128 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
we notice her little basket is half filled with sea weed, and 
we now see she is selecting particular specimens of the 
vegetation of the shore. Her choice seems to be centred 
very much in the pretty little hryopsis and the common 
Caroline, little feathery branching plants which, when pre- 
served in a clear glass bottle of sea water, present a beautiful 
appearance. Our young lady has found a healthful occupa- 
tion and also a useful one. Her object is the preservation 
of the plants in the same fashion as the flowers and ferns 
of the fields are preserved in the flower albums of the lovers 
of Nature. Commendable pastime. Would that our coast- 
going young ladies would emulate it more. It would, at 
least, give their cheeks a ruddier glow. 
Continuing our course down the long sandy stretch, 
almost the only traces of life we find are the little rope- 
coils of sand sent up to the surface by the worms below. 
A few shells and the scattered limbs of a crab are all we 
meet with on the surface of the clean, firm sand; but see, 
there, rolling on the lip of the gentle ripple, is the complete 
body of a weakling, namely "the sea adder." Something 
possibly he has devoured has sickened him to death, and 
he has sought the shore to die. This is a strange peculiarity 
in the creatures of the deep ; when they find death approach- 
ing they make for the shore. The reason no doubt is when 
they become ill and unfit for the competition of their active 
life, they seek an obscure nook in the quiet waters of the 
shore, to be beyond the molesting jaws of their fellows, in 
which to die in peace. When the creatures of the deep 
become ill they have very little sympathy from the strong 
and healthy, but are tossed aside or torn to pieces and 
devoured. Even in the quiet waters of the tank I have 
seen the dying weakling tossed about by the strong ones 
like an old shoe, just as if for sport; but sometimes I have 
