331 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 24, 1858. 
settle. I may here note, that the bees seem to show no op¬ 
position to the deadly attacks of the queen on her rivals, after 
they have left their cells, and likewise, that when bad weather, 
or some other cause difficult to explain, prevents the old 
queen from leaving the hive before her offspring of brood 
queens are hatched, the instant that she hears them her fury 
is roused, and she tears open the cells, inserts her abdomen, 
j and stings to death the whole stock of queens that were de¬ 
signed to establish fresh colonies. When this happens, 
Dunbar observes that the bees show no opposition to the will 
of the old queen, as they do that of the young ones already 
! noticed. I have doubts, however, on this, and think I said 
| so in my reply to him, in connection with the calling of the 
queen bee, in Loudon’s “ Gardeners’ Magazine ” for 1839. 
But, be that as it may, young queens in like manner tear open 
the cells and destroy the supernumerary embryo queens, as 
j also the hatched ones, as soon as swarming lias ceased in the 
| stocks.—J. Wighton. 
I 
ON THE SANDS. 
• * •• 
“ It is the sea, it is the sea, 
In all its vague immensity, 
Feeding and darkening in the distance! 
Silent, majestical, and slow, 
The white ships haunt it to and fro, 
With all their ghostly sails unfurled, 
As phantoms from another world 
Haunt the dim confines of existence.” 
Longfellow. 
Glorious autumn weather, hazy mornings, dazzling days of 
sunshine, the weather to be depended on, and all green and 
j flowery things at their best! After a cold and stormy 
; July, August came in truthful to her traditional character as 
the month of harvest, and rich and poor alike are now in¬ 
haling the odours of wild Thyme, or the fresh bracing 
breezes that carry the salt spray right into the green coves 
among the white Sedum, and the Furze, and the sea Lavender. 
All the world and his wife have taken to dining on the sands, 
and all the mythology they remember is about Neptune and 
the Tritons, just sufficient to give a zest to their seasonable 
pleasures. That we are still a maritime people, let the crowds 
on every slip of approachable seashore now testify ; and that 
the water-pot of aquaria has not been banished from the 
domestic zodiac, witness the anxious search tor sea creatures, 
the ladies especially, giving their heart and soul to minute in¬ 
spections of boulders, rock-pools, and fringes of dripping 
Ulva. There stretches the bright beach that blinds the eyes 
with its glare of straw-colour, as the sun blazes alike over sea 
and sand, and snowy cliff, and towering moorland. The sand 
hillocks are phosphorescent in their sunny glories, and where- 
ever the eye catches sight of a patch oi purple heather on the 
upland, it has the brightness and isolation of a jet of sub¬ 
terranean fire. The touch of brown on the Ferns and Peats 
that fringe the slopes towards the sea, add to the intensity of 
the colouring; and, before the bright panorama, rolls the ma¬ 
jestic sea,—in sheets of azure blue and emerald green, flecked 
here and there with snowflakes, and dashed with broad 
shadows from the clouds and the distant rocks,-—which, with 
all its fret of breakers, and the sublime muttering of the surf 
along the shore in its expansive vastness, conveys the idea of a 
grand and everlasting repose. 
“ Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty 
Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, form 
Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale ; 
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime, or storm, 
Dark-heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime ; 
The image of eternity—the throne 
Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime 
The monsters of the deep are made.” 
If by “monsters” Byron implies things of huge life and 
I growth, then it is not for such we find our way to the sands. 
But “ the slime” is wealthy in wonders ; it is all life; every 
gritty edge swarms with myriads of creatures, every frond of 
Algse is peopled, and, among the fissures of the honey-combed 
rocks near the shore, and far out to the depth of the lowest 
tide, the hand and the eye may busy themselves with the inha¬ 
bitants of Neptune’s kingdom, and make acquaintance with 
creatures that have their place and their work in the grand 
economy of the omnipotent Master of the Sea. The sea is 
His, and He has given man command over its creatures for 
sustenance, for instruction, and for means to marvel at His 
wisdom. Let us explore, for a little while, among the shifting 
pebbles and slippery meadows of sea-weed, the tracings of 
God’s handwriting on the bottom of the sea. 
If you want to study marine Zoology at the sea-side, go 
not to the fashionable promenades. The broad shallows where 
fashion finds its pleasure, and novices take their daily strolls, 
are just the spots that are poorest in natural history. The 
best marine hunting grounds are the deep inlets where the 
tide leaves some water even at ebb, and where the store is 
made up of tumbled rocks and quiet hollows; and, though 
there is sometimes a little danger in venturing too boldly on 
such spots, a quick eye will be pretty sure to detect some 
sort of beaten path to the water’s edge, and to the best of 
rock-pools. It is in such quiet, splashy nooks, that the most 
valued treasures are cast up, and preserved within reach; 
whereas, on the sloping sands there is little to be found 
beyond mere drift, of no value. Take with you a good-sized 
wicker basket, a hammer, a chisel, and a few stone-jars, with 
cords tied round to swing them by: they should each hold 
a quart. A small hand-net is also essential, and if you 
take an attendant, let him put a small crow-bar on his 
shoulder, and swing the basket on it. 
Now r you are off. The tide is out, and if it is the time of 
spring tide, your chances are doubled,* for then a greater 
space is left bare, and many true Pelayics may be met with 
among the lowest of the ledges. Peep into the first pool you 
come to, and you will see nothing. But wait a minute and be 
quiet, and a rippling of the surface will advise you that the 
creatures have got over them alarm. After a few seconds dip 
your hand-net quickly, and ten to one you have a prawn or 
two, a blenny, a stickleback, or a goby. Fill one of your jars 
quickly, and empty the contents of the net into it, and then 
wait again. Next time a soldier crab may come out from 
under a ledge; if so, bag him by a dexterous dip of the net; 
but be in no hurry to handle him, or you may bleed. When 
there seems no more chance of catching lively creatures, begin 
to hunt for the more torpid kinds. You will see, perhaps, a 
little beach of fine pebbles at the bottom of the pool, and no 
sign of life anywhere amongst it. Pass your hand rather 
deeply into it, and bring forth a good handful, and turn it 
out on the nearest flat stone; ten to one you will find one 
or two sea flowers that had made themselves jackets of the 
grit, and so hid in ambush. The lovely Crassicorius or 
coriaceous Anemone loves to hide in this way, entirely covered 
with a coat of pebbles ; but after a short stay in the aquarium 
he shakes them off, and comes out in his true colours, a “ gem 
of the sea.” Next, lift up the banners of Algse, and examine 
their under sides for other sea flowers ; and, as you meet with 
specimens, break away the frond to which they are attached, 
rather than handle the creatures. If fixed on the rock, defer 
attempting to remove them till you have obtained as many as 
can be got without using the chisel. Among the oyster-shells, 
bits of tile, and glass bottles, often found in these hollows, you 
are pretty sure to find Anemones, and in every such case take 
them as they are, without attempting their removal from the I 
nidus. Last of all, determine among those that are attached 
to the rocks which you intend to have. If you can, by a 
smart blow with hammer and chisel, detach a fragment with 
the creatures on it, you will have gained a prize, because they 
have a tenfold chance of prospering afterwards, if never 
touched with the hand. But it may be impossible, even by 
working under water, to break away the part you want; 
the last resource to detach them is sleight of hand. Bear in 
mind what we have already noted down, that Hercules is vul- j 
nerable in the heel, and you must be particularly careful not j 
to rupture the base of an Anemone. Gather your fingers 
round the stem, so as to enclose the whole of it, — the touch 
will cause it to contract so as to be easier of handling. Then ! 
work the thumb-nail under one side of the base, and loosen 
it from its foothold steadily, and without any tearing or : 
jerking. It tries your patience, but it loosens, lets go, and at 
last you have it. Drop it into the vessel, and waste not a 
moment; one jar will hold a vast quantity, and the creatures 
will not fight nor injure each other till their alarm is over. 
Before you finish that particular pool select your marine 
plants. Get as many tufts of Ulva and Enteromorpha as 
* The spring tides for the next two months occur on the following 
dates August 24th; September 7th and 23rd ; October 7th and 22nd. 
I 
