H. N. Moseley

“ As Professor Lovèn writes, "The littoral region comprises the favored zones of the sea where light and shade, a genial temperature, currents changeable in power and direction, a rich vegetation spread over extensive areas, abundance of food, of prey to allure, of enemies to withstand or evade, represent an infinitude of agents competent to call into play the tendencies to vary which are embodied in each species, and always ready by modifying its parts to respond to the influences of external conditions." ”

“ The entire terrestrial fauna has sprung from colonists contributed by the littoral zone. Every terrestrial vertebrate bears in its early stages the gill-slits of its aquatic ancestor. All organs of aerial respiration are mere modifications of apparatus previously connected with aquatic respiration, excepting, perhaps, in the case of Tracheata, tracheæ being most likely modifications of skin-glands, as appears probable from their condition in Peripatus. The oldest known air-breathing animals are insects and scorpions, which have lately been found in Silurian strata. ”

“ It is because all terrestrial and deep-sea animal forms have passed through a littoral phase of existence, and that the littoral animals retain far better than those of any other faunal region the recapitulative larval phases by means of which alone the true histories of their origins can be recovered, that marine zoölogical laboratories on the coast have made so many brilliant discoveries in zoölogy during late years. ”