ACCOUNT OF GENERAL MEETINGS AND ANNUAL MEETING. 137 
pleasure at seeing such a good attendance. The first business of 
the meeting was the nomination of officers and Council of the 
Society for 1915. The only members' exhibit was a specimen of 
the white Water lily, by Miss Roper. This plant was included in 
the local collection gathered by Dr. Stevens between 1840 and 
1850, but had never been met with since until the present year, 
when Miss Roper and her brother found it growing in a rhine 
between Nailsea and Tickenham. The President then called on 
Miss May to give her address on " The Animal Life of the Sea- 
shore," which proved deeply interesting, being illustrated with 
lantern slides and specimens. 
There are, said the lecturer, two main types of beaches, viz., 
the rocky shore abounding in pools left by the tide, and the flat, 
sandy beach. Between are every gradation. The rocky coasts 
abound in animals which inhabit the pools, whereas it is only 
close to the low water line on sandy shores that animals have 
their natural habitat, though many interesting species are found 
among the refuse of the high tide mark. Miss May then gave 
some accounts of the animal life she had met with among the 
rocks of the Cornish coast and on flat shores. Among the former 
she mentioned the sea anemones, two species of which are nearly 
always found in whelk shells inhabited by the hermit crab, an 
association which, in some ways, tends to their mutual advan- 
tage. Possibly the anemone feeds on the refuse of the hermit 
crabs' food, while it protects the latter from some enemies. 
Above the high tide line rock pools of brackish water sometimes 
occur which are rarely reached by the sea. These often contain 
species of animals different from the other pools. At Clevedon 
they abounded in a large crustacean resembling a wood louse. 
On sandy shores marine worms, such as the lugworm and burrow- 
ing molluscs like the razor shell, lived close to the low water line, 
while in the dry sand sand-hoppers abounded. Large numbers of 
animal forms were found among the seaweed thrown up at high 
tide, many of which the lecturer described. They included 
sponges, hydrozoa (often mistaken for seaweeds), polyzoa, of 
which the sea mat (Flustra) is a familiar example, annelids 
(including the sea-mouse, Aphrodite), molluscs, echinoderms 
(starfish and sea urchins), tunicata (sea squirts), &c. Eggs of 
marine animals are very common. 
Miss Roper congratulated Miss May on her very comprehensive 
lecture. ^ Dr. Rudge, after complimenting the lecturer, spoke of 
a very interesting group of fishes, viz., the pipe-fishes, often 
found in rock pools. Mr. T. H. Davis added that pipe-fishes 
were very abundant in Jersey. A hearty vote of thanks to Miss 
May concluded the meeting. 
