76 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



No Storm-Petrel was observed, though this bird has not 

 infrequently been found on the beach after a storm. 



The forms stranded by this storm differed considerably 

 from those found on other occasions. Thus there was an 

 almost entire absence on the west sands of masses of tangles, 

 and Fuci clothed with Obelia, which occasionally form long 

 banks on the beach, and as these were now and then 

 removed by carts at night, one of the most striking 

 features could not be seen, viz., the brilliant phosphor- 

 escent specks which gleam in the air as each fork 

 carried its load to the cart, which by and by also 

 glittered all over with the tiny points of light. The 

 absence of the seaweeds further considerably affected the 

 abundance of Hydroids, ^Eolids, and the phosphorescent 

 Syllids. Moreover the masses of HalicJwndria panicea 

 attached to the roots and stems of the tangles, or binding 

 together mussels and other shells, were absent, and with them 

 the Nudibranchs, such as Doris tuberailata, which feed on 

 them. This sponge specially abounds in the estuary of the 

 Tay, and the direction of the wind (S.E.) probably sufficed 

 to strew the specimens elsewhere. Chalina oculata and 

 other representatives of the Porifera were rare. 



The foregoing account may be compared with that of 

 an October storm on the same beach, as given in the Intro- 

 duction to the Marine Invertebrates and Fishes of St Andrews. 1 

 In this case immense banks of tangles and Fuci occurred, 

 and the abundance and variety of certain forms not entered 

 in the present note indicate the divergent features of the 

 respective storms. 



One aspect of the vast plenitude of marine animals thus 

 swept from their haunts to perish on the beach should not 

 escape the attention of the observant naturalist. It was 

 formerly stated that " the waste of marine life in such storms 

 does not attract much notice ; yet it is extraordinary and so 

 constant, that it may be regarded to some extent as a check 

 upon its uninterrupted development." It may again be 

 emphasised in connection with the oft-repeated cry of the 

 " impoverishment " of the sea by man as regards food-fishes. 



1 Pp. 2-4, 1874. 



