THE SHELL-DWELLERS 



195 



perpetuated in the Latin name of the Sca- 

 Hare. Apiysici, which hterully means un- 

 washable. Althou^'h a j)erfectly harmless 

 creature, it is atK'isalile to handle a living 

 Sea-Hare with caution, tor not only does 

 the animal discharge its purple fluid, but 

 also may hav-e a pungent odour, which is 

 very difficult to remove from the hands. 

 The Doris has no shell at all. It is a 

 pretty little oval creature, and is in shape 

 and colour somewhat like a lemon that 

 has been cut in half lengthwise. It is from 

 this appearance that the little animal has 

 gained its popular name of Sea- Lemon ; its 

 Latin name, Doris, meaning a sea-nymph. 

 The Doris is to be found on most rocky 

 coasts, crawling over the rocks near low- 

 tide mark, and is one of the very few 

 animals that feed upon the sponges. So 

 fond is it of devouring sponges, that on 

 cutting a Doris open one is pretty sure 

 to find its stomach crammed with sponge 

 spicules, the absolutely indigestible por- 



tion of the sponges. During the summer 

 mcinths curious, whitish, gelatinous rosettes, 

 some two inches in diameter, may be seen 

 fixed in a rather conspicuous manner on 

 the rocks in the tidal j)ools. The gela- 

 tinous ribbon oi the rosette is divided 

 into tiny spherical sacs, each containing 

 four or five eggs of the Doris. If we 

 examine under the microscope a portion of 

 one of these rosettes when the young are 

 just hatched, a very remarkable scene is 

 presented to our view, for within each 

 sac four or five young Dorids, each par- 

 tially enclosed in a beautiful, transj)arent, 

 Nautilus-shaped shell, may be seen swim- 

 ming actively round and round. The 

 presence of this transparent shell, cover- 

 ing the young Doris, is very remarkable, 

 and interesting, for it shows us that the 

 now shell-less adult Doris has descended 

 from shell-bearing ancestors, and was in 

 some past age probably a true shell- 

 dweller, 



F. Martin Duncan. 



THE HOOP OK TOP SHELL. 



