296 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



a centre-bit or auger, and a rasp and pincers. It 

 would be difficult to point out a more striking 

 instance of elaborate contrivance directed to a 

 certain definite purpose: to that purpose it is 

 adapted with unerring accuracy, and displays a 

 beautiful instance of creative foresight. 



The egg-clusters of the species of whelk 

 now referred to are very remarkable, and may 

 often be picked up on the shore after a storm, 

 mingled with the froth of the sea, and the sea- 

 weed recently torn from the rocks. These clusters 

 consist of a light sponge-like body, consisting of 

 several globular subdivisions attached together, 

 and about six or eight inches in length. They are 

 composed of numerous little semi-transparent and 

 flattish bladders united by their edges. The whole 

 substance, to those unacquainted with its nature, 

 seems to be some species of sponge. It is never- 

 theless a congeries of the eggs of the whelk, which 

 inhabits deep water, and attaches these masses to 

 the rocks, from which they are separated by the 

 force of the waves. 



Another, but a much smaller species of whelk, 

 is a well-known inhabitant of the shallow pools 

 left by the receding tide, and may be found 

 attached to the rocks beneath the seaweed. It 

 is the Purpura lapillus, or dog-whelk ; it is 

 about an inch in length ; the shell is very hard 

 and thick, and either white or ornamented with 

 bands of yellow and brown. 



This mollusc, like the murex, a species of 

 whelk, which yielded the Tyrian purple so cele- 



