138 MISS MARION I. NEWBIGIN. 
are sometimes given to lament the wastefulness of our 
modern systems of drainage, which carry off to the sea so 
much which might be used on the land, but we must not 
forget that this is not wholly loss, that it is largely on 
account of it that our shore waters teem with such dense 
life. Whether the organic substances swept down in the 
river go directly to feed sedentary forms like worms and 
bivalves, or whether they are broken down into simpler sub- 
stances and ultimately taken up by the alge, they are equally 
contributing to the increase of the larger forms of life, which 
ultimately depend upon vegetarian or sedentary shore 
animals. 
From the above it is clear that the greatest variety 
of shore animals is to be found about the weed-covered 
rocks which fringe the coast in many places. As I desire 
to speak only of such forms as may be observed in the 
living condition in their natural haunts, we may consider 
that for our purpose the ‘shore’ extends to the margin 
of the Laminarian zone. The great oar-weed or Laminaria 
is usually a very conspicuous object at the margin of 
the rocks, and consists of long stout stems fixed at the 
sea-bottom, and bearing long floating brown fronds at 
the top. At low spring tides one may see the stems 
standing out of water to a height of six inches or a foot, 
and notice how the plants grow in a great belt at the 
extremity of the rocks, the plants decreasing in size as 
one approaches the shore. It is among the oar-weed that 
the greatest treasures are to be found, and I shall count 
as ‘shore’ the area from high tide mark to the landward 
margin of the Laminarian zone. Of this area, however, 
a considerable portion is accessible only at times of spring 
tides, so that a Nautical Almanac is an important part 
of one’s equipment for shore work. I shall not attempt 
to give a list of the chief animals found in the shore area 
as thus defined, even for our own district, but one remark 
in the connection is worth making. That is, that pains- 
taking shore-hunting continued throughout the year will 
usually produce far more animals than any local list 
would lead you to expect. The reason is pretty obvious, 
for shore-hunting is hard work, often involving very 
se 
