - - 183 Amaroecium 243 ,, porcatus ' - - 184 Ammodytes tobianus - 2 7 6 Bandfd Flat-worm - - 123 Ammophila arenaria . - 308 Banded Venus 190 Amphipoda - 172 Barnacle - 177 Anemones, Sea - 6 4 Necked - - 183 Anemonia sulcata - 64, 74 Beadlet - 64 Angular Crab - 156 Beautifiil Queen Shrimp - 170 Anomia ephippium - 197 Bennet Dr., on Physalia - 57 Antennularia antennina - 44 Berb'e - 60 Anthus obscurus - 277 Bipinnaria asterigera - 90 Aphrodita aculeata - - 121 Bird*s-ht ad Coralline - 47 Aplidium - 243 Birds of the Shore - - 277 Aporrhais pes-pelicani - 219 Black Goby - - 257 Aplysia depilans - 229 Black Planarian - 123 Aquarium hints - 8 4 Black Tang - 291 Ardea cinerea - 28l Bladderwrack - 291 Arenicola piscatorum - 114 Blennies 247, 256 Aristotle's Lantern - - 101 Blennius galerita - 256 Armeria maritima - ' 305 ,, gattorugine - 270 A. plantaginta ' 305 ,, ocellaris - . 256 3*5 INDEX. Blennius pholis Boring Sponge Botrylius violaceus Bristly Mail Shell - Brittle Star Broad Claw Bryopsis plumosa - Buccinum undatum Bunodes ballii , , verrucosa Butterfly Blenny - Cakile maritima Caliclris arenaria Callianassa subterranea Callithamnion Calycella fastigiata ,, syringa Calycles - Campanularia Campecopea hirsuta Cancer pagurus Caprella linearis Carcinus msenas Cardium aculeatum ,, edule Carex arenaria Carpet Shells Carrageen - Cave-dweller Centronotus gunnellus Cephalopoda Ceramium - Cereus pedunculatus Cerithium reticulatum Chameleon Shrimp - Channelled Wrack - Chemnitzia rufescens Chiton cinereus ,, fascicularis - ,, kevis ,, marmoreus - Chondrus crispus - Chorda filum Chough Chylocladia parvula PAGE - 247 - 35 - 244 - 225 - 92 - 147 - 301 So, 213 - 77 64, 76 - 256 - 307 - 282 - 170 - 297 - 40 - 44 - 39 - 4i - 174 174 139 187 189 308 194 299 - 70 - 264 - 231 - 298 64, 71 - 219 - 169 - 289 193 219 225 225 225 225 299 295 278 PAGfi Cirrhatulus borealis- - 116 Cirripedes - - 176 Clava multicornis - - 42 Clavelina lepadiformis - 241 Cliona celata - 35 Cloaklet Anemone - 147, 1 80 Cockles - 1 86, 187 Colymbus glacialis - - 286 Comatula rosacea - - 98 Comb-shell - - 198 Commensalism - - 80 Conelet - - 215 Conger Eel - - - 263 Conger vulgaris - - 263 Convolvulus soldanella - 307 Cook 262 Corallina officinalis - 298 'Coralline - - 298 Corkwing Wrasse - - 258 Cormorants - 279 Corophium longicorne - 175 Corvus corax - 279 C. monedula - 279 Corynactis viridis - 65, 79, 175 Coryne pusilla - - 42 Corystes cassivelaunus - 155 Cottus scorpio - 250 Cotyledon umbilicus - 307 Cowry 215 Crabs - 130 Crangon vulgaris - - 167 Creeping Coralline - - 47 Crenilabrus melops - - 258 Cribella oculata - - 90 Cribrina effoeta - 80 Crisea eburnea - - 47 Cristellaria - - 22 Crithmum maritimum - 304 Cross-cut Carpet-shtll - 193 Cross -fish - - - 86 Crumb-of-bread Sponge - 34 Cuckoo Wrasse - - 262 Cucumaria pentactes - 105 Cup Shrimp - 166 Curlew - - - 280 Currant Squirter - - 241 INDEX. 317 PAGE Ctttlles - - 231 Cut Trough-shell - - 200 Cyanea arctica - - 62 capillata - 50, 55 ,, chrysaora - - 55 Cylista undata - - 70 ,, viduata - 65, 72 Cynthia aggregata - - 239 ,, quadrangularis 237, 241 Cyprsea europea - - 215 Cystoseira ericoides - 293 Cytherea chione - - 191 Dihlia Wartlet - 78 Daisy Anemone - 71 Darwin C., on Barnacles - 180 Delesseria alata - - 300 Dentalina - - 23 Dentalinum entails - - 224 ,, tarentinum - 224 Devil-crabs - 136 Dictyosiphon fseniculaceus - 295 Difflugia - - 22 Diphasia alata 40 ,, pinnata 40 Donax anatinus - - 201 ,, politus - - 20 1 Doris johnstoni - - 227 ,, tuberculata - - 227 Dotted Siphon-worm 106 Echinus esculentus -102 ,, miliaris - - 102 Elliptic Trough- shell - 200 Emarginula reticulata - 223 ,, rosea - - 223 Enteromorpha compressa - 301 Entomostraca - 172 Entosolenia - 23 Eolis coronata - - 227 ,, papillosa - - 228 Equipment for Shore-hunting 1 5 Erato loevis - -216 Eryngium maritimum - 304 Eunice sanguinea - - 118 Eupagurus bernhardus 80, 144 Eupagurus prideaux Eurylepta vittata Eyed Cribella PAGE 80, 144 - 123 - 90 Fath'r Lasher - - 250 Feather Star - - 98 Fennel ... 304 Fennel- leaved Netweed - 295 Fifteen-spined Stickleback - 269 Finger Pholas - - 202 Fissurella graeca - - 223 Five-beardtd Rockling - 266 Five-fingers - 86 Flounder - - -275 Flowers of the Shore - 303 Flustra foliacea - - 46 Fceniculum officinale - 304 Foliaceous Coralline - 47 Food for Anemones - 83 Foraminifera - 21, 22 Forbes E. t on the Hairy Stinger - - - 50 on Brittle Star- 96 Four-bearded Rockling - 266 Fragile Tellen - - 201 Fratercula arctica - - 285 Fucus canaliculatus - 289 ,, nodosus - - 290 ,, serratus - - 291 ,, vesiculosus - -291 Fulmar - 286 Fulmarus glacialis - 286 Fusus antiquus - 80,214 ,, contrarius - 214 Gabrick - - - 152 Galathea dispersa - - I5 2 ,, nexa - 152 ,, squamifera - 150 ,, strigosa - - I5 1 Gannet - - - 280 Gasterosteus spinachia - 269 Gattorugme - - 270 Gem Pimplet 64, 76 Gibbous Starlet - - 92 Gigartina mamillosa 299 I7LDEX. PAGE PAGE Glaucium luteum 305 lanthina - 222 Glaux maritima - - 303 Idotea marina 173 Globe Beroe - - 59 Iridea edulis 299 Globehorn - - 65> 79 Irish Moss - ' 299 Globigerina - 23 Isocardia cor - 190 Gobies - 257, 258 Isopoda - - % 172 Gobius minutus - - 258 niger - 257 Jania - 298 Golden Carpet-shell - 194 Jelly-fishes - 49 Gonoplax rhomboides - 156 Gosse on Starfish larvcz - 97 Keyhole Limpet 223 Grantia ciliata - "35 Knot - 282 ,, compressa - - 35 Knotted Wrack - 290 Granulate Brittle-star - 95 .Grass Wrack - 288 Labrus maculatus - - 261 Great Crab - - 132 ,, mixtus - 262 Great Northern Diver - 286 Lamellaria perspicua - 217 Green Crab - - 139 Laminar ia bulbosa - - 294 Grey Heron - - 281 ,, digitata - I4 ? 293 .Griffithsia - - - 298 saccharina - 294 Guillemots . - 285 Laminarian Zone - H Gulls - <, 283, 284 Lantern of Aristotle - 101 Gunnel ... 264 Larus 283 Laurencia pinnatifida 299 Ilaematopus ostralegus - 281 Leaf -worms - 116 Hairy Porcelain Crab - 147 Leander fabricii . 165 Hairy Stinger 50, 55 ,, serratus 160 Halichondria incrustans - 34 ,, squilla - 165 panicea - 31 Lepadoguster bimaculatus - 270 ,, sanguinea - 34 , , gouani 273 Haliclystus octoradiatus - 44 Lepas anatifera - 177 Halidrys siliquosa - - 292 Leptoclinum gelatinosum 218,243 Halymenia ligulata- - 298 ,, maculatum - 217 Heart Lockle - 190 Lesser Lannce - 276 Herdman Prof, on Lamel- Lichina pygmsea 173. 3^3 laria - - 217 Ligia oceanica - 172 Hermit-crabs - 142 Limpets - 207, 211, 223 Heron - -.281 Linens marinus - 124 Himanthalia lorea - - 292 Liparis montagui 273 Hippolyte varians - - 166 Littoral Zone 14 Horn she 1 - - - 219 Littorina litto'ralis - - 220 Horny Cobbl'r - - 250 ,, littorea - 22O Horse-mussel - 198 ,, rudi's - 220 Hungarian Cap - 223 Loligo vulgaris - 235 Hydra tuba - 52 Long armed Brittle-star 97 Hydroid zoophytes - 38 Long-worm - - 124 319 PAGE PAGE Lug-worm - 114 Northern Divtr 286 Lutraria - - 200 Numenius arquata - 282 ,, phseopus 282 Mactra elliptica 200 ,, stultorum - 199 Octopus vulgaris 232 ,, truncata 20O Ofielet 74 Maia squinado 152 Ophiocoma brachiata 97 Mail-shells 225 ,, granulata 96 Mangelia septangularis 215 ,, neglecta 92 Many-eyed Red-worm I2 4 Ophiothrix rosula - 96 Manx Shearwater - 287 Opossum- Shrimp 169 Margin-shell 216 Orange-disk Anemone 70 Marigold ... 54 Orchestia littorea - 173 Marine polyzoa 45 Otter- shells - 2CO Marram-grass 308 Ovula patula 216 Masked crab 155 Owen Sir Rick., on Medusa 62 Megalopa - 133 Oyster-catcher 281 Melobesia - 298 Membranipora pilosa 47 Padina pavonia 296 Metridium senilis - 6 5> 79 Pallid Anemone 69 Microciona carnosa 34 Pandalus montagui - 1 66 Modiola modiolus - 198 Parasite Anemone - 80 Mollusca 185 Patella Isevis 211 Montagues Blmny 256 ,, pellucida 211 Motella cimbria 266 vulgata 207 ,, mustela 266 Peacock" s-tail 296 ,, vulgaris 266 Pearly Nereis 117 Mother Carey's Chicken 286 Pecten opercularis - 194- Murex erinaceus 214 ,, tigrinus 195 Murlms 294 ,, varius I 9 6 Mussel - 197 Pectunculus glycimeris 198 Mysis flexuosa 169 Pelican' s-f cot 219 Mytilus edulis 197 Pentacrinus europseus 99 Pepper Dulse 219 Nacella (Patella) pellucida - 211 Perforated Limpet - 223 Naesa bidentata 174 Periwinkles 220 Nassa incrassata 213 Petrel 286 Natica monilifera - 217 Phalacrocorax carbo 279 Necked Barnacle 183 ,, graculus 279 Necklace Natica 216 Phasianella pullus - 221 Nemertes borlasii - 124 Pholas dactylus 205 Nephthys margaritacea 117 Pheasant-shell 221 Nereis pelagica - 114 , 117 Phyllodoce lamelligera 117 Netted Dog-whelk - 213 ,, viridis - 118 Noctiluca miliaris - 25 Physalia pelagica 56 Nonionina - 23 Piddock 205 320 INDEX. PAGE PAGE Pileopsis hungaricus 22^ Rainbow Bladder-weed 293 Pilumnus hirtellus - 138 Rainbow Leaf -worm - H7 Pipe-fishes - 254 Rastegna - 75 Planarians - 122 Rayed Artemis - 192 Planaria nigra - 123 Rayed Trough-shell - 199 Planula - 55 Razorbill - 285 Pleurobrachia pileus - 59 Razor-shells 1 86, 202 Pleuronectds flesus - - 275 Red-faced Blind- wo 1 ~nt 123 Plocamium coccineum - 298 Red- nosed Borer - 202 Plumelet 64, 79 Redshank - - 282 Plumularia cornucopia - 43 Red-shrimp - 1 66 Plumularise - Red-specked Pimplet - 77 Poached Egg-shell - - 216 Red Whelk - - 214 Podweed - 292 Rhodymenia jubata - - 299 Polycistina - - 23 ,, palmata - 298 Polyclinum - 243 Rhombus punctatus - - 275 Polymorphina 22 Rissoa ulvae - 219 Polynoe cirrata - 121 Rock Goby - , - 258 ,, squamata - - 121 Rock Pipit - - 277 Polypite 53 Rosy Anemone 65, 6S Polystemma roseum - 124 Rotalina - 23 Polystomella - 23 Ruddy Pyramid-shell 219 Polyzoa - 45 Porcellana longicornis - H9 Sabella alveolaria - - ic8 ,, platycheles 147 ,, bombyx - in Portuguese Afan-'o war . 56 ,, tubularia - 112 Portunus puber 140 Saddle-oyster 197 Prawn - 160 Sagartia miniata 72 ,, J&SOp - 166 ,, nivea .. 69 Varying - 1 66 ,, pallida - 69 Procellaria pelagica - - 286 ,, rosea 65, 68 Psammobia - - 20 1 , , venusta - 70 Ptilota - 298 Salacia abietina - 40 Puffin - 285 Sallee-man - 59 Puffinus anglorum - - 287 Salpa maxima - 242 'Pullet Carpet-shell - - 194 Saltwort 306 Puncturella noachina - 223 Samphire - - 304 Purple - 212 Sandtrling - 282 Purple-lipped Urchin - 100 Sandpiper - - 282 Purple Urchin - 102 Sand Mason - 115 Purpura lapillus - 212 Sand-worm - - I F4 Pyrgoma anglicum - - 183 Sandwich Tern - 283 Pyrrhocorax graculus - 2 7 8 Sandwort Spurrcy - 303 Sanguine Eunice - nrf Quatrefages M., on Eunice 218 Sarsia tubulosa 57 Quin 194 Saw-edged Wrack - - - 291 1JN1J E,A. 321 PAGE PAGE Saxicava rugosa 2O2 Serpula triquetra IJ 3 >calaria 219 ,, vermicularis 113 scallops - 194 Sertularia pumila - 39 )calp=llum vulgare - l8j , , fusca 40 tear let-fringed Anemone 72 Shag 279 >carlet Serpula 112 Shanny 247 Jcrupocellaria reptans 47 Shell- binder )da : extent and importance ii Ship-barnacle 177 Adder - 254 Shore-crab - 139 Anemones 64 Shore Fishes 246 Campion 306 Shore-hunting 16 Convolvulus 307 Shore-zones - 14 Cue-umber 102 Silene maritima 306 Furbelows 294 Silkworm Sabella - 112 Goostberry 59 Sipunculus punctatissima - 106 Hare - 230 Skeleton- shrimp 174 Holly - 304 Slit-limpet - 223 Jellies - 49 Smooth Artemis 192 Lace 295 Smooth Limpet 211 Lavender 305 Smooth Venus 191 Lemon - 227 Snake-locked Anemone 65 Lettuce - 295 Snowy Anemone 6 9 Mat - 46 Solan Goose 280 Milkwort 303 Solaster papposa 91 Mouse - 121 Solen ensis - 202 Nettles - 50 ,, siliqua 202 Night-light 25 Spergularia rubra - 303 Oak Coralline - 39 Spiny Cockle I8 7 Pink - 305 Spire-shells - 219 Rocket - 307 Spirorbis communis 113 Sedge - 308 Sponges 28 Slater - 172 Squat-lobsters 150 Slugs - 226 Sqtiid 235 Spleen wort 308 Star-fish 86 Squirts - 236 Starlet 92 Stars - 86 Statice limonium 305 Swallows 283 Stebbing T. A\, on Limbs Thongs - 292 flf Crabs 132 Urchins 86 , 100 Sterna cantiaca 283 Weeds - 288 , , fluviatilis 283 Worms - 107 ,, minuta 283 >edum acre- 308 Stickleback, Fifteen-spined - 269 ,, anglicum 308 Sting fish - 250 >epia officinalis 233 Sting-winkle 214 >epiola rondeletii - 235 Strongylocentrus lividus 102 Serpula contortuplicata 112 Styela grossularia - 240 322 INDEX. PAGE PAGE Su%ar Tangle 294 Turritella communis 219 Sula bassana 280 Turrit-shells 219 Sunset-shells 201 Tusk-shells 224 Sun Star - 91 Syngnathus acus 254 Ulva latissima 295 ,, lumbriciformis - 254 Upogebia stellata - 171 Uraster glacialis 86 Talitrus locusta 173 ,, rubens 86 Tangle ... 293 Uria grylle - 285 Tapes aurea 194 . , troile - 28s ,, decussata 193 Urticina felina 7^ ,, pullastra 194 ,, virginea 194 Varying Prawn 1 66 Tellen-shells 201 Velella scaphoidea - 5-9 Tellina crassa 201 Velvet Fiddler-crab - 140 ,, tenuis 201 Venus fasciata 190 Terebella figulus H5 ,, verrucosa 191 ,, littoralis - "5 Violet-shell - 222 Terns 283 Virgin's Carpet-shell 193 Tetrastemma quadrioculatum Textularia variabilis 124 22 Wall Penny-wort - 307 Thaumantias 55 Wall Pepper 308 Thomson, Sir Wyville, on Warted Venus 190 Comatula 99 Wedge-shells 201 Thrift 305 Weevers 269 Thuiaria thuja 4i Wentletrap - 219 Tides 14 Whelks 214 Tompot 270 Whimbrel - 282 Tooth-shells- 224 White Stomcrop 3 08 Topknot 275 Wilfry 114 Top-shells - 221 Winged Delesseria - 300 Torbay Bonnet 223 Wood J. 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A Series of Novels, carefully selected, the work in each case of an Author hitherto unknown to the public. 1. The Burning Mist. By GARRETT LEIGH. 2nd Edition. The Morning Leader says : " 'The Burning Mist' throbs and flames like its title, and must be set down as a powerful sketch of a stricken woman's life story." The Christian Age says : " Let us say at once that Garrett Leigh has produced a psychological novel of striking power and merit, full of just and sagacious observations on society, morals, and religion, and written in a literary style that is at the same time forceful, beau- tiful, and limpid. ' The Burning Mist ' is a severe and pitiless laying bare of the inner self of a clergyman, to outward semblance a man of truth and honour, but tormented by the bitter consciousness that his life is a sham and a lie." 2. On the Cards. By MARY ALLEN. 3. Brenda's Experiment: An Indian Marriage Story. By MAJOR GREENHOW. The Athena>ujn says: "This novel may do good as illustrating the evils that too often attend mixed marriages, and the plot is suffici- ently interesting and well worked out. The scene is chiefly in India, and of course adventures during the Mutiny are introduced. The fighting scenes are \*ell described." 4. Against the Odds : A Story of Some Who Went Wrong. By FRANCES HOME. 5. Family Ties. By AGNES MARCHBANK. 6. Was he a Gentleman? By FRANCIS GELBART. 7. Qeraldine's Husband. By MARY MACLEOD. JARROLD & SONS, 10 & n, WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.G. T HE DICTIONARY OF BRITISH MUSICIANS. From the Earliest Times to the Present. By FREDERICK J. CROWEST, Author of "The Great Tone Poets," "A Book of Musical Anecdote," "Phases of Musical England," "Advice to Singers," "Musical Groundwork," " Cherubini," &c. Price One Shilling. " It is the most complete list of British musicians yet published. So far as we have been able to test the volume, it is accuracy itself." Musical Standard. "A handy little book of reference, giving in a concise form a list and particulars of those musicians who have clone service in aiding the cause of our national music from the earliest times to the present." Westminster Gazette. " * The Dictionary of British Musicians ' gives in a concise form a list of native musicians, composers, organists, instrumentalists, and singers. If not a musical nation, we can, however, claim some 3.500 names, all entitled to be recorded in such a work." Star. "Mr. F. J. Crowest has managed to pack a good deal of information into a very- small space.'' Giobe. " It is a valuable addition to musical biography dictionaries, and will no doubt supply a want." St. Paul's. "A capital reference book, and no one interested in music should be without it." Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. "An admirable little compilation it is, clearly arranged and accurate, bringing the result of vast research and encyclopaedic special knowledge to the hand of all." Bakers Record. " The author deserves the thanks of all who compose or find pleasure in music.'' Western Morning News. "This dictionary will be found of much value for the purposes of reference, while the K ng list of names will astonish many who think lightly of native talent.' 1 -- Eastern Daily Press. " This little volume cannot fail to be of service." Birmingham Daily Gazette. "Mr. Frederick J. Crowest (author of the ' Great Tone Poets') has rendered a distinct service by the publication of his very cheap and useful 'Dictionary of British Musicians,' in which not only dead, but living celebrities are succinctly dealt with." Western Mail. " A handy little volume, which meets a long-felt want." Belfast Evening Tele- graph. " It contains the names of authors and writers upon music, which, so far as we are aware, have not hitherto been found in any dictionary, It claims to be a dictionary from the earliest times to the present, and is quite up-to-date." Sheffield and Kotherham Independent. JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.G. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED BIOLOGY LIBRARY TEL. NO. 642-2532 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. r iiSiTTS ,o JUN 1 3 75 BIOLOGY LIBRARY LD21A-6m-l,'75 (S3364slO)476-A-32 General Library University of California Berkeley m