274 MARINE ZOOLOGY OF ARRAV. 



long. Some of the larger and coarser species are familiar to 

 sea-bathers by the stinging qualities of their tentacula. But 

 there are other species as harmless as they are lovely. On a 

 calm summer day, when there is not a ripple to disturb the 

 sea, these exquisitely formed creatures may be witnessed in 

 hundreds, like a vast fleet of faiiy ships, lying upon the sur- 

 face. Such are the Beroe and the Cydippe. Let specimens, 

 captured carefully in a gauze net, be transferred to a vessel 

 of water, and, low as they are in organization, they will not 

 be dismissed without commanding surprise at the delicacy of 

 their structure, and at the facility with which they traverse 

 their allotted space. 



118. It remains only to add, after the above general view 

 of invertebrate life, that in the various bays and inlets around 

 Arran almost every kind of fish common to our northern 

 seas may be procured. It would be superfluous to name the 

 species familiar to every person. But we must not omit to 

 mention that the Lancelot Amphioxus lanceolatus has been 

 dredged at the north end of Holy Island, where it seems to 

 be restricted to a gravel bottom in depths of about ten or 

 fifteen fathoms. Until recently this fish was regarded as 

 extremely rare. It is now, however, known to be more 

 common. Several specimens have been captured near Mill- 

 ]x>rt, in the island of Cumbrae, as well as in Lamlash Bay ; 

 and probably it will be discovered to have a wider range 

 than at one time was expected. The interest attached to it 

 arises from its anatomical and physiological peculiarities. 

 Its spine is a cartilaginous, thread-like column, without 

 joints ; it has no ribs, no pectoral or ventral fins ; and, in 

 short, although claiming rank with vertebrate animals, the 

 skeleton is rudimentary, and the brain absent. The 

 A mphioxus is an excellent illustration of the law that, even 

 when there is the greatest departure from uniformity, the 

 typical characters are rigidly preserved in the development of 

 creation. 



119. In concluding our notices of the marine zoology of 



