74 



CHAPTER V. 



EGGS OF MARINE ANIMALS — CUTTLES AND THEIR HABITS. 



It is impossible to walk on the sea-shore 

 without being struck by the strangely- shaped 

 objects that are cast up by the waves, and left 

 high and dry until swept away by the next tide, 

 which in its turn brings new and varied forms ; 

 and these objects are continually changing accord- 

 ing to the season of the year. One week may 

 pass, and the observer will see nothing on the 

 sand with which he is not thoroughly acquainted ; 

 and in the course of the next week new and 

 grotesque objects will be found profusely scat- 

 tered at his feet. Some of these objects are 

 purely natural, and their presence is occasioned 

 by the development of nature, while others are 

 but a mixture of the natural and artificial. 



For example, when green peas come into 

 general use, the empty pods are thrown into 

 the sea, and are after a space washed up by the 

 waves, having been so chemically acted upon by 

 the salt water, so abraded by sand and pebbles, 



