MDCCCLX.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD BROUGHAM AND VAUX,

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, ETC., ETC., ETC.,

THIS LITTLE VOLUME Is Inscribed, AS A TRIFLING TOKEN OF RESPECTFUL ADMIRATION FOR UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED GREATNESS.

CONTENTS.

## CHAPTER I.

ON THE PLEASURES DERIVED FROM THE STUDY OF MARINE ZOOLOGY. Page

Introduction--Two classes of readers--Marine zoology as an amusement--The botanist and his pleasures--Entomological pursuits--Hidden marvels of nature--The little Stickleback--Conclusion, 17

## CHAPTER II.

A GLANCE AT THE INVISIBLE WORLD.

Microscopic studies--When to use the microscope--Modern martyrs of science--Infusoria--Use of Infusoria--Distinction between plants and animals--_Vorticella_--_Rotatoria_--Wheel animalcules--Mooring Thread of Vorticellæ--A compound species of Vorticella described--_Zoothamnium spirale_ of Mr. Gosse--Nature's scavengers, 27

## CHAPTER III.

SEA ANEMONES.

Animal-flowers--_A. mesembryanthemum_--'Granny,' Sir J. Dalyell's celebrated anemone--Original anecdote--_A. troglodytes_--How to capture actiniæ--A roving 'mess.'--An intelligent anemone--Diet of the actiniæ--Voracity of these zoophytes--Defence of certain species--Actiniæ eating crabs--Their reproductive powers--Size of the 'crass.'--The Plumose anemone--Its powers of contraction, 45

## CHAPTER IV.

EDIBLE CRAB--SHORE CRAB--SPIDER CRAB, ETC.

The Partane--Its character defended--Crustaceous demons--The wolf and the lamb--Interesting anecdote--Reason and instinct--Anecdote of the Shore crab--'The creature's run awa''--A crustaceous performer--The Fiddler crab--A little prodigal--Singular conduct of the Shore crab--The minute Porcelain crab--_Maia squinado_--_Hyas araneus_--_Maia_ and _C. mænas_--Anecdote--The common Pea crab--Pinna and Pinnotheres--The Cray fish--Masticatory organs of crabs--Fishing for crabs--Crab fishers, 63

## CHAPTER V.

HERMIT CRABS.

Enthusiastic students of nature--Aristocratic Hermit crabs--Swammerdam--Hermit crab and its habits--Anecdote--The Hermit in a fright--Soldier crab and Limpet--A crustaceous Diogenes--Prometheus in the tank--The martyr Hermit crab--The author's pet Blenny--Anecdote, 89

## CHAPTER VI.

EXUVIATION OF CRUSTACEA (THE PHENOMENA OF CRABS, ETC., CASTING THEIR SHELLS).

The Tower of London--A crustaceous armory--The author's experience on the subject--Reamur and Goldsmith--Rejected shells of crabs--Anecdote--Hint to the young aquarian--Exuviation described from personal observation in several instances--Renewal of injured limbs--Frequency of exuviation--Effect of diet on crustacea--Exuviation arrested--Exuviation of the Hermit crab--How the process is effected, 109

## CHAPTER VII.

PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS.

Habits of the Prawn--The Common Shrimp--How to catch shrimps--Conclusion, 135

## CHAPTER VIII.

ACORN-BARNACLES--SHIP-BARNACLES.

The Common Barnacle described--Exuviation of the _Balani_--Anecdote--The Ship Barnacle--Barnacle Geese, 143

## CHAPTER IX.

PHYLLODOCE LAMINOSA (THE LAMINATED NEREIS).

A rainy day at the sea-shore--Laminated Nereis--Its tenacity of life--Its unsuitableness for the aquarium--How the young annelids are produced--Evidence of a French naturalist, 151

## CHAPTER X.

THE FAN-AMPHITRITE.

Its renewal of mutilated organs--How to accommodate this annelid in the tank--The 'case' of the Fan-Amphitrite, 159

## CHAPTER XI.

THE COMMON MUSSEL.

Dr. Johnson and Bozzy--Habits of the Mussel--Marine 'at homes'--The Purpura and its habits--Enemies of the Mussel--Anecdote--Construction of the beard (or Byssus)--Author's experience--Anecdote of the mussel--Muscular action of its foot--Threads of the beard--The bridge at Bideford--Anecdote--The Mussel tenacious of life--The beard not poisonous--M. Quatrefage--Mussel beds of Esnandes--Branchiæ of the Mussel--Food of this bivalve, 163

## CHAPTER XII.

TEREBELLA FIGULAS (THE POTTER).

Anecdote of the Potter--Its cephalic tentacula--Construction of its tubular dwelling--_Terebella littoralis_--Curious anecdote--Branchial organs of this annelid, 189

## CHAPTER XIII.

ACALEPHÆ (MEDUSÆ, OR JELLY-FISH).

Introduction--Jelly-fish--Whales' food--Lieutenant Maury--Appearance of the Greenland Seas--Sir Walter Scott--The girdle of Venus--The Beröe--_Pulmonigrade acalephæ_--Portuguese man-of-war--_Hydra-tuba_--Alternation of generations--Dr. Reid--_Modera-formosa_--_Cyanea capillata_--Conclusion, 201

## CHAPTER XIV.

DORIS EOLIS, ETC.

Anecdote--Young Dorides--Doris spawn--_Nudibranchiate gasteropoda_--Dr. Darwin--Mr. Gosse--A black Doris--_Bêches de mer_--A Chinese dinner--Bird's nest soup, and Sea-slug stew, 221

## CHAPTER XV.

THE CRAB AND THE DAINTY BEGGAR.

Anecdote--The Pholas and Shore-crab--The _hyaline stylet_--The dainty beggar--The gizzard of the Pholas--Of what use is the stylet? 233

## CHAPTER XVI.

THE PHOLAS, ETC. (ROCK-BORERS).

Pholades at home--Habits of the Pholas--_P. crispata_--The pedal organ--Finny gourmands--How is the boring operation performed?--Various theories on the subject--Mr Clark, Professor Owen--The Pholas at work--The boring process described from personal observation--Author's remarks on the subject--Pholas in the tank--Conclusion, 241

## CHAPTER XVII.

THE SEA-MOUSE.

The Sea-mouse--Bristles of the aphrodite--Its beautiful plumage (?)--Its weapons of defence--The spines described--Shape of the aphrodite, &c., 263

## CHAPTER XVIII.

STAR-FISHES, ETC.

The Coral polypes--The Lily-stars--St. Cuthbert's beads--_Pentacrinus europæus_--Rosy feather star _Ophiuridæ_--Brittle-stars--_Ophiocomo-rosula_--British asteridæ--_Uraster rubens_--Habits of this species--Submarine Dandos--Sir John Dalyell--Professor Jones--Star-fish feeding on the oyster--Bird's foot Sea-star--_Luidia fragillissima_--Cushion-stars--Professor Forbes, 269

## CHAPTER XIX.

SEA-URCHINS.

Sea Urchins in the tank--Growth of the Echinus--Its hedgehog-like spines--Suckers and pores--Ambulacral tubes--Professor Agassiz--Movements of the Echinus--_Pedicellariæ_--Masticatory apparatus--Common Egg Urchin--_Echinus sphæra_--How to remove the spines--'Do you boil your sea eggs?'--The Green-pea Urchin--The Silky-spined Urchin--The Rosy-heart Urchin, 287

## CHAPTER XX.

THE SEA-CUCUMBER.

Its unattractive appearance out of water--Trepang--Several varieties eaten by the Chinese--Common Sea Cucumber--Habits of the Holothuriæ--Their self-mutilation and renewal of lost parts, 301

## CHAPTER XXI.

THE APLYSIA, OR SEA-HARE.

Anecdote--The Sea Hare plentiful at North Berwick--Its powers of ejecting a purple fluid at certain times--Sea Hares abhorred by the ancients--Professor Forbes--Spawn of the Aplysia, 307

## CHAPTER XXII.

SERPULÆ AND SABELLÆ.

Tubes of the _Serpulæ_--Dr. Darwin--The harbour of Pernambuco--Its wonderful structure--Reproduction of the _Serpulæ_--_Sabellæ_--Their sandy tubes, &c., 313

## CHAPTER XXIII.

THE SOLEN, OR RAZOR FISH.

How it burrows in the sand--How specimens are caught--_Cum grano salis_--Bamboozling the Spout Fish--Amateur naturalists, and fishermen at the sea-shore, 321

## CHAPTER XXIV.

A GOSSIP ON FISHES--INCLUDING THE ROCKLING, SMOOTH BLENNY, GUNNEL FISH, GOBY, ETC.

Punch's address to the ocean--Old blue-jackets and the 'galyant' Nelson--The ocean and its inhabitants--Life beneath the wave--Fishes the happiest of created things--A fishy discourse by St. Antony of Padua--Traveller's ne'er do lie?--The veracious Abon-el-Cassim--Do fishes possess the sense of hearing--Author's experience--An intelligent Pike fish--Dr. Warwick--The Blenny in its native haunts--A 'Little Dombey' fish--Anecdote--The Viviparous Blenny--The Gunnel fish--Five-bearded Rockling--Two-spotted Goby--Diminutive Sucker-fish--Montagu's Sucker--The Stickleback--Its nest-building habits described--Conclusion, 327

## CHAPTER XXV.

ON THE FORMATION OF MARINE AQUARIÆ, ETC.

Mimic oceans--Practical hints on marine aquariæ--Various tanks described--The 'gravity bubble'--Evaporated sea-water--Aquariæ in France--Sea-water a contraband article across the Channel--An aquarium on a fine summer's day--The Lettuce Ulva--Author's tank--'Excavations on a rocky shore'--Tank 'interiors'--Various centre pieces--New siphon--Aquariæ difficult to keep in hot weather--How to remove the opacity of the tank--New scheme proposed--Conclusion, 353

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

No.

FRONTISPIECE, 1

COMPOUND VORTICELLÆ, 2

"GRANNY," Sir John Dalyell's celebrated Anemone, 3

A. TROGLODYTES, 4

A. CRASSICORNIS, 5

EDIBLE CRAB, 6

EDIBLE CRAB casting its Shell (from Nature), 7

SPIDER CRAB, 8

SHORE CRAB, 9

PORCELAIN CRAB, 10

HERMIT CRAB, 11

HERMIT CRAB in Shell of Large Whelk, 12

SHIP BARNACLES, 13

ACORN BARNACLES attached to Shell of the Limpet, 14

THE LIMPET, as seen from beneath, 15

LAMINATED NEREIS, 16

COMMON MUSSEL,--Shell open, 17

COMMON MUSSEL,--Shell closed, 18

THE BERÖE, 19

FAN AMPHITRITE, 20

TEREBELLA FIGULUS, 21

TEREBELLA LITTORALIS, 22

THE SEA-MOUSE, 23

DORIS, 24

YOUNG OF DORIS, 25

EOLIS, 26

THE PHOLAS, and Valves of its Shell, 27

THE BRITTLE STAR, 28

COMMON CROSS-FISH, 29

COMMON SUN-STAR (with 14 rays), 30

PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, 31

PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, Spine of, 32

PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, Suckers of, 33

THE APLYSIA, or SEA-HARE, 34

TEETH of the SEA-URCHIN (two views), 35

THE SEA-CUCUMBER, 36

SERPULÆ attached to piece of rock, 37

THE SOLEN, or RAZOR FISH, 38

THE BLENNY, 39

THE VIVIPAROUS BLENNY, 40

THE SPOTTED BLENNY, or GUNNEL-FISH, 41

THE MONTAGU SUCKER-FISH (three views), 42

THE MONTAGU SUCKER-FISH, Sucker of (magnified), 43

## CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

On the Pleasures derived from the Study of Marine Zoology.

'Woe to the man-- Who studies nature with a wanton eye, Admires the work, but slips the lesson by.'