74 A Dredging Excursion. 



With most shore-dredgers and amateurs, the greatest depth 

 at which they can dredge with ease will be about ten or fifteen 

 fathoms, so that any observations that I may make must be 

 understood as referring to such an expedition. One preliminary 

 remark as to companions : as a rule, not more than two or three 

 should form the party, exclusive of the boatmen ; and it would 

 be as well, perhaps, if you go on a rough day, that none were 

 subject to sea-sickness, which would certainly mar your pleasure, 

 if it did not take away your profit. A fine day should, if pos- 

 sible, be chosen, with a clear sky and a good breeze. Then 

 time your starting so as to go three hours before low water, 

 and return with the flood, eight or nine hours being suffi- 

 cient for the most ardent zoologist on this coast. Our des- 

 tination is the north-west lightship, off the mouth of the 

 estuary of the Dee ; so having secured a good boat, efficient 

 boatmen, and everything necessary for our purpose, we will 

 start if you please from New Brighton pier, and get as soon as- 

 possible into the Channel, hauling' our wind as needful, and 

 keeping near the buoys unless we wish to run ignominiously 

 aground on a sandbank. With a good wind we shall generally 

 reach the dredging ground at low water, passing on our way 

 flocks of ducks and plenty of gulls, at which the sportsman 

 may try his hand if he please. 



If the wind be not too high, or the swell too great, we may 

 have put out a towing-net — a bag made of bunting or canvas, 

 eight to ten inches wide, and twelve to fourteen inches deep, 

 attached to an iron ring, and towed astern by means of a line 

 fastened to a triplet cord. This net skims the surface of the 

 sea, frequently catching beautiful specimens of Acalephs. They 

 will seem to the uninitiated hardly worthy of notice, appearing 

 as they do like lumps of almost transparent jelly lying in the 

 corners of the net ; but in their own element they will amply 

 repay observation and attention. If these be placed at once 

 in a glass jar of water, by inserting the bag into the jar the 

 movements of the cilice will be beautifully seen. They are 

 not likely to injure the hands of those who touch them, 

 having this advantage over their foreign relatives, which have 

 more than once given me a rather severe attack of whitlow. 

 As you closely look at these gelatinous creatures you will notice 

 that they may be divided into two sets ; one set, Cydijppe, have 

 long thread-like appendages, which are absent in the others. 

 These (Beroe) are oval and hollow, furnished with eight longi- 

 tudinal radii, which pass from the small end to near the margin 

 of the large extremity. These lines have each a single series of 

 short ciliae or hair-like appendages, which move with great 

 celerity and gracefulness in a wave passing from the top to the 

 margin. The iridescence and play of colours displayed when these 



