150 A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVER. 



broken shells of P. dactylus occurred as well as those of Sohn 

 fnarginatus. Thracia papyracea was noticed, but the specimen is 

 now lost. Many living specimens of the pretty little Nticula nucleus 

 were found amongst the "stuff" dredged up. Fhiline aperta occurr&d 

 rather commonly, but was unrecognised at first ; it greatly resembled 

 a small piece of cooked fat, or was like the figure of Lccmargus 

 muricatus in Gosse's " Manual of Marine Zoology " (vol. i., fig. 203). 

 About half a dozen Dentalium etitalis were brought up in two hauls 

 of the trawl towards the mouth of the river, off the sand. Chito7is 

 were numerous and Mr. Crouch took many specimens to examine at 

 leisure. 



Several living Trochus cinerarius were brought up, but only one 

 Nassa reticulata ; and the small Pleurotoma rufa occurred sparingly. 

 A few good specimens of Natica monilifera were also collected. A\' e 

 had one haul at the dredge over the " trail " and got as many 

 mussels [Mytilus edulis), mostly small, as could be hauled aboard, 

 but nothing else. All day we did not get enough whelks {Buccinum) 

 for a " cook," nor did we see a single " Winkle " {Littorind). The 

 Whelk-tingles {Purpura lapillus) or Dog-whelks were in evidence, 

 but not in the same pretty variety as is the case on a rocky coast, 

 such as at Hastings, Deal, or Devonshire. These carnivorous molluscs, 

 being a great and deadly enemy of the oyster, by boring through 

 the shell into the oyster's heart, were soon crushed by the 

 practical men, as were one or two nests of their yellow horn or urn- 

 like eggs attached to stones. Several sponge-like masses of the 

 egg-capsules of Buccinum were brought up. For an interesting paper 

 on these curious objects, see Dr. J. E. Gray. " Mag. Nat. Hist. " (2), 

 i., 247. Ostrea edulis of course occurred, also two specimens of 

 Tapes pu lias tra, and one dead shell of Tellina balthica. 



Of the interesting Nudibranchs or " Sea-slugs," four species were 

 recognised. Doris pilosa was common, often as niany as half-a- 

 dozen were brought up at one haul of the dredge, with two or three 

 pieces of gelatinous spawn resembling a loosely-rolled frill of sandy 

 ribbon. We found three specimens of the curious Doto coronaia, 

 which we at once christened the "prickly-pear slug," as that fruit 

 was almost exactly represented in miniature by the dorsal papilla; of 

 the slug both in colour as well as form. These papillae are not only 

 branchiae or "gill-plumes " as in the fine and beautiful Dendronotus 

 and others, but in Doto they contain an important part of the 

 digestive system ; nearly the whole of the liver is carried on the 



