of South Devon and South Cornwall. 153 



but to embody the miscellaneous observations which have accu- 

 mulated during many years of study, and so to illustrate to 

 some extent the general history as well as the geographical dis- 

 tribution of these interesting tribes. 



The district embraced by the catalogue comprehends the whole 

 of the South Devon coast, and that portion of the Cornish which 

 extends from Plymouth to the Deadman Point, situated about 

 twenty- four miles to the west of the Eddystone Lighthouse. It 

 presents almost all the conditions favourable to the development 

 of marine life, and accordingly there are few portions of the 

 English coast which equal it in fertility and in the beauty of its 

 productions. The climate is genial, and the waters are remark- 

 able for their translucency and purity. The marine vegetation 

 is of the richest character. There is considerable variety in the 

 geological features, accompanied by a corresponding diversity of 

 habitat, which allows of a more varied population. A series of 

 fine bays and estuaries afford the most favourable localities for 

 the littoral and Laminarian species; and in these warm and 

 comparatively sheltered waters many of the most lovely kinds 

 attain a wonderful luxuriance. Torbay itself is a marvellous 

 treasury of marine life. Its ample shores are clothed with a 

 submarine vegetation as rich and beautiful, in its way, as the 

 verdure which here seems almost to mingle with the sand, and 

 affording a home or shelter to innumerable tribes. 



The limestone, which borders a considerable portion of the 

 Bay has been hollowed by the action of the water into caves 

 and pools and fissures, which are the chosen retreats of the Ac- 

 tiniae, and yield a large proportion of the rarer and more beautiful 

 kinds to the careful investigator. Here and there the beach is 

 strewn with large blocks of rock, the surface of which is worn 

 into a multitude of little basins, in which the smaller and more 

 delicate zoophytes find a congenial habitat. Elsewhere the lime- 

 stone forms a kind of flooring, comparatively level, and inter- 

 sected by deep and narrow clefts, draperied by the various kinds 

 of weed, whose dark recesses are rich in interesting forms. But 

 nowhere, perhaps, is the profusion of life so remarkable as in 

 the little coves, which are overspread between tide-marks with 

 stones of moderate size, which can be turned over with ease and 

 examined at leisure. The most striking features in such situ- 

 ations are the luxuriant growth of certain Campanulariadae 

 (Laumedea flexuosa chiefly), and the wonderful size and beauty 

 of the littoral kinds of Lepralia and Membranipora. Of the 

 former genus [Lepralia) the most characteristic shore species are 

 the L. unicornis, Pallasiana, granifera, and nitida. Forests of the 

 Laomedea 'flexuosa invest almost every stone. 



In other parts of the Bay, sand is not wanting for the burrow- 



