298 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



from each other. They are about a third of an 

 inch in length, and are of a most singular form, 

 being small urn-shaped bodies, supported by a 

 foot, and bearing a striking resemblance to the 

 wooden egg-cups sold in turners' shops. We 

 remember with much interest our first discovery 

 of these remarkable eggs, which for some time we 

 looked upon as an unknown species of seaweed. 



Unlike the buccinum, which preys on other 

 animals of its own kind, many of the gastero- 

 podous molluscs are herbivorous, feeding exclu- 

 sively on marine vegetables. Such is the case as 

 regards the periwinckle and its varieties, which 

 pasture upon the bladder fucus and other algae. 

 The shells of those which thus feed on plants differ 

 from those of the carnivorous species ; they seem 

 only to have circular orifices destitute of the 

 sulcus or furrow seen in those of the whelk tribe ; 

 their mouths too differ, as may be supposed, from 

 those of the predaceous kinds, as an examination 

 with a lens will at once indicate. As they have 

 to browse on plants, they do not require a for- 

 midable apparatus for cutting into the hard 

 materials of shells ; their mouths therefore are 

 furnished with such cutting instruments only as 

 the nature of their food renders necessary. 



The limpet (Patella vulgata\ of which every 

 rocky shore furnishes several kinds, exhibits much 

 that is remarkable in its structure. The circular 

 disk by which it adheres to the rock is its organ 

 of locomotion ; for although it has been supposed 

 to be permanently fixed to one spot, such is by no 



