INTRODUCTORY 3 



" Each fashion of life, with reflex forcible action, 

 Wor.ks on the form." l 



Then we have the enthralling study of development, which 

 shows us that forms which in their adult state appear far 

 as the poles asunder are yet closely related. 



But I have not the inclination, even had I the ability, 

 to enter into these deeper depths of the science. This 

 has been, and is being, done by abler hands. The 

 task I am setting myself is a survey of a small portion 

 of Nature's great domain the natural history of our shores. 



The " great wide sea," with its " creeping things in- 

 numerable," has always had a special fascination for me. 

 Among its denizens we can most readily study the life 

 cycle, and see the advance from the simple to the complex 

 to the highest advantage. 



Moreover, the sea is, upon very good grounds, held to be 

 the birthplace of life : " The nascent goal, from which the 

 drama springs." 



But to soar a little less loftily, and come at once to the 

 level of my subject, let me ask : Who is there that does 

 not love the sea-shore ; love to wander over shell-strewn 

 sands and weed- draped rocks ; to peep into crystal rock 

 pools, where the vegetation is crimson and scarlet, chocolate 

 and emerald ? The plants rootless, leafless, and flowerless, 

 but in beauty of form and in delicate tracery outrivalling 

 the choicest products of our hothouses. 



Strange little worlds these rock pools, with some animals 

 that look like flowers, and vie in form and colour with the 

 brightest of these, and others that are living miniatures of 

 the dragons of mythology. 



There is a charm in this that appeals to all, from the 

 romping school child to the grey-bearded professor. 



And yet to how few are the wonders of the shore re- 

 vealed ! I think I am safe in saying that, to three-fourths 



1 Goethe. 



