102 A Co/'fier of Brittany. 
its eggs is an excellent help. Anyone describing a new species or 
genus is expected to deposit in the collection a single specimen to 
serve as a type for the good of those who may later avail them- 
selves of the advantages of the place. 
In our own marine zoological stations the existence of a catalogue 
stating the time when ova, embryos, or adults could be found or 
had been collected and where they occur in abundance, would be 
an excellent thing, and must in the course of time be made by com- 
petent observers. 
The beach of Roscoff is one of the richest grounds for collecting 
marine animals which I have ever visited. The enormous tides lay 
bare an extent of bottom which is extensive, and betrays the home of 
a very large number of different genera of animals which live along 
the shore. Moreover the character of this life is greatly influenced 
by a branch of the Gulf Stream, which making its way from the main 
current bathes this part of Brittany and imparts to it the mild cli- 
mate which it has. This same current also tempers the climate of 
the Scilly Islands, which lie in its direct track, so that several plants, 
which are limited to the shores of the Mediterranean, here flourish 
The rich fauna of the coast at Roscoff is, no doubt, more or less 
modified by the warm action of this branch of the Gulf Stream, still 
the floating life which distinguishes this great ocean current off the 
coast of the United States is almost wholly wanting. Now and 
then some straggling '* Portuguese man-of-war " drifts into the 
channel, or some medusa, whose home is in the tropics, is captured, 
but these are exceptional. The wealth of floating marine life which 
the Gulf Stream brings even to the coast of New England is not 
found inshore on the coast of Brittany. 
The most interesting building at Roscoff is the church, the steeple 
of which is to been seen from almost all sides of the city. This 
church, which has an appearance wholly Breton, has also a style part- 
ly Florentine, partly Spanish ; for the interior, at least of many of 
the Breton churches, has a true Italian appearance, and the style 
of the exterior is characteristic. 
The most curious part of the church is the steeple, which, as we 
approach the city from the sea, rises light and airy and seems al- 
most to hang from the sky. On the side of its bell-tower, pointed 
toward England, the hereditary enemy of the Roscovite, there are 
two cannon, cut in stone, forming parts of the varied ornamenta- 
tion of the steeple. 
