178 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



A friend of mine, who examined some of the holes, 

 observes that they are evidently formed by the animal, 

 and are lined with a smooth yellow substance which it 

 deposits on the stone; that in limestone rocks the de- 

 posit is probably obtained from the stone itself by means 

 of a solvent, but that in granite it may be derived from 

 the lime held in solution in the sea water. 



Echinus esculentus, the real Oursin comestible, is found 

 in the Mediterranean, and also on the coast of Brittany ; 

 and I have seen specimens from the roadstead of Brest. 

 Mr. R. Jones (as quoted by the Rev. J. Wood in his 

 ' Natural History,' p. 722) gives a most amusing descrip- 

 tion of sea-egg fishing in the Bay of Naples, saying, " I 

 had not swum very far from the beach before I found 

 myself surrounded by some fifty or sixty human heads, 

 the bodies belonging to which were invisible, and, inter- 

 spersed among these, perhaps an equal number of pairs 

 of feet sticking out of the water. As I approached the 

 spot, the entire scene became sufficiently ludicrous and 

 bewildering. Down went a head, up came a pair of 

 heels; down went a pair of heels, up came a head; 

 and as something like a hundred people were all dili- 

 gently practising the same manoeuvre, the strange vicis- 

 situde from heels to head, and head to heels, going on 

 simultaneously, was rather a puzzling spectacle. On 

 inquiry, it proved that these divers were engaged in 

 fishing for sea-urchins, which are especially valuable 

 just before they deposit their eggs, — the roe, as the 

 aggregate egg-masses are termed, being large, and in as 

 much repute as the ' soft roe ' of the herring." 



The Puegian women dive to collect sea-eggs, both in 

 winter and summer ; and large sea-eggs are found in 

 the Bay of Concepcion, which are highly esteemed by the 

 Chilians, and eaten raw. 



