Gephyrcan. 105 



\Vc dredged several times at Cockle Cove. The bottom was 

 muddy, and abounded in a species of Mactra, which the men were 

 fond of eating; and as they commonly called these shells "cockles," 

 the anchorage was given a name which would recall the memory 

 of these much-esteemed comestibles. 



We also obtained numbers of a pale rose-coloured Gephyrcan 

 On placing one of these creatures in a globe of fresh sea-water it 

 seemed to feel quite at home, protruding its tentacles and puffing 

 out its worm-like body until it looked like a tiny jam-roll with a 

 star-fish attached to one end. These tentacles, which are eight in 

 number and surround the mouth, are each one provided with from 

 eight to ten finger-like processes. When there is only the former 

 number, the organ looks remarkably like a hand, and the resem- 

 blance is rendered more striking when the tentacle is extended, 

 and grasps some minute particles in the water, which to all ap- 

 pearance it conveys to its mouth. The usual shape assumed by 

 this protean animal is that of a long cylinder with rounded ends, 

 but it sometimes shows an annular construction about the middle 

 of the body, and sometimes the whole anterior half of the body 

 is retracted so as to give the animal a telescopic appearance. 

 These changes of shape are produced by the action of two distinct 

 systems of contractile fibres, transverse and longitudinal, the fibres 

 of the former being disposed closely together like minute hoops, 

 and girding the body from end to end, while the longitudinal fibres 

 are arranged in five broad and well-marked equidistant bands, 

 which extend uninterruptedly from one end of the cylindrical 

 body to the other. 



One night a small petrel flew on board, into one of the hoisted- 

 up boats, where it was found by one of the seamen in the usual 

 apparently helpless state. It is odd that some species of the 

 family of petrels should find such difficulty about rising on the 

 wing from a ship's deck. A freshly-caught Cape pigeon, placed 

 on its legs on the deck, seems to forget utterly that it possesses 

 the power of flight, and does not even attempt to use its wings, 



