A New Form of Dredge. 239 



It is all very well to follow the tide down to its 

 furthest ebb, and then to strip off shoes and stockings 

 and wade out a few yards further still ; the more you 

 gather by these means, the more you feel convinced 

 that by the depth of the water you are being baulked 

 of greater treasures beyond your reach. The result 

 is that you go out dredging. You are then in- 

 dependent of the state of the tide ; but, on the other 

 hand, more dependent on the state of the weather, 

 for dredging in a rough sea is not to be recommended. 

 It is too apt to engender feelings of animosity against 

 marine zoology in the breast of the student, in short, 

 to make him sick of it. But in favourable weather 

 there are many sheltered inlets and landlocked seas 

 where even very squeamish bosoms may take undis- 

 turbed delight in dredging. In fact the sea animals 

 themselves appear to love these tranquil havens. 



It has been already intimated that Mr. Robertson 

 was no sooner initiated into the mysteries of this 

 pursuit than he became an enthusiast in it. As in 

 his earlier days, so now, he advanced almost in one 

 stride from being a pupil to being a tutor. He 

 noticed that the dredge in common use with 

 naturalists, which has a scraper on both sides, so as 

 to be ready for action which ever side falls under- 

 most, was very efficient, on the supposition that 

 nothing was to be had or was wanted except what 

 could be met with on the surface of the sea-bottom. 

 But with this supposition, it will be seen, he did not 

 agree. 



"Believing," he says, "that many valuable objects 

 might be obtained if a dredge could be made to dip 



