MANNERS AND MORALS. 51 



and the conjecture of onr admirable naturalist must be erased 

 from all Hand-books. 



These traits of manners and morals pleasantly vary our 

 graver observations : but it is only with the higher organ- 

 isms that we can be so amused ; the lower organisms, 

 although they have their manners and their morals, are too 

 far removed from us to be intelHgible. I have no doubt the 

 mollusc is a moral individual, but you cannot consider him 

 one greatly impassioned ; an oyster or a limpet probably has 

 his theory of life : but you cannot appeal to his finer sensi- 

 bilities through the medium of music, poetry, or painting. 

 I have some doubts even of the crab in these regions of cul- 

 ture ; but if he cannot soar so high as Art, we see how he 

 touches the confines of Wit by his feeling for the Grotesque. 

 Fish, too, are funny, and far more educable than people sup- 

 pose. Your fish has a sense of the proprieties ; he will even 

 condescend to conventionalism in costume. At least, one I 

 had at Ilfracombe did so. A queer little dolphin-like fellow 

 he was, who, after swimming about the vase for some time, 

 would sink to the bottom, and there, curling his tail round 

 him, as a cat does when making herself comfortable, he 

 would look up with his impudent unabashed eyes, and pant 

 awav, as if fatioued with his eambols. This curlinc; of him- 

 self whenever at rest was very comical, and he looked as if 

 he knew it. When I had him, he was in full black — evening 

 costume ; but on descending next morning I found him 

 arrayed in an entire suit of light brown — cool morning 

 summer costume ; in the afternoon he again presented him- 



