37 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 16, 1860. 
There were no less than 19 exhibitions in this class, and 10 
exliibitions in Class F. 
Mr. Hope, gardener to Lady Buxton, East Ham, Essex, sent 
some very fine specimens of Apples; and also Golden Drop, 
Reine Claude de Bavay, and Goliath Plums. Mr. Snow also 
had a magnificent dish of Coe’s Golden Drop, and some excellent 
Reine Claude de Bavay. 
Mr. Bailey, of Newnham, exhibited a fine Seedling Melon, 
which received a First-class Certificate; and Mr. Oates, gardener 
at Stoneleigh Abbey, received a First-class Certificate for a very 
fine Seedling Pine Apple. 
Messrs. Veitch & Son sent two Seedling Sweet-kernelled 
Peaches. Mr. Webster, of Gordon Castle, sent a very promising 
Seedling Plum; and Mr. Ingram, of Frogmore, sent a Seedling 
Green Gage and a Seedling Nectarine. 
WHAT TO LOOK FOR OFT THE SEASHORE. 
(Continued from page 23 ) 
CLYPEASTERLE, 
The second family of Echinidse, so called from them shield¬ 
like form. 
The Green Pea Urchin ( Echinocgamus pusillus). —This 
creature—which is regarded as a link between the true Echini 
and the Spatangacese, having the teeth of the former and the 
spines of the latter—is the most diminutive of all the British 
Urchins, and at the same time one of the commonest and 
prettiest. Its form is generally ovate, the posterior extremity 
rather the broader; its spines are short, and closely packed. 
When alive it is of a lustrous green colour, somewhat resembling 
the beautiful sheen seen on the wing-sheaths of certain beetles ; 
but when cast up dead on the shore, as it is commonly seen, it 
becomes of a dirty white colour. 
It is very frequently found among shell sand, and may be met 
with on most, if not all, parts of the British coast from Devon 
to Shetland, both east and west. It is very abundant in the 
Irish Sea, and is found at Guernsey at low water. 
The Cake Urchin (Echinarachnius placenta) .—This creature 
peesents a remarkable resemblance in shape to the true Star 
Fishes, especially in its under surface. It is circular in form and 
very flat, the centre only being slightly prominent. The apex is 
occupied by a tubercle or button, from whence radiate five pairs 
of ambulacra. The plates between the ambulacra are furnished 
with spiniferous granules ; the base is almost flat, and the mouth 
situated in the centre. The interior of the Cake Urchin is very 
! curiously strengthened by calcareous plates, and the spines with 
which the creature is furnished are extremely minute. 
Spatangacea:, 
The third family of Echinidse, so called from their heart-like 
appearance. 
The Purple Heart Urchin (Spatangus purpureas).— This 
is one of the handsomest of the British Echinidse, and much the 
SPATANGUS TURPUREUS WITH SPINES PARTLY REMOVED TO SHOW THE 
SHELL BENEATH. 
largest of our native Spatangi—or, indeed, it may be said to be 
the only native species. It grows to the length of four inches 
by three and a half broad, and sometimes larger. It is of a 
deep purple colour with pale spines, some of which are very 
long and curved, as on the back; others—those, indeed, which 
cover the greater part of the body—are short and close-pressed, 
and directed towards the posterior extremity, as is particularly 
the case with this family, the members of which delight in 
burying themselves in the sand or mud, and if the spines inclined 
in the other direction this process would be materially inter¬ 
fered with. It is broadly heart-shaped and depressed. If the 
spines be rubbed off the structure and marking of the shell are 
.well displayed. A star is seen on the upper portion formed by 
the four leaf-shaped ambulacra, and the whole upper surface is 
rough, with the little eminences for the smaller spines. Between 
the ambulacra are larger eminences for the larger spines, and 
similar protuberances mark the under surface. 
This Heart Urchin is rather rare in England, but it has been 
taken at Weymouth. It is said to be common in the Frith of 
Forth, and abundant on the scallop banks of the Isle of Man. 
The Common Heart Urchin (Arnphidotus cordatus). —This 
is the commonest of all the Heart Urchins, abounding in all our 
AJIFHIDOTUS CORDATUS DIVESTED OF SPINES. 
sandy bays, and after a storm cast up on the shore in large 
numbers. It is called indifferently Mermaid’s Head, Child’s 
Head Urchin, and Hairy Sea Egg. In form it is heart-shaped 
and broad, having its dorsal centre much depressed. The spines 
are hair-like, and it is much given to burrowing. When alive 
it is of a yellowish-white colour, and is usually about an inch and 
three-quarters in length by very nearly the same breadth. 
The Rosy Heart Urchin (Arnphidotus roseus). —Is com¬ 
monly when alive of a rose colour, oval in form, with the back 
convex. It is thickly clothed with long curved spines, directed, 
as usual with its tribe, towards the posterior extremity. It is 
found in Ireland, and in England off the Cornish coast, also in 
[ deep water off the shores of the Isle of Man. 
This creature completes the Echinidse. We now proceed to 
notice the strange group known as Sea Cucumbers—Holo- 
thuridse.—W. 
(To he continued.) 
DOWNTON PEAR —CULTURE OF TRITONIA 
AUREA AND SOLANUM CAPSICASTRUM. 
1. Of what quality is the Downton Pear, and when to be 
gathered ? Is it a dessert or kitchen fruit ? 
2. When is Tritonia aurea to be separated, as I have a large 
pot (No. 12), full; and last year, although apparently at rest 
was found to be full of life when turned out. White shoots 
were running round the pot like Couch Grass. # 
3. I have some plants of Solanum capsicastrum in 48 s.. 
Although blossoming, they do not set any fruit. Are they worth 
keeping through the winter in a cool pit with flue, or should I 
raise fresh plants in the spring ?—H. K. 
[1. The Downton Pear is a dessert fruit of inferior quality. It 
ripens in December and January. 
2. This is the right time to divide Tritonia aurea, and there 
are two ways of doing it. The first way is, when one has enough 
of it, to cut such a ball as yours into four or six parts, like 
cutting an Apple; and the second, or nursery-way, is to shake 
all the soil from the tangled roots, and to separate every bulb, 
and every runner from a bulb, to pot the bulbs so many in a 
pot, and to pot the runners so many by themselves. At that 
