204 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



the Polyzoon, named Plumatella, expanded and contracted.) 

 Wliat is this ? a tiny Daisy on a frond of weed ? the beauty ! 

 No, now it is in the bottle, it turns out to be an Eolis, Eolis 

 alba, lovely among the loveliest. Stay ! here are two coiv- 

 ries, and alive ! The shells every one has seen, but few of 

 us have seen the animals ; so the capture is very welcome. 

 My back is aching with all this stooping and groping, and I 

 really must get home now, content with my day's work. 

 One farewell glance in at that pool, and I have done. Lying 

 on my face, and dangling my feet in water, I peer scrutinis- 

 ingly for some minutes, and bear oif a lovely green Actwon, 

 as a reward. (The Actaeon resembles an Eolis without the 

 papillae.) Now I luill turn homewards. 



Another day, in idler mood, we ramble along the shore 

 in receipt of windfalls. A bottle is always ready in the 

 pocket, and something is certain to turn up. The stem 

 and root of that oar-weed, for example, is worth an investi- 

 gating glance, certain as it is of being a colony of life. 

 The tiny Annelids, white, green, and red, wriggle in and out 

 among the sheltering sliadows of these roots ; the Sponges 

 and Polyzoa cluster on them ; and see ! what pink-and- 

 white feathery creature is this, clasping the weed with a 

 circle of pale pink roots? By heavens I it is a C'oinatula 

 (Plate VI., fig. 2) ; and now that it feels the grateful sea- 

 water again, how it expands its feathers, and reveals itself 

 as an animal fern, marvellous to look upon. Sudden joy 

 leaps in our hearts at the sight of this creature, hitherto 

 known only from hazy descriptions and inadequate engrav- 

 ings. There is interest in reading about Crinoidea, fossil 



