March, lii07.] THE TICTOKIAN NATUEALIST. 9^9 



SHORE LIFE. 



By 0. A. Sayce, Demonstrator of Bacteriology, 

 Melbourne University. 



Mon-iay, 31 st DeccmLer, was devoted to studying shore- 

 life under the leadership of Mr. O. A. Sayce, of the Mel- 

 bourne University. To secure low tides, it was necessary 

 to be up early in the morning, to which call the whole of 

 the camp cheerfully responded. The party was taken first 

 to a rocky point near the camp. Before any collecting 

 was done, the leader offered some remarks on different 

 methods adopted in searching for animal life. 



Besides a few wide-mouthed glass jars and smaller 

 bottles, a glass dipping-tube, with imdiarubber compres- 

 sible bulb attached to one end, and a wash-hand basin 

 were taken, and it was shown that, after collecting hand- 

 fuls of sea-weed and rinsing them in the basin of water, 

 numbers of animals were seen to swim away. Some 

 could be caught by the fingers, but the smaller ones re- 

 quired other means. It was shown that, by taking a dip- 

 ping-tube and compressing the bulb, then placing the 

 open end of the tube in the water (when brought near to 

 the little creature sought), and allowing the bulb to sud- 

 denly expand, the animal was drawn up with some water 

 into the tube, the contents were expelled into one of the 

 smaller bottles, and the object could then be observed 

 living, or killed and preserved. Many kinds of sedentary 

 forms also were found inhabiting sea-weed. By letting 

 favorable pieces spread out in the basin of water, small 

 sponges, colonies of hydfoid zoophytes, polyzoa, and 

 others could easily be detected and transferred to bottles 

 or jars containing sea-water ; these being kept quiet for a 

 little and searched, preferably with the aid of a magni- 

 fying glass, tiny animals, often most beautiful in appear- 

 ance, were seen to extend themselves from their cells or 

 tubes. 



After this demonstration, the party commenced collect- 

 ing, and, besides searching under stones and in rock-pools 

 along the area exposed at low tide, some members, who 

 came prepared with boots and trousers that would not 

 suffer by getting wet, waded into the water and carried 

 to the shore boulders taken from under the water. Soon 

 the visitors were struck by the immense variety of living 

 things found thereon; also, when the softer boulders were 

 broken up, they saw strange and brightly-coloured worms, 

 some of them tube-dwellers, with feathery heads of beau- 

 tiful colours, along with many burrowing shell-fish. 



