62 TOR ABBEY SANDS. 



iug the hue to become first violet, then a pm^le more 

 and more tinged with red, till at length, after five or 

 six hours (in a room without direct sun -light) it 

 assumes its final tint, a rather dull purplish crimson, 

 or lake. The direct beams of the sun, however, 

 greatly expedite the process, and at any stage will 

 carry the remaining stages through to completion in 

 a few minutes. 



TOR ABBEY SANDS. 



OS the Tor Abbey sands and headland, the receding 

 tide leaves bare a large surface of rock, chiefly sand- 

 stone and conglomerate. Little shallow pools occur 

 abundantly, filled with Al^ce of various species, among 

 which colonies of Anthea cereus, of both the grey and 

 the green varieties, are common. The soft sandstone 

 is inhabited by Pholas dactylus, and Vli. imrva', the 

 orifices of whose burrows reveal their secret ; the first 

 stroke of the hammer on the stone causes the animal 

 to contract in alarm, and the result is an instant 

 ejection of a slender jet of clear water from the hole, 

 to the distance of several inches. 



Under loose stones I found Doris hilamellata nu- 

 merous, four, five and six under one stone, mostly 

 spawning ; one specimen of the blackish-grey variety of 

 D. pilosa occurred among them. The soft spongy 

 texture of the cloak in this species gives it a character 

 very difi'erent from that of the former. In the same 

 situations also I found several of the pretty little 

 <^^\iOVi'$> %1'^x\q\j {Asterina yihhosa ;) also the young 

 of Trochus ziziphiniis, and a lump of rock covered with 



