r 



^■bp to the 



THE SABELLA. 417 



ip to the curious Perforated Rock, I saw a tube pro- 

 jecting, just beneath the surface of the water, about 

 Ij inch long. I could just get my arm into the 

 crevice, and feel the tube with my fingers ; it resembled 

 both in consistency and appearance half-boiled maca- 

 roni. I thought it was a sponge, and tried to pull it 

 off; unfortunately I could get only one hand in, and 

 so could not work with the hammer and chisel. But 

 by loosening some of the laminae of the shale with my 

 fingers, I managed to expose the tube for several 

 inches lower down, and at length detached it by pull- 

 ing. The lower part was membranous, of a clear 

 reddish-brown colour, and angular. Again looking 

 into the obscurity of the hole, for I could only look 

 and work by turns, I saw in the now turbid water 

 what seemed a noble white Actinia, with expanded 

 tentacles. I now felt again with my fingers, and 

 presently pulled away a couple of inches more of the 

 membranous part of the tube ; still it did not occur 

 to me to connect it with the actinia-looking creature, 

 which I could still dimly see in the muddy water. 



By feeling carefully 1 got hold of the animal, and 

 having worked my fingers down as close to its point 

 of attachment as possible, I pulled it away, and put 

 my prize into the glass-jar of clear water. what a 

 magnificent creature ! I thought, as I gazed delighted 

 upon it, that it excelled in beauty any of the marine 

 animals I had yet found. It proved to be a Sahella, 

 and, as T believe, the 8. vesiculosa of Montagu. 



It was a large stout worm, beset along each side 

 with little bundles of satiny bristles, closely packed in 

 pencils, of a golden colour. There was no proper 



