CHAPTER XV 



THE MICROSCOPE BY THE SEASIDE — ANIMAL LIFE 



IT is always surprising that the majority of 

 microscopists never dream of examining any of 

 the hundreds of beautiful objects which can be 

 found by the seaside, in the course of an afternoon's 

 ramble. That every pond will contain ample material 

 for study, the microscopist knows instinctively; in- 

 sect life and plant life also he studies, but the micro- 

 scope is generally left at home when a visit is paid 

 to the seaside. A rocky coast is better than a 

 sandy one, for rock pools yield many objects, and 

 the warmer southern waters of our coasts are better 

 than the colder northern seas, but the microscopist 

 who finds himself on a northern sandy coast need not 

 despair, if he search diligently he will find material 

 enough to occupy him for many a day. 



Nearly every rock pool will provide one or more 

 Sea Anemones ; it is hardly necessary to describe 

 these " flowers of the sea " as they have been called, 

 they are such familiar objects and the brilliant 

 colouring of some of them makes them highly at- 



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