PBEFACE 



To sea-side naturalists it must be a matter of great surprise 

 that of the inhabitants of our coast towns and villages, and of 

 the pleasure- seekers that swarm on various parts of the coast 

 during the holiday season, so few take a real interest in the 

 natural history of the shore. The tide flows and ebbs and the 

 restless waves incessantly roll on the beach without arousing 

 a thought as to the nature and cause of their movements. 

 The beach itself teems with peculiar forms of life that are 

 scarcely noticed except when they disturb the peace of the 

 resting visitor. The charming vegetation of the tranquil rock- 

 pool receives but a passing glance, and the little world of busy 

 creatures that people it are scarcely observed ; while the 

 wonderful forms of life that inhabit the sheltered nooks of 

 the rugged rocks between the tide-marks are almost entirely 

 unknown except to the comparatively few students of Nature. 

 So general is this apparent lack of interest in the things of the 

 shore that he who delights in the study of littoral life and 

 scenes but seldom meets with a kindred spirit while following 

 his pursuits, even though the crowded beach of a popular 

 resort be situated in the immediate neighbourhood of his 

 hunting ground. The sea-side cottager is too accustomed to 

 the shore to suppose that he has anything to learn concerning 

 it, and this familiarity leads, if not to contempt, most 

 certainly to a disinclination to observe clcsely ; and the visitor 

 from town often considers himself to be too much in need of 



