108 Beautiful Shells. 



to support the weight of the frond, and thus the 

 plant is detached and driven on shore by the waves, 



"And so the forest tall, that growetli 

 Underneath the waters clear, 



Does the little woodman mollusk 

 Level every year; 



From small causes, great results- 

 Teaching you to persevere." 



ROCK-BORERS. 



The family Pholadce comprises a group of mol- 

 lusks, the boring habits of which have long been 

 known ; they penetrate wood, hard clay, chalk, and 

 rocks, and devastate the labours of man ; they 

 attack the hulls of ships, the piles which form the 

 foundations of piers and breakwaters, and they force 

 themselves upon our attention by the loss of pro- 

 perty, as well as life, which results from their 

 hidden depredations. Of this family, those belong- 

 ing to the genus Pholus may be more especially 

 likened to the Edomites of Scripture, because they 

 take up their abode in the rock, and hollow out for 

 themselves dwellings therein. With a shell as thin 

 as paper, and brittle as glass, the wonder is how 



