SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
37 
all, are rounded and smooth, some of them wearing as fine a 
touch of polish as the laboured gems of the lapidary. This 
is the handiwork of the rolling waves beating from time to 
time upon the pebbles of the shore, and in the might of 
their fury pitching them to the highest altitudes of their 
reach. And what a galaxy of shells for the amusement of 
the collector, some of them crumbling into the "dust of 
ages " under the touch ; others are as hard as adamant, and 
still as perfect in the colour and symmetry of their native 
beauty. 
All these at one time were the impervious abodes of 
creatures that enjoyed life and accomplished the respective 
tasks Nature's great designer intended them to perform. 
About thirty feet or so further seaward is a bed of larger 
stones ; from its appearance and position we would suppose 
it to be a splendid nursery for the whelk tribes. These 
molluscs, being egg producers, instinctively select the most 
advantageous spots on the shore for the propagation of their 
young. Did they deposit their ova on a gravel bed, such as 
this on which we stand, the rolling and surging of the 
waves would quickly pound it into jelly; but the stones 
beyond being large and firmly wedged together, and not so 
easily surged about, afford safe protection in the numerous 
crevices beneath. Yes, it is indeed a perfect nursery ; 
every stone is dotted over with dozens of the little 
creatures adhering to it in various stages of growth. Let us 
pick up one of the smaller stones and carry it to yonder 
boulder for microscopical inspection. From a scrutiny with 
the naked eye we can count upwards of two dozen, but 
under the influence of the glass we can easily double 
the number. The numerous little black dots scattered 
about, little bigger than the point of a sharp steel pen, are 
creatures already in a perfect state of form. In a crevice 
