76 



EGGS. 



only the fibrous portion remained, and whicn 

 had probably been tossing about for many months 

 in the sea; sometimes soaked by the waters, 

 sometimes lying on a rock and bleaching in the 

 sun, until the next high tide carried it back 

 again; and at other times entangled among heavy 

 sea-weeds, and anchored by them under water. 

 I still preserve it as an example of marine 

 curiosities. 



It is quite necessary, therefore, to exercise 

 much caution in selecting objects. The surest 

 mode of obtaining success is to gather indiscri- 

 minately everything that presents itself, and 

 having conveyed the cargo to a place of shelter, 

 deliberately to examine the heap. By so doing, 

 the valuable objects will be retained, and the 

 useless rejected, without so much danger of 

 passing over the one or preserving the other, as 

 if the choice were made immediately. After a 

 time, the eye will become so accustomed to note 

 distinguishing characters, that such a process will 

 be no longer required, and the eye will make its 

 selection a"*" once. 



Among the singularly shaped substances that 

 are found thrown on the sands, are the eggs 

 of various marine creatures. Many of these eggs 

 are so curiously formed, that they would hardly 



