292 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



for us ! With only half her sails the Albatross will 

 skim along like an American cutter." 



Accordingly they started. 



When Etretat had disappeared from sight, and they 

 were beginning to follow the long line of cliffs, they 

 went over the inventory of the preceding day. 



The doctor, who had only passed a few minutes on 

 the beach, opened his botanical box, and took out of 

 it a large piece of wood. 



" It is not for lighting the fire with," said he; " it 

 is simply a sample of the ravages that the ship- worms ' 

 are able to effect. Have you ever seen such a cut- 

 ting-up ? " 



And in point of fact this piece of wood, pierced by 

 holes in various directions, was reduced almost to the 

 condition of a sponge. On its sides, and on the ex- 

 posed parts, the galleries hollowed out of the wood 

 could be seen lined with a calcareous layer. 



" And here is the culprit ! " added Uncle Bob, 

 exhibiting a sort of worm, half dried up, and ter- 

 minated by a pigmy shell. "It is the Teredo navalis, 

 an implacable enemy of maritime constructions. 

 When piles are driven in sea- water to form break- 

 waters or piers, or when wooden vessels are left 

 stationary for some time in port, it comes boldly and 

 establishes itself in them, eating away atom by atom 

 of the construction by means of its shell, as if with 

 an auger. Pile work, made from the heart wood of 



