150 A Summer Afternoon by the Sea. 



ively an eighth and a quarter of an inch in diameter, he will 

 be set up. 



As the boat is gently paddled along, making as little dis- 

 turbance with the oars as possible, the operator standing in the 

 bow, for the purpose of taking the water before the surface is 

 broken, holds the bag so that the hoop shall cut the surface. 

 After a few minutes he removes it from the water, and, turning" 

 it inside out within the large vase, allows the collected prey to 

 float off into the vessel. Then raising this on his left hand to 

 the level of his eye, he peers through the clear fluid, seeking* 

 to catch some movement other than that of the currents, or 

 some flash of light from a reflecting body. The transparency of 

 the water will most likely be dimmed, and his power of exa- 

 mination impeded, by a multitude of delicate filmy objects 

 which he will in an instant see to be organic, but which, if he is 

 a tyro, he will have difficulty in making out. These are the 

 sloughs of Barnacles (Balani), the active creatures that inhabit 

 strong conical fortresses of stone studding the rocks, and that 

 ever thrust out and draw in a hand of many slender fingers, 

 flexible-jointed, and fringed with an exquisite array of bristles. 

 From time to time, the skin of this many-fingered hand is 

 thrown off ; and, as it remains entire, and every bristle is per- 

 fectly represented in the exuvice, it is a very interesting object 

 to examine, and to mount on'a microscopic slide. These sloughs 

 float by millions, and the collector having once satisfied his 

 curiosity about them, will probably wish them somewhat less 

 numerous or somewhat less obtrusive. However, he will soon 

 learn to neglect them, and pursue his investigation in spite of 

 their presence. 



Perchance he detects a tiny bell of pure translucency, with 

 a little clapper depending from its arch, and a series of strings 

 of excessive tenacity attached to its margin. It shoots to and 

 fro so rapidly, that he can scarcely keep it in sight • at length 

 it takes an instant's respite, and he brings his dipping tube to 

 bear on it, thus : — Before he inserts it, he claps his fore-finger 

 tightly on the upper end, then plunging- the other end into the 

 vessel he brings it pretty close to the little bell he wishes to 

 capture • then, for the briefest possible moment, he lifts his 

 finger, the water rushes in at the lower end, carrying the prey 

 with it ; the finger is tightly clapped on again, and the contents 

 of the tube are safely transferred to one of the smaller phials, 

 isolated in pure water, and ready to be examined at leisure. 

 He has caught one of the lovely little Naked-eyed Medusas, a 

 creature of exquisite grace and beauty. 



I have some reason to think that in the darkness of the night 

 more of such beautiful forms of life sport at the surface of the 

 sea than even during the most auspicious day. The towing-nct 



