THE WONDERS OF THE SHORE. 89 
have been—final moral causes for their exist- 
ence, the only ones which we have a right to 
imagine are these—that all, down to the lowest 
Rhizopod, might delight themselves, however dimly, 
in existing; and that the Lord might delight Him- 
self in them. 
Thus, much—alas! how little—about the wonders 
of the deep. We, who are no deep-sea dredgers, 
must return humbly to the wonders of the shore. 
And first, as after descending the gap in the sea- 
wall we walk along the ribbed floor of hard yellow 
sand, let me ask you to give a sharp look-out for 
a round grey disc, about as big as a penny-piece, 
peeping out on the surface. No; that is not it, 
that little lump: open it, and you will find within 
one of the common little Venus gallina. — The 
closet collectors have given it some new name 
now, and no thanks to them: they are always 
changing the names, instead of studying the live 
animals where Nature has put them, in which case 
they would have no time for word-inventing. Nay, 
I verily suspect that the names grow, like other 
