110 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
he is the gentleman of his race — the " aristocrat," as some 
one calls him. Armed, on the one side, with a pair of 
sharp, powerful nippers — in which he seems to have great 
confidence — and on the other, having three legs, on each 
side, between, with a pair of beautifully constructed 
paddles, with which he can raise himself from the depths 
below, and, leaving his envious brethren behind, skim along 
the surface of the sunny sea. His flight through the water, 
in an upward course, very much resembles the flutter of the 
butterfly ; but in his diagonal downward course his motion 
VELVET FIDDLEF. 
is as graceful and smooth as the flight of the swallow. 
Here, in a convenient spot in front of the glass, our 
beautiful lima affords us an interview. How such a fragile 
creature escapes the devouring jaws of the numerous 
cannibals it lives amongst is something of an enigma. To 
the naked eye its beauty is apparent; but let us apply the 
lens. The slightly corrugated valves, which are of a light 
grey colour, and shaped something like those of the mussel, 
are surmounted all round, when closed, by a beautiful thick 
fringe of tentacles or arms. These are insectioned through- 
