DESTHUCTION AND RENOVATION. 207 



13. Galley-slaves of the Sea— The Giants and Pigmies of Creation 

 — The Suckers — Legends of Monsters— Singing Fishes. 



The greatest activity prevails beneath the surface 

 of* the sea. Were it possible to lift the veil, scenes 

 the most varied and unexpected would meet our gaze. 

 Creatures which inhabit the deep would be seen in- 

 cessantly labouring to renew or adorn the earth. 

 Some are engaged in the work of destruction, some in 

 building up. The one class supplies the other with 

 the materials which it fashions into forms of beauty. 



Among those we have called destroyers, the pholas, 

 though it plays an obscure part, is very remarkable. 

 It does not browse on the animal flowers of the 

 polypier. It does not play the part of a tiger in 

 the sea, and devour armies of fish. It simply eats 

 its way into the hardest stones, as the xylophagi 

 burrow in wood. Even the hardness of gneiss is 

 not proof against its patient determination. 



At first sight we should be disposed to say that no 

 weapon, no tool, aids this indefatigable labourer. 

 The shell has two valves of the ordinary character, 

 turning on a cartilaginous hinge. The body has two 

 openings. Its substance is capable of being elongated 

 80 as to form a tube traversed by two channels — one 

 of which serves for the absorption of water, the other 

 \q eject it as fvQm a syringe, The soft rounded ho ' v 



