288 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



TEREBELLA LITTORALIS, S6U ARENARIA THE SAND 



MASON. 



" Ruder heads stand amazed at those prodigious pieces of 

 Nature, whales, elephants, dromedaries and camels ; those, I 

 confess, are the colossus and majestick pieces of her hand; but 

 in these narrow engines there is more curious mathematicks, and 

 the civility of these little citizens more neatly sets forth the 

 wisdom of their Maker ! " 



BETWEEN half-tide and low-water mark, numerous 

 cylindrical tubes may be observed projecting from 

 among the rocks and stones of the shore, especially 

 amidst sandy patches of ground. Some of these ter- 

 minate in a tuft, like the ragged end of a hempen 

 cord ; and on a search being made in the neighbour- 

 hood, another opening of corresponding appearance, 

 or the plane orifice of a sandy cylinder, will frequently 

 be found within a short distance. Here is the dwell- 

 ing of the Terebella, an edifice constructed by itself. 

 If the finder endeavours to pull forth the tube with 

 its tenant, the fragile structure ruptures in his hand, 

 and the animal retreats below; but on tracing its 

 direction as it winds a foot or more among the sand, 

 or descends under one of the firmest stones in the 

 vicinity, he may discover the orifice on the opposite 



