ig6 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[October 



cliffs, find we a narrow gully, inaccessable except at low water, and a 

 wonderfully rich place for collecting. The water accumulates to a 

 considerable depth, even when the tide has left the approaches bare, 

 and some difficulty will be experienced in crossing ; indeed the attempt 

 resulted in ignominious failure and a thorough wetting. Be it under- 

 stood, however, we speak not collectively but individually, for Mr. 

 R 's pseudo-breeches enabled him to succeed where the chron- 

 icler failed, and that was the solitary advantage that the owner ever 

 seemed to derive from his possessions. Large numbers of deep red 

 anemones spangle the precipitous face of the rock, and though the re- 

 ceding waters have shorn them of their beauty, there is no difficulty in 

 recognising Actinia mesembryanthemum, or the " Beadlet," the com- 

 monest species in the district. Innumerable colonies of Campanularian 

 Zoophytes clothe the rocks, and a careful scrutiny of the dripping, 

 tangled masses, will reveal a creature of strange form and still stranger 

 habits. Our attention is drawn to its presence, in the first instance, 

 by noting that a small colony of the Zoophytes appears endowed with 

 a degree of unusual vitality. We delicately remove the suspicious 

 mass and transfer it to a tube of sparkling water, dipped from the pool 

 at our feet. And is it not refreshing to exchange the filthy, muddy 

 waters of the swift flowing Mersey, for fair Mona's crystal tide, in 

 which we may dip and plunge without undergoing the contaminating 

 influence of a neighbouring drain ? Sine dubis ! 



What have we in our tube, to what tribe or group in the Animal 

 Kingdom can this whimsical creature belong ? Behold it, how it 

 makes obeisance with bow profound, on this hand, on the other ! Our 

 fancy decks it with white tie and gown of sombre hue, its elevated 

 pedestal a sacerdotal rostrum, while courtly bows and flourishes 

 emphasize discourse pragmatical ; and, to complete the conceit, see 

 in the nodding plumes of zoophytes the of times drowsy assembly, 

 necessarily profiting but little from such inaudible oratory, (sic). 



It is a fine and well-grown specimen of Caprella linearis, an exceeding- 

 ly common crustacean, for by pulling up several tufts of the Campanula- 

 ria, we shall see them gesticulating fiercely as soon as the water gives 

 them the freedom of motion they need. The body walls of Caprella 

 are very transparent, and the viscera clearly outlined by the presence 

 of food matter ; hence, we possess in this creature a supremely in- 

 teresting microscopical study. The beautiful compound eyes, the 

 prehensile limbs with their powerful muscular attachments, and the 



