vi PREFACE 



his hard-earned rest to undertake anything that may seem to 

 require energy of either mind or body. 



Let both, however, cast aside any predisposition to look 

 upon the naturalist's employment as arduous and toilsome, 

 and make up their minds to look enquiringly into the living 

 world around them, and they will soon find that they are led 

 onward from the study of one object to another, the employ- 

 ment becoming more and more fascinating as they proceed. 



Our aim in writing the following pages is to encourage the 

 observation of the nature and life of the sea shore ; to give 

 such assistance to the beginner as will show him where the 

 most interesting objects are to be found, and how he should 

 set to work to obtain them. Practical hints are also furnished 

 to enable the reader to successfully establish and maintain a 

 salt-water aquarium for the observation of marine life at home, 

 and to preserve various marine objects for the purpose of 

 forming a study-collection of the common objects of the 

 shore. 



To have given a detailed description of all such objects 

 would have been impossible in a work of this size, but a large 

 number have been described and figured, and the broad 

 principles of the classification of marine animals and plants 

 have been given such prominence that, it is hoped, even the 

 younger readers will find but little difficulty in determining the 

 approximate positions, in the scale of life, of the various 

 living things that come within their reach. 



Of the many illustrations, which must necessarily greatly 

 assist the reader in understanding the structure of the selected 

 types and in the identification of the different species, a large 

 number have been prepared especially for this work. 



