CHAPTER III 

 THE SHORE 



BY J. STANLEY GARDINER 



A. — Tropical Shore Collecting.* 



The naturalist who visits the tropics, even for the first 

 time, can scarcely make an observation which will not 

 be of value to some specialist or another on his return 

 to Europe — that is, provided the observation is re- 

 corded at once, together with all its attendant circum- 

 stances. Too much care cannot be expended on this 

 latter point, because, in the bewildering mass of new 

 facts which pass before the eyes, memory cannot be 

 trusted (for instance) as to the habits of some par- 

 ticular species of animal, while the short note on the 

 weather and the time of day often gives a clue to what 

 otherwise might seem an anomaly. Surface and 

 freely moving animals often seem to be absent at noon 

 on a sunny day from sea and shore, while, if the weather 

 be cloudy, they are abundant. Rain also has a con- 

 siderable effect, for surface animals sink into the 

 depths below its influence, and the shores scarce show 

 a worm, an anemone, or a sea-slug (Holothurian) on 

 their sandy reaches ; Crustacea of all sorts are hidden 



* Shore-collection in the tropics has been selected as the 

 subject of this section, as offering in some ways greater 

 difficulty than in temperate regions. But the general methods 

 of collection and 4 observation are the same in all seas, and are 

 applicable to any coast. — Ed. 



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