THE rillST-TIDE POOL. 28 



know what we take up : there is a world of life in 

 each. The speckled prawn is balancing himself, and 

 waving to and fro his sensitive feelers, springing away 

 under the rich foliage that conceals his hiding-place ; 

 and the small Blenny darts like a lightning-flash from 

 cranny to crevice, the fear and the dread of man upon 

 it. On the green Viva creeps the lovely little slug — a 

 bright green spotted with white — called Acteon viridis, 

 and on darker seaweeds the great purplish Sea-hare. 

 Sea-spiders lurk amid the coralline ; and as we gather 

 a bunch of seaweed, we shake out dozens of a pretty 

 little snail called Bissoa, besides gathering, if we please, 

 bright yellow INTerits, the commonest sea-snail of our 

 coast. All these force themselves on the notice of the 

 seaweed gatherer, as we scramble over the rocks, and 

 pause to consider where we shall begin. 



I advise taking a little of everything — not much, for 

 they so soon spoil in waiting to be mounted — and 

 name each specimen as they are decided by reference 

 to your manual. If you have time to spare, be content 

 to press and arrange the weeds mentioned as belong- 

 ing to the first tide-pools. If you have but a day for 

 a seaside holiday, go down to the lowest ebb of the 

 tide, in hopes of the best red seaweeds, and work back 

 to the commoner, but still beautiful, green seaweeds, 

 Viva and Cladophorce. 



