276 11 AMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



without incurring the reproach of being over fastidi- 

 ous, I might have objected to the flavour of the 

 viands and the amount of cleanliness with which 

 my meals were served ; but my room was large and 

 light,, and before me stretched the harbour with its 

 three basins where I could see every barque that 

 entered the roads of La Bochelle. I was in the 

 midst of the fishermen and sailors, and by the help 

 of some introductions, which are quite as necessary 

 in such a case as in any other, I made the acquaint- 

 ance of two masters of merchant vessels. I saw 

 them very frequently, and took care always to pay 

 them great attention. Doctor Sauve joined ^his 

 influence to my solicitations, and finally succeeded in 

 bringing me a very curious animal, whose existence 

 in the seas of La Rochelle had been one of the main 

 inducements that led me to visit that place. A few 

 details regarding this remarkable species will I hope 

 make my readers comprehend that in the present 

 condition of modern science, a little worm like this 

 may not be an unworthy inducement to a naturalist 

 to undertake a journey of 450 miles for the express 

 purpose of studying its anatomy and internal organ- 

 isation. 



Those naturalists who, by combining a number of 

 hitherto isolated facts into one general whole, elevated 

 zoology into a true science, were necessarily led to 

 direct their attention first to the best defined and 

 most natural groups of a fixed type ; consisting of 

 animals whose anatomy indicated in the most decided 

 manner a fundamental plan. When they encountered 

 one of those groups of a variable type, in which the 



