126 Objects of Interest on the Sea Shore. 



5t7i February, 190U. 



Chairman — Professor Scott-Elliot, President. 



Objects of Interest on the Sea Shore. By Mr Wilson H. 

 Armistead. 



There was (said Mr Armistead) a very real fascination about 

 the sea shore which appealed strongly to an island people, and 

 in a vague and general way this was felt by thousands who 

 during a short season of the year flocked to the sea side. But 

 for the naturalist this fascination was by no means vague. For 

 him the land which lay between high and low water mark was 

 full of definite interest. There he was in touch with another 

 world — a world of which the sea grudgingly showed only a 

 narrow strip ; but that strip was so rich in wonders that the dry 

 land seemed poor in comparison. Nowhere were there so many 

 different forms of life to be met with in such a limited area as on 

 the shore. The mystery of the sea was enhanced by this peep 

 into the wonders of its treasure-house. When they had noted 

 some of the more striking creatures which lived on the foreshore, 

 they lifted their eyes and gazed at the wide expanse of heaving 

 water, and marvelled what mysteries it might contain. Many of 

 the creatures found living on the foreshore had, so far as their 

 knowledge of them was concerned, only a middle existence. 

 Their origin was a myster}', and at the appointed time they passed 

 away, and we knew them no more. Close down by low-water 

 mark, wherever the shore was rocky, the conger eel might be 

 found. This fish was very common in the Solway, and though 

 the largest specimens were not often to be seen, excepting when 

 during high spring tides the sea ebbed further than usual, the 

 smaller ones might be found any time by turning over the large 

 stones. This creature was one of those of whose existence we 

 only knew the middle part. It arrived in the shallow water when 

 very young from mysterious depths, and remained till it was well 

 grown. Then it disappeared again, and we knew no more. 

 Congers grew to a great size, and he had seen one caught in the 

 estuary of the Urr which weighed 64 lbs. The male fish never 

 grew to anything like the size of the female. In Lancashire and 

 the Midlands of England many people were extremely fond of 



