280 BRITISH SEA-AVEEDS. SJUiodo^pevmecG. 



great quantity of the fragments of icliite coral, which 



abounds upon the shores of the island." The colour of this 



coralline is c^enerallv white ^vhen it lies bleached on the 



shore, but when newly dredged in Lamlash Bay it is of a 



reddish purple. At first I was disappointed when the dredge 



came up full of this Millepore. I soon learned, however, 



to hail its appearance, for on examining it carefully, handfull 



by handfull, I found many precious things intermingled with 



the coral. One of these was JAma tenera, which, like those 



persons who built the cathedral of Icolmkill, employs much 



of this coral in forming its habitation.'^ 



* The most interestiug, though not the rarest thing we got was Lima 

 tenera, Tiirt. I had in my cabinet specimens of this pretty bivalve, and I 

 had admired the beauty and elegance of the shell, but hitherto I had been 

 imacquaiuted with the life and manners of its inhabitant. !Mr. and Miss 

 Alder, of Newcastle, who were of the party, had got it in the same kind of 

 coral at Rothsay; so that when Miss Alder got a cluster of this coral, 

 brought up by the dredge, cohering in a mass, she exclaimed, " Oh, here is 

 the Lima's nest ! " and, breaking it up, the Lima was found snug in the midst 

 of it. The coral nest is curiously constructed, and remarkably well fitted to 

 be a safe residence for this beautiful animal. The fragile shell does not 

 nearly cover the mollusk, — the most delicate part of it, a beautiful orange 

 fringe-work, being altogether outside of the shell. Had it no extra protection, 

 the half-exposed animal would be a tempting mouthfull, quite a bonne bouc/iey 

 to some prowling haddock or whiting ; but He wlio tempers the wind to the 

 shorn lamb, teaches this little creature, which lie has so elegantly formed, 

 curious arts of self-preservation. It is not content with hiding itself among 



