42 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



formed a tolerably exact idea of their organisation, I 

 had not the slightest conception how many points of 

 interest attached themselves to a study of these forms. 

 When I had once surprised within their obscure 

 retreats the Polynoa, with its broad brown scales ; 

 the Phyllodoce, with its hundred bright green rings ; 

 the Eunice, with its purple crest ; the Terebella, sur- 

 rounded by a cloud of innumerable living cables, 

 which serve it in the place of arms ; and when I had 

 seen displayed before my eyes the rich fan of the 

 Sabella, and the enamelled collar of the Serpula, I no 

 longer smiled, as I had formerly done, at the thought 

 of a naturalist having endowed two of these creatures 

 with the charming names of Matilda and Herminia. 

 These despised creatures seemed to me now no less 

 worthy of a naturalist's homage than the most bril- 

 liant insect or the fairest flower. Let no one cite 

 the violet as a pattern of modesty! the coquette! 

 See how she shows from afar her fresh tuft of green 

 leaves, and scatters abroad the sweet perfume which 

 invites you to gather her ! More skilful than her 

 rivals, she knows that mystery is the greatest of all 

 attractions, and that the rose itself loses by displaying 

 her charms in broad day-light ; therefore it is that she 

 seeks the obscurity of our woods and the friendly 

 shelter of the hedge -sides, but, like Virgil's shep- 

 herdess, she only conceals herself for the sake of 

 being sought for. Now turn to the annelids ! What 

 do they lack when compared with the most splendid 

 inhabitants of earth or air ? yet they shun the ligh^ 

 they withdraw themselves from our view, but with 

 no design to attract ; and the naturalist alone knows 



