1. .\ll\i: NATURAL HISTORY. 



335 



> mi", in flu! plural, Hoft.'ii tho radical vowels ; OH: '.tbt, 

 alilioi ; .'In.. ',ti>f. hihlmji ; iMui. .'iKjir; lilH'r.il 



: il. liuitpittll ; .11141, Uli:il ; CJ.lpl.ltl, 



: linal; Jtlvflcr, eluUtt-r ; 'I'tarty. marsh; 



UKor.ul, . . : palace; '45 .nil, pi>" i '-Uwrt. provoat; 



jilur. '.'Ubtf, abbots; Vlltarc, altars; i<n\1;oi'(, bishopa, eto. 



S 18. FOREIGN NOUNS OP THK NKW DECLENSION. 



(1.) T<> tho Now Doolonaion belong all foreign nouns of tho 

 i ml nearly all masculines which aro tho appel- 

 lation . as: D @tutcnt, tho student; tcr 3uti|l, tho 

 :nt, the elephant; tec Xhif.it, tho d'l'.-at; tcr 

 Xi-iiii't, thu comet ; tcr 'JJl.inct. the planet ; tcr Jxow'onant, tho conso- 

 UT 'I'dnj, the prince; tcr Ipr tho tyrant, eto. 



19. FOREIGN NOUNS PARTLY OP THE OLD AND 

 1'AUTLY OF THE NEW DECLENSION. 



(1.) These oro, first, neuters ending in fit>; as: $>a !p>ifffo, 

 the passive; pen. '.JJaffbS, of tho passive; plur. $afibcn, the pas- 

 sires; secondly, titles of males in or; as: doctor, a doctor; 

 gen. 35oc tort, of a doctor; plur. Doctoren doctors; thirdly, neuters 

 in .if, it, and um, which alsc often have t before tho 

 rn of the plural; as: J7apit.it, a capital; plur. Jtapitalicn, capi- 

 tals; Soffit, a fossil; plur. Sofftlicn, fossils ; Sturium, study; plur. 

 Stutitn, studios ; fourthly, the following masculines : ij.ifan, 

 pheasant; &nxiun, capon; Jtonful, consul; iJJantoffel, slipper; $$ra 

 icft, prefect ; ^Mm, psalm ; JRubin, ruby ; 5taat, state ; Sraft.it, 

 treatise ; to which add 3nfcft, insect ; ?ltom. atom ; 53ronom, pro- 

 noun ; <tatut, statute ; and !l}cr6, verb ; which aro neuters. 



RECREATIVE NATURAL HISTORY. 



SOME LAND, SEA, AND FRESHWATER SHELLS WORMS, AND 



TUBE-DWELLERS (continued). 



ON tho eggs deposited at the bottom of the thorn-coated tube 

 by the oiketicus grub giving forth their tiny brood, the young 

 worms immediately crawl forth, and, at once proceed to spin 

 silken sheaths for themselves. These they bear with them as 

 convenient overcoats as they travel through the tangled and 

 thorn-decked twigs and branches of the tree, feeding and 

 gathering together such thorns as may be found adapted to 

 castle-building purposes. These, as they are gleaned, are 

 arranged in order, point downwards and side by side ; a power- 

 fully adhesive fluid and a layer of silken filaments completing 

 the union. The growth of the worm is rapid, and it soon 

 becomes large enough to fully occupy its bayonet house, and 

 carry out tho destiny we have already shown it as fulfilling. 

 Of worms dwelling without the protection afforded by sheaths 

 we shall find numerous examples in tho earth, tho river's bed, 

 the sea's bottom, and in tho tissues and cavities of living 

 organisms. 



Let us pay a visit to tho clear, shell-strewn rock pools, and 

 open stretches of tide-deserted sand, and should good fortune 

 favour us, we shall find food for observation and research ; and 

 as wo peer down into tho clear water, or lift some weed-grown 

 pebble or fragment of broken rock, some beautiful and marvel- 

 lously perfect examples of tho Creator's wisdom will be brought 

 to light. Strange, weird, grotesque, and anomalous as some 

 of these ocean creatures may, to the heedless or casual observer, 

 appear, they only require tho investigation of the observant and 

 thoughtful to prove them worthy of our keenest interest and 

 deepest admiration. 



Down amongst tho Beo-weed stems and pointed rocks we 

 perceive a long, black, tangled string, like a giant's leather boot- 

 lace set to soak ; let us trace it in its various folds and twists, 

 and disentangle some of it ; we shall then have in hand a tough, 

 slippery, india-rubber-like substance, which might well be pro- 

 nounced a sea string, and classed with tho long trailing weeds 

 amongst which wo have found it. A sea string it is, but not a 

 weed ; in fact, a living lasso, capable of consuming tho prey it 

 encloses within its treacherous folds. From twenty to thirty 

 feet is no uncommon length for this artful animated fishing-lino 

 to reach, but its diameter rarely exceeds an eighth of an inch. 

 It has a mouth, however, capable of considerable distension and 

 holding power. What can appear more innocent than this 

 delicate-looking creeper trailing here and there as the heaving 

 water wells and flows as the tide comes in ? Let an unwary 



tube-dwoller, lulled Into a false security, stretch forth its 

 tentacle* to meet the welcome ware, and a pointed head it 

 adroitly iiiMinuittod. Tho mouth effeoU its tenacious grap on 

 1, and the tenant of the tube becomes food for 

 the Nemertei MorUrii, for such U the name of this cord-like free- 

 booter. Mr. Kingsley appears to have taken more than ordinary 

 interest in the habit* of this strange creature. Speaking of it, 

 he inquires, " Is it alive '< it hangs helpless and motionless, a 

 mere velvet string, across the hand. Ask the neighbouring 

 luin.-u.N, and the fry of tho rock fishes; or pot it in a rase at 

 home, and see. It lies motionless, trailing itself among the 

 gravel. You cannot toll whore it begins or ends. It may be a 

 strip of dead sea- weed Himanthalia lorea perhaps, or C'/iorda 

 filutn or evon a tarred string. So thinks the little fish who 

 plays over and over it, till ho touches at last what is too surely 

 a head. In an instant a boll-shaped sucker month has fastened 

 to its side ; in another instant, from one lip, a concave doublo 

 proboscis, just like a tapir's (another instance of the repetition, 

 of forms), has clasped him like a finger. And now begins the 

 struggle, but in vain. He is being 'played' with such a fishing- 

 rod as the skill of a Wilson or a Stoddart never could iuv 

 living line, with elasticity beyond that of the most delicate fly- 

 rod, which follows every lunge, shortening and lengthening, 

 slipping and twisting round every piece of gravel and stem of 

 sea-weed with a tiring drag, such as no Highland wrist or step 

 could ever bring to bear on salmon cr trout. The- victim is tired 

 now, and slowly yet dextrously his blind assailant is feeling and 

 shifting along his side till he reaches one end of him ; and then 

 the black lips expand, and slowly and surely the curved finger 

 begins packing him end foremost down into the gullet, where he 

 sinks inch by inch, till the swelling which marks his place is 

 lost among the coils, and he is probably macerated into a pulp 

 long before he has reached tho opposite extremity. Once safe 

 down, tho black murderer contracts again into a knotted heap, 

 and lies like a boa with a stag inside him, motionless and blest." 

 Our illustration represents tho living line in the act of cap- 

 turing its prey. 



Hero, then, to his siesta and the enjoyment of his ruthlessly 

 gained spoils we will leave the Ncmertcs Borlasii, and see what 

 , that long-eared, brown, odd-looking, slug-like creature is, which 

 ' t we observe crouching like a hare in its seat just above the 

 home of our greedy friend the worm. This is the sea-hare, or 

 sea-cow (Aplysia punctata). Tho terms "hare" and "cow" 

 have been given to it in consequence of the two horn or ear- 

 like appendages to the head. It is curious sometimes to note 

 ; how strangely appropriate some of these trivial designations 

 are found to be. In this case the resemblance to a grass- 

 feeding and ruminating animal extends beyond the mere fanciful 

 contour of the creature's external form. The interesting re- 

 searches of Professor Grant have brought to light the fact that 

 the Aplysia punctata, like its fur-clad and horned namesake, the 

 cow, has three stomachs, the first being formed by an opening 

 out or dilatation of the bottom of tho gullet. This food-sack is 

 of a curved form, not unlike the air-chamber of a set of bag- 

 pipes; and in it is generally found the particles of freshly- 

 gathered sea-weed on which our tiny cow has been feeding. The 

 next or centre stomach is the smallest of the three, and performs 

 much tho same kind of duty as the gizzard of a bird ; being, in 

 fact, a sort of internal grinding mill, in which, by the aid of a 

 set of hard, dense, and tooth-like processes, the food is commi- 

 nuted, crushed, and pressed until in a fit condition to pass on to 

 the third receptacle, which is of most curious construction, being 

 furnished within with a rake or comb-like arrangement of teeth 

 or spioulffi, which card and rake the ground-up substances, and 

 fit them for the action of the gastric fluids and final digestion 

 .iii'l assimilation. 



Few marine productions have had a greater number of odd 

 and wild superstitions associated with them than the Aplysia 

 punctata. -Some of these have no doubt arisen from the fact of 

 its pouring out from its tisanes, when placed in a goblet of 

 water, a large quantity of a most peculiar fluid, which tinge? 

 tho surrounding water of rich full purple tint ; this, although 

 beautiful to a degree, has been found to be too unstable and 

 jiable to change to admit of its being successfully made use of 

 as an artist's colour. The term depilans has been conferred on 

 one kind of sea-hare, from an idea which prevailed amongst the 

 ancients, and is still in force amongst the coral-finders and 

 fishermen of the Mediterranean, that wherever tho fluid exuded 



