第22章

Colonel Montagu found them here some forty years ago； and after him， Mr. Alder， in 1845. I found hundreds of them， but only once， in 1854 after a heavy south-eastern gale， washed up among the great Lutrariae in a cove near Goodrington； but all my dredging outside failed to procure a specimen - Mr. Alder， however， and Mr. Cocks (who find everything， and will at last certainly catch Midgard， the great sea-serpent， as Thor did， by baiting for him with a bull's head)， have dredged them in great numbers； the former， at Helford in Cornwall， the latter on the west coast of Scotland. It seems， however， to be a southern monster， probably a remnant， like the great cockle， of the Mediterranean fauna；for Mr. MacAndrew findsthem plentifully in Vigo Bay， and J. M 乴 lerin the Adriatic， offTrieste.

But what is it like？ Conceive a very fat short earth-worm； not ringed， though， like the earth-worm， but smooth and glossy， dappled with darker spots， especially on one side， which may be the upper one. Put round its mouth twelve little arms， on each a hand with four ragged fingers， and on the back of the hand a stump of a thumb， and you have Synapta Digitata (Plates IV. and V.， from my drawings of the live animal). These hands it puts down to its mouth， generally in alternate pairs， but how it obtains its food by them is yet a mystery， for its intestines are filled， like an earth-worm's， with the mud in which it lives， and from which it probably extracts (as does the earth-worm) all organic matters.

You will find it stick to your fingers by the whole skin， causing， if your hand be delicate， a tingling sensation； and if you examine the skin under the microscope， you will find the cause. The whole skin is studded with minute glass anchors， some hanging freely from the surface， but most imbedded in the skin. Each of these anchors is jointed at its root into one end of a curious cribriform plate， - in plain English， one pierced like a sieve， which lies under the skin， and reminds one of the similar plates in the skin of the White Cucumaria， which I will show you presently； and both of these we must regard as the first rudiments of an Echinoderm's outside skeleton， such as in the Sea-urchins covers thewhole body of the animal. (See on Echinus Millaris， p. 89.) (7) Somewhat similar anchor-plates， from a Red Sea species， Synapta Vittata， may be seen in any collection of microscopic objects.

The animal， when caught， has a strange habit of self-destruction， contracting its skin at two or three different points， and writhing till it snaps itself into "junks，" as the sailors would say， and then dies. My specimens， on breaking up， threw out from the wounded part long "ovarian filaments" (whatsoever those may be)， similar to those thrown out by many of the Sagartian anemones， especially S. parasitica. Beyond this， I can tell you nothing about Synapta， and only ask you to consider its hands， as an instance of that fantastic play of Nature which repeats， in families widely different， organs of similar form， though perhaps of by no means similar use； nay， sometimes (as in those beautiful clear-wing hawk-moths which you， as they hover round the rhododendrons， mistake for bumble-bees) repeats the outward form of a whole animal， for no conceivable reason save her - shall we not say honestly His？ - own good pleasure.

But here we are at the old bank of boulders， the ruins of an antique pier which the monks of Tor Abbey built for their convenience， while Torquay was but a knot of fishing huts within a lonely limestone cove. To get to it， though， we have passed many a hidden treasure； for every ledge of these flat New-red-sandstone rocks， if torn up with the crowbar， discloses in its cracks and crannies nests of strange forms which shun the light of day； beautiful Actiniae fill the tiny caverns with living flowers； great Pholades (Plate X. figs. 3， 4) bore by hundreds in the softer strata； and wherever a thin layer of muddy sand intervenes between two slabs， long Annelid worms of quaintest forms and colours have their horizontal burrows， among those of that curious and rare radiate animal， the Spoonworm， (8) an eyeless bag about an inch long， half bluish grey， half pink， with a strange scalloped and wrinkled proboscis of saffron colour， which serves， in some mysterious way， soft as it is， to collect food， and clear its dark passage through the rock.

See， at the extreme low-water mark， where the broad olive fronds of the Laminariae， like fan-palms， droop and wave gracefully in theretiringripples， a great boulder which will serve our purpose. Its upper side is a whole forest of sea-weeds， large and small； and that forest， if you examined it closely， as full of inhabitants as those of the Amazon or the Gambia. To "beat" that dense cover would be an endless task： but on the under side， where no sea- weeds grow， we shall find full in view enough to occupy us till the tide returns. For the slab， see， is such a one as sea-beasts love to haunt. Its weed-covered surface shows that the surge has not shifted it for years past. It lies on other boulders clear of sand and mud， so that there is no fear of dead sea-weed having lodged and decayed under it， destructive to animal life. We can see dark crannies and caves beneath； yet too narrow to allow the surge to wash in， and keep the surface clean. It will be a fine menagerie of Nereus， if we can but turn it.

Now the crowbar is well under it； heave， and with a will； and so， after five minutes' tugging， propping， slipping， and splashing， the boulder gradually tips over， and we rush greedily upon the spoil.

A muddy dripping surface it is， truly， full of cracks and hollows， uninviting enough at first sight： let us look it round leisurely， to see if there are not materials enough there for an hour's lecture.