Life Beneath the Waves. 59 



groups. I have obtained a great number 

 at different times with the dredge, and so 

 various were they in size, colour, and pat- 

 tern, that it was a difficult matter to decide 

 which were the most worthy of admiration, 

 which to keep, and which to throw away. 



The colouring of Pectens dredged up at 

 sea is very gay ; some specimens are bright 

 yellow, marked with crimson; some, light 

 brown, or red, dotted over with black; others, 

 a delicate pink, with lines of dark rose 

 colour; others again, are all white, or orange, 

 or pink, as the case may be, with no marks 

 at all ; and some are rich chestnut or fawn 

 colour, ornamented with sharp white points. 

 It is, in short, quite impossible to describe 

 half the exquisite tints and shades of these 

 beautiful Sea-butterflies, as Pectens are 

 also called, owing to their peculiar mode of 

 moving about : for instead of crawling from 



