SECRETS OF THE OCEAN iw 



to kick food into it. A few pitiful traces of nerves 

 are left them. What if there were enough gan- 

 glia to enable them to dream of their past higher 

 life, in the long intervals of patient waiting! 



A little lower down we come to the zone of mus- 

 sels, — hanging in clusters like some strange sea- 

 fruit. Each is attached by strands of thin silky 

 cables, so tough that they often defy our utmost 

 efforts to tear a specimen away. How secure these 

 creatures seem, how safe from all harm, and yet 

 they have enemies which make havoc among them. 

 At high tide fishes come and crunch them, shells 

 and all, and multitudes of carnivorous snails are 

 waiting to set their file-like tongues at work, which 

 mercilessly drill through the lime shells, bring- 

 ing death in a more subtle but no less certain 

 form. Storms may tear away the support of these 

 poor mollusks, and the waves dash them far out of 

 the reach of the tides, while at low water, crows 

 and gulls use all their ingenuity to get at their 

 toothsome flesh. 



There are no ant-hills in the sea, but when we 

 turn over a large stone and see scores upon scores 

 of small black shrimps scurrying around, the 

 resemblance to those insects is striking. These 

 little creatures quickly hitch away on their sides, 

 getting out of sight in a remarkably short time. 



The tide is going down rapidly, and following it 

 step by step novel sights meet the eye at every 

 turn, and we begin to realise that in this narrow 



