242 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



wishes pointed in different directions from those of 

 Victor Cams ; for although unable to dredge, and con- 

 fined, therefore, to tide-pools, I have had an embarrass- 

 ment of riches rather than a want thereof His verdict, 

 however, is worth remembering, because, as these Isles 

 are very inaccessible, and are hyperborean in the im- 

 perfection of their commissariat, the naturalist should 

 weigh advantao;es with disadvantasies before cominpj 

 here. The attractions are manifold, as I have before 

 explained ; but the attraction of a very rich fauna 

 Scilly cannot boast, unless zoophytes be the main 

 object of search. The Anemones are various, and 23ro- 

 digally abundant. Anthea, and the noble Crassicornis, 

 are almost as frequent as the Smooth Anemone is at 

 Ilfracombe and Tenby. Gemmaceas abound ; Daisies 

 are frequent ; the Dianthus is to be had ; also the 

 Orange-dished ; and two species, probably yet unde- 

 scribed — of which more anon. 



To learn the geographical position of Scilly — above 

 all, to get a glance at the coast — you would imagine it 

 to be a wonderful place for marine zoology. The first 

 obstacle lies in the nature of the rock. Granite, indeed, 

 as mere granite, is almost as bad as chalk cliffs, which 

 let no ingenuous reader waste his holiday upon. The 

 weeds are loth to grow there ; and where no weeds 

 grow, no herbivorous animals wdll congregate for pas- 

 ture ; consequently no carnivorous animals will be 

 there to pasture on them. The large amount of silica 

 in granite resists the decomposing action of winds and 

 waves, and of course still more energetically resists the 



