'Natural History is the appointed handmaiden of Religion, enabling
us to feel and in some humble proportion to appreciate how closely
and how carefully the well-being and happiness of all creatures has
been provided for,--how admirably they are severally adapted to their
respective stations and employments, and how wonderfully every part
of their economy is made subservient to the general good. This is the
true spirit in which the aquarïst ought to work, and this is the end
and object of his science.'--_Rhymer Jones._
[Illustration:
1 & 2 Valves of PHOLAS SHELL
3 _Pholas crispata_, with siphons extended
4 COMMON BRITTLE STAR (_Ophiocoma rosula_) From Nature, showing the
progressive growth of new rays
5 COMMON CROSS-FISH (_Uraster rubens_)]
GLIMPSES OF OCEAN LIFE;
OR,
Rock-Pools and the Lessons they Teach.
BY
JOHN HARPER, F.R.S.S.A.
AUTHOR OF 'THE SEA-SIDE AND AQUARIUM,' ETC.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR.
'_Armado._ How hast thou purchased thy experience?
_Moth._ By my penny of observation.'
SHAKSPEARE.
LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.
MDCCCLX.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD BROUGHAM AND VAUX,
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH,
ETC., ETC., ETC.,
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
Is Inscribed,
AS A TRIFLING TOKEN OF RESPECTFUL ADMIRATION
FOR
UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED GREATNESS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE PLEASURES DERIVED FROM THE STUDY OF MARINE ZOOLOGY.
Page
Introduction--Two classes of readers--Marine zoology
as an amusement--The botanist and his
pleasures--Entomological pursuits--Hidden marvels
of nature--The little Stickleback--Conclusion, 17
CHAPTER II.
A GLANCE AT THE INVISIBLE WORLD.
Microscopic studies--When to use the
microscope--Modern martyrs of science--Infusoria--Use
of Infusoria--Distinction between plants and
animals--_Vorticella_--_Rotatoria_--Wheel
animalcules--Mooring Thread of Vorticellæ--A
compound species of Vorticella described--_Zoothamnium
spirale_ of Mr. Gosse--Nature's scavengers, 27
CHAPTER III.
SEA ANEMONES.
Animal-flowers--_A. mesembryanthemum_--'Granny,'
Sir J. Dalyell's celebrated anemone--Original anecdote--_A.
troglodytes_--How to capture actiniæ--A roving 'mess.'--An
intelligent anemone--Diet of the actiniæ--Voracity of these
zoophytes--Defence of certain species--Actiniæ eating
crabs--Their reproductive powers--Size of the 'crass.'--The
Plumose anemone--Its powers of contraction, 45
CHAPTER IV.
EDIBLE CRAB--SHORE CRAB--SPIDER CRAB, ETC.
The Partane--Its character defended--Crustaceous demons--The
wolf and the lamb--Interesting anecdote--Reason and
instinct--Anecdote of the Shore crab--'The creature's run
awa''--A crustaceous performer--The Fiddler crab--A little
prodigal--Singular conduct of the Shore crab--The minute
Porcelain crab--_Maia squinado_--_Hyas
araneus_--_Maia_ and _C. mænas_--Anecdote--The
common Pea crab--Pinna and Pinnotheres--The Cray
fish--Masticatory organs of crabs--Fishing for
crabs--Crab fishers, 63
CHAPTER V.
HERMIT CRABS.
Enthusiastic students of nature--Aristocratic Hermit
crabs--Swammerdam--Hermit crab and its habits--Anecdote--The
Hermit in a fright--Soldier crab and Limpet--A crustaceous
Diogenes--Prometheus in the tank--The martyr Hermit
crab--The author's pet Blenny--Anecdote, 89
CHAPTER VI.
EXUVIATION OF CRUSTACEA (THE PHENOMENA OF CRABS, ETC.,
CASTING THEIR SHELLS).
The Tower of London--A crustaceous armory--The author's
experience on the subject--Reamur and Goldsmith--Rejected
shells of crabs--Anecdote--Hint to the young
aquarian--Exuviation described from personal observation
in several instances--Renewal of injured limbs--Frequency
of exuviation--Effect of diet on crustacea--Exuviation
arrested--Exuviation of the Hermit crab--How the process
is effected, 109
CHAPTER VII.
PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS.
Habits of the Prawn--The Common Shrimp--How to catch
shrimps--Conclusion, 135
CHAPTER VIII.
ACORN-BARNACLES--SHIP-BARNACLES.
The Common Barnacle described--Exuviation of the
_Balani_--Anecdote--The Ship Barnacle--Barnacle
Geese, 143
CHAPTER IX.
PHYLLODOCE LAMINOSA (THE LAMINATED NEREIS).
A rainy day at the sea-shore--Laminated Nereis--Its
tenacity of life--Its unsuitableness for the aquarium--How
the young annelids are produced--Evidence of a French
naturalist, 151
CHAPTER X.
THE FAN-AMPHITRITE.
Its renewal of mutilated organs--How to accommodate this
annelid in the tank--The 'case' of the
Fan-Amphitrite, 159
CHAPTER XI.
THE COMMON MUSSEL.
Dr. Johnson and Bozzy--Habits of the Mussel--Marine
'at homes'--The Purpura and its habits--Enemies of the
Mussel--Anecdote--Construction of the beard (or
Byssus)--Author's experience--Anecdote of the
mussel--Muscular action of its foot--Threads of the
beard--The bridge at Bideford--Anecdote--The
Mussel tenacious of life--The beard not poisonous--M.
Quatrefage--Mussel beds of Esnandes--Branchiæ of the
Mussel--Food of this bivalve, 163
CHAPTER XII.
TEREBELLA FIGULAS (THE POTTER).
Anecdote of the Potter--Its cephalic tentacula--Construction
of its tubular dwelling--_Terebella littoralis_--Curious
anecdote--Branchial organs of this annelid, 189
CHAPTER XIII.
ACALEPHÆ (MEDUSÆ, OR JELLY-FISH).
Introduction--Jelly-fish--Whales'
food--Lieutenant Maury--Appearance of the Greenland
Seas--Sir Walter Scott--The girdle of Venus--The
Beröe--_Pulmonigrade acalephæ_--Portuguese
man-of-war--_Hydra-tuba_--Alternation of
generations--Dr. Reid--_Modera-formosa_--_Cyanea
capillata_--Conclusion, 201
CHAPTER XIV.
DORIS EOLIS, ETC.
Anecdote--Young Dorides--Doris spawn--_Nudibranchiate
gasteropoda_--Dr. Darwin--Mr. Gosse--A black
Doris--_Bêches de mer_--A Chinese dinner--Bird's
nest soup, and Sea-slug stew, 221
CHAPTER XV.
THE CRAB AND THE DAINTY BEGGAR.
Anecdote--The Pholas and Shore-crab--The
_hyaline stylet_--The dainty beggar--The
gizzard of the Pholas--Of what use is the stylet? 233
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PHOLAS, ETC. (ROCK-BORERS).
Pholades at home--Habits of the Pholas--_P.
crispata_--The pedal organ--Finny gourmands--How is
the boring operation performed?--Various theories on
the subject--Mr Clark, Professor Owen--The Pholas at
work--The boring process described from personal
observation--Author's remarks on the subject--Pholas
in the tank--Conclusion, 241
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SEA-MOUSE.
The Sea-mouse--Bristles of the aphrodite--Its
beautiful plumage (?)--Its weapons
of defence--The spines described--Shape of the
aphrodite, &c., 263
CHAPTER XVIII.
STAR-FISHES, ETC.
The Coral polypes--The Lily-stars--St. Cuthbert's
beads--_Pentacrinus europæus_--Rosy feather star
_Ophiuridæ_--Brittle-stars--_Ophiocomo-rosula_--British
asteridæ--_Uraster rubens_--Habits of this species--Submarine
Dandos--Sir John Dalyell--Professor Jones--Star-fish feeding
on the oyster--Bird's foot Sea-star--_Luidia
fragillissima_--Cushion-stars--Professor Forbes, 269
CHAPTER XIX.
SEA-URCHINS.
Sea Urchins in the tank--Growth of the Echinus--Its
hedgehog-like spines--Suckers and pores--Ambulacral
tubes--Professor Agassiz--Movements of the
Echinus--_Pedicellariæ_--Masticatory
apparatus--Common Egg Urchin--_Echinus sphæra_--How
to remove the spines--'Do you boil your sea eggs?'--The
Green-pea Urchin--The Silky-spined Urchin--The Rosy-heart
Urchin, 287
CHAPTER XX.
THE SEA-CUCUMBER.
Its unattractive appearance out of water--Trepang--Several
varieties eaten by the Chinese--Common Sea Cucumber--Habits
of the Holothuriæ--Their self-mutilation and renewal of
lost parts, 301
CHAPTER XXI.
THE APLYSIA, OR SEA-HARE.
Anecdote--The Sea Hare plentiful at North Berwick--Its
powers of ejecting a purple fluid at certain times--Sea
Hares abhorred by the ancients--Professor Forbes--Spawn
of the Aplysia, 307
CHAPTER XXII.
SERPULÆ AND SABELLÆ.
Tubes of the _Serpulæ_--Dr. Darwin--The harbour
of Pernambuco--Its wonderful structure--Reproduction of
the _Serpulæ_--_Sabellæ_--Their sandy
tubes, &c., 313
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SOLEN, OR RAZOR FISH.
How it burrows in the sand--How specimens are
caught--_Cum grano salis_--Bamboozling the Spout
Fish--Amateur naturalists, and fishermen at the
sea-shore, 321
CHAPTER XXIV.
A GOSSIP ON FISHES--INCLUDING THE ROCKLING, SMOOTH BLENNY,
GUNNEL FISH, GOBY, ETC.
Punch's address to the ocean--Old blue-jackets and the
'galyant' Nelson--The ocean and its inhabitants--Life
beneath the wave--Fishes the happiest of created
things--A fishy discourse by St. Antony of
Padua--Traveller's ne'er do lie?--The veracious
Abon-el-Cassim--Do fishes possess the sense of
hearing--Author's experience--An intelligent Pike
fish--Dr. Warwick--The Blenny in its native
haunts--A 'Little Dombey' fish--Anecdote--The
Viviparous Blenny--The Gunnel fish--Five-bearded
Rockling--Two-spotted Goby--Diminutive
Sucker-fish--Montagu's Sucker--The
Stickleback--Its nest-building habits
described--Conclusion, 327
CHAPTER XXV.
ON THE FORMATION OF MARINE AQUARIÆ, ETC.
Mimic oceans--Practical hints on marine
aquariæ--Various tanks described--The 'gravity
bubble'--Evaporated sea-water--Aquariæ in
France--Sea-water a contraband article across the
Channel--An aquarium on a fine summer's day--The
Lettuce Ulva--Author's tank--'Excavations on a
rocky shore'--Tank 'interiors'--Various centre
pieces--New siphon--Aquariæ difficult to keep in
hot weather--How to remove the opacity of the
tank--New scheme proposed--Conclusion, 353
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
No.
FRONTISPIECE, 1
COMPOUND VORTICELLÆ, 2
"GRANNY," Sir John Dalyell's celebrated Anemone, 3
A. TROGLODYTES, 4
A. CRASSICORNIS, 5
EDIBLE CRAB, 6
EDIBLE CRAB casting its Shell (from Nature), 7
SPIDER CRAB, 8
SHORE CRAB, 9
PORCELAIN CRAB, 10
HERMIT CRAB, 11
HERMIT CRAB in Shell of Large Whelk, 12
SHIP BARNACLES, 13
ACORN BARNACLES attached to Shell of the Limpet, 14
THE LIMPET, as seen from beneath, 15
LAMINATED NEREIS, 16
COMMON MUSSEL,--Shell open, 17
COMMON MUSSEL,--Shell closed, 18
THE BERÖE, 19
FAN AMPHITRITE, 20
TEREBELLA FIGULUS, 21
TEREBELLA LITTORALIS, 22
THE SEA-MOUSE, 23
DORIS, 24
YOUNG OF DORIS, 25
EOLIS, 26
THE PHOLAS, and Valves of its Shell, 27
THE BRITTLE STAR, 28
COMMON CROSS-FISH, 29
COMMON SUN-STAR (with 14 rays), 30
PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, 31
PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, Spine of, 32
PURPLE-TIPPED SEA-URCHIN, Suckers of, 33
THE APLYSIA, or SEA-HARE, 34
TEETH of the SEA-URCHIN (two views), 35
THE SEA-CUCUMBER, 36
SERPULÆ attached to piece of rock, 37
THE SOLEN, or RAZOR FISH, 38
THE BLENNY, 39
THE VIVIPAROUS BLENNY, 40
THE SPOTTED BLENNY, or GUNNEL-FISH, 41
THE MONTAGU SUCKER-FISH (three views), 42
THE MONTAGU SUCKER-FISH, Sucker of (magnified), 43
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
On the Pleasures derived from the Study of Marine Zoology.
'Woe to the man--
Who studies nature with a wanton eye,
Admires the work, but slips the lesson by.'
I.
As every fresh branch of investigation in natural history has a
tendency to gather around it a rapidly accumulating literature, some
explanation may probably be looked for from an author who offers a new
contribution to the public. And when, as in the present instance, the
writer's intentions are of an humble kind, it is the more desirable
that he should state his views at the outset. Nor can the force of this
claim be supposed to be lessened, from the gratifying fact, that the
present writer has already received a warm welcome from the public.
But, before entering upon any personal explanations, it may not be out
of place, in an introductory chapter such as the present, to bring
under review some of the objections which have been, and still continue
to be urged against this, in common with other departments of study,
which are attempted to be made popular. No branch of natural history
has been subjected to more disparaging opposition, partly, it must be
owned, from the misplaced enthusiasm of over zealous students, than
that of marine zoology.
There are two classes of readers, different in almost all other
respects, whose sympathies are united in dislike of such works as this.
The one, represented by men distinguished for their powers of original
research, are apt to undervalue the labours of such as are not,
strictly speaking, scientific writers. There is another class who, from
the prejudice of ignorance, look upon marine zoology as too trivial,
from the homeliness and minuteness of its details. The wonders of
astronomy, and the speculations suggested by geological studies, nay,
the laws of organization as exhibited in the higher forms of animal
life, are clear enough to this class of readers; but it is not easy to
convince them that design can be extracted from a mussel, or that a
jelly-fish exhibits a marvellous power of construction.
Now, in my belief, the opposition of the better educated of these two
classes of readers is the more dangerous, as it is unquestionably the
more ungenerous. If Professor Ansted, when treating of the surprising
neglect of geology, could thus express himself--'How many people do
we meet, otherwise well educated, who look with indifference, or even
contempt on this branch of knowledge,'--how much oftener may the
student of the humble theme of marine zoology bewail the systematic
depreciation of persons even laying claim to general scientific
acquirements. This may be illustrated by an observation, made in a
northern university, by a celebrated professor of Greek to a no less
celebrated professor of natural history. The latter, intently pursuing
his researches into the anatomy of a Nudibranche lying before him,
was startled by the sudden entrance of his brother professor, who
contemptuously advised him to give up skinning slugs, and take to more
manly pursuits.
There is one light in which the study of marine zoology may be
regarded, without necessarily offending the susceptibilities of the
learned, or exciting the sneers of the ignorant. The subject may be
pursued as an amusement--a pastime, if you will; and it is in no
higher character than that of a holiday caterer, that the author asks
the reader's company to the sea-side. No lessons but the simplest are
attempted to be conveyed in this little volume, and these in as quiet
and homely a style as possible.
Even in the light of an amusement, the author has something to say in
behalf of his favourite study. He believes it to be as interesting,
and fully as instructive as many infinitely more popular. For example:
The sportsman may love to hear the whirr of the startled pheasant, as
it springs from the meadow, and seeks safety in an adjoining thicket.
I am as much pleased with the rustling of a simple crab, that runs for
shelter, at my approach, into a rocky crevice, or beneath a boulder,
shaggy with corallines and sea-weed. He, too, while walking down some
rural lane, may love to see a blackbird hastily woo the privacy of a
hawthorn bush, or a frightened hare limp across his path, and strive to
hide among the poppies in the corn-field; I am equally gratified with
the sight of a simple razor-fish sinking into the sand, or with the
flash of a silver-bodied fish darting across a rock-pool.
Nay, even the trembling lark that mounts upwards as my shadow falls
upon its nest among the clover, is not a more pleasant object to my
eye, than the crustaceous hermit, who rushes within his borrowed
dwelling at the sound of footsteps. In fact, the latter considerably
more excites my kindly sympathies, from its mysterious curse of
helplessness. It cannot run from danger, but can only hide itself
within its shelly burden, and trust to chance for protection.
Neither the botanist nor the florist do I envy. The latter may love to
gather the 'early flowrets of the year,' or pluck an opening rose-bud,
but, although very beautiful, his treasures are ephemeral compared with
mine.
'Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.'
But I can gather many simple ocean flowers, or weeds that--
'Look like flowers beneath the flattering brine,'
whose prettily tinted fronds will 'grow, bloom, and luxuriate' for
months upon my table. They do not want careful planting, or close
attention, or even--
'Like their earthly sisters, pine for drought,'
but are strong and hardy, like the pretty wild flowers that adorn our
fields and hedge-rows. In the pages of an album, I can, if so disposed,
feast my eyes for years upon their graceful forms, whilst their colours
will remain as bright as when first transplanted from their native
haunts by the sea-shore.
The entomologist delights to stroll in the forest and the field, to
hear the pleasant chirp of the cricket in the bladed grass, to watch
the honey people bustling down in the blue bells, or even to net the
butterfly as it settles on the sweet pea-blossom, while I am content to
ramble along the beach, and watch the ebb and flow of the restless sea--
'So fearful in its spleeny humours bent,
So lovely in repose--'
or search for nature's treasures among the weed-clad rocks left bare by
the receding tide.
A disciple of the above mentioned branch of natural history will
dilate with rapture upon the wondrous transformations which many of
his favourite insects undergo. But none that he can show surpasses in
grandeur and beauty the changes which are witnessed in many members of
the marine animal kingdom. He points to the leaf, to the bloom upon
the peach, brings his microscope and bids me peer in, and behold
the mysteries of creation which his instrument unfolds. 'Look,' he
says, pointing to the verdant leaf, 'at the myriads of beings that
inhabit this simple object. Every atom,' he exultingly exclaims, 'is
a standing miracle, and adorned with such qualities, as could not be
impressed upon it by a power less than infinite!' Agreed. But has not
the zoologist equal reason to be proud of his science and its hidden
marvels? Can he not exhibit equal miracles of divine power?
Take, as an example, one of the monsters of the deep, the whale; and
we shall find, according to several learned writers, that this animal
carries on its back and in its tissues a mass of creatures so minute,
that their number equals that of the entire population of the globe. A
single frond of marine algæ, in size
'No bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,'
may contain a combination of living zoophytic beings so infinitely
small, that in comparison the 'fairies' midwife' and her 'team of
little atomies' appear monsters as gigantic, even as the whale or
behemoth, opposed to the gnat that flutters in the brightest sunbeam.
Again: in a simple drop of sea-water, no larger than the head of a pin,
the microscope will discover a million of animals. Nay, more; there are
some delicate sea-shells(_foraminifera_) so minute that the point of a
fine needle at one touch crushes hundreds of them.
'Full nature swarms with life; one wondrous mass
Of animals, or atoms organized,
Waiting the vital breath when Parent Heaven
Shall bid his spirit flow.'
Lastly, How fondly some writers dwell upon the many touching instances
of affection apparent in the feathered tribe, and narrate how carefully
and how skilfully the little wren, for example, builds its nest, and
tenderly rears its young. I have often watched the common fowl, and
admired her maternal anxiety to make her outspread wings embrace
the whole of her unfledged brood, and keep them warm. The cat, too,
exhibits this characteristic love of offspring in a marked degree. She
will run after a rude hand that grasps one of her blind kittens, and,
if possible, will lift the little creature, and run away home with it
in her mouth. Now, whether we look at the singular skill of the bird
building its nest, the hen sitting near and protecting its brood, or
the cat grasping her young in its jaws, and carrying them home in
safety, we shall find that all these charming traits are wonderfully
combined in one of the humblest members of the finny tribe, viz., the
common stickleback,--the little creature that boys catch by thousands
with a worm and a pin,--that lives equally content in the clear blue
sea or the muddy fresh water pool.
The author now finds that he has been much too prolix in these
preliminary observations to leave himself space for a lengthened
explanation of his reasons for again intruding upon the public. These
are neither original nor profound. But he cannot help expressing an
earnest hope that he may get credit from old friends, and perhaps from
some new, for wishing to show that the book of nature is as open as it
is varied and inexhaustible; and that, however jealously guarded are
many of the great secrets of organization, a knowledge of some of the
most familiar objects tends to inspire us alike with wonder and with
awe.