14 THE SEA-SHORE 



at the four corners, instead of having straight 

 projections like the handles of a barrow, it has 

 Jong, twisted tendrils, just like those of a vine. 



This is the egg of the Dog-fish, which is really 

 a kind of small shark. It is not big or strong 

 enough to be dangerous to human beings; but 

 it is a terrible enemy to such small fishes as 

 pilchards and herrings. For a number of these 

 creatures form themselves into a band and go 

 hunting together, just like a pack of wild dogs. 

 And they will follow the shoal about day after 

 day, snapping up the poor helpless fishes in hun- 

 dreds and thousands. 



When a dog-fish lays its eggs, it seems to fasten 

 them down by their tendrils to the weeds which 

 are growing at the bottom of the sea ; and these 

 hold them so firmly that unless the weeds are 

 torn up with them, they never break away. At 

 each end of the egg is a small hole, allowing 

 a current of water to pass over the little fish 

 inside it. And at one end there is a slit, just 

 like that in the egg of the skate, which can only 

 be pushed open from the inside. So the little 

 dog-fish can get out, while its enemies cannot 

 get in. 



Very often, after a violent storm, you may find 

 a dead dog-fish lying upon the shore ; and even 

 if you have never seen one of these creatures 

 before you can tell at once what it is, because 

 its skin is so rough that it feels exactly like a 



