Philip Henry Gosse

“ Take your pocket lens now, and examine the structure of these brilliant organs in detail. Presto! on the slightest movement of your hand towards him, he is gone! He has retreated like a lightning-flash into his tube. But did you notice how cleverly, as he went, he shut the door after him? A most marvellous contrivance is here. Watch it as it again carefully protrudes. There is a solid organ exactly conical, seated at the end of a long flexible stem, which forms the stopper; it is one of a pair of tentacles, but as only one could be of any service as a stopper, one only is developed ”

“ It is not an unmitigated curse under which Creation groans. A Father's hand is manifest in the wisdom and love, which has made the promounced and inevitable sentence to be a corrective discipline, and not a vindictive punishment. What crimes have been prevented, what proficiency in iniquity cut short by the necessity of labour for the support of life! And in like manner tens of thousands are daily kept out of idleness, and its concomitant temptations, by the incessant demands of cleanliness upon toil. ”

“ The sea becomes as smooth as a table, as glassy as a mirror. There is a dancing, glimmering haze all round the horizon, which tells us it is all over with us; and the sun looking out of a sky unveiled by a cloud, pours down his ire upon our heads in the most ferocious manner possible;—and we a couple of leagues from home! ”

“ While I was feeding one of my Soldiers by giving him a fragment of cooked meat, which he having seized with one claw had transferred to the foot-jaws, and was munching, I saw protrude from between the body of the Crab and the Whelk- shell the head of a beautiful Worm, Nereis bilineata, which rapidly glided out round the Crab's right cheek, and, passing between the upper and lower foot-jaws, seized the morsel of food, and, retreating, forcibly dragged it from the Crab's very mouth. ”

“ Thus, if the eye glance along the bristles towards the light, which is reflected at an obtuse angle, the reflected rays will be lilac, passing into ultramarine; if the angle of reflection be a right-angle, the rays will be green; if the light be between the observer and the animal (not directly but obliquely, so as to make the angle of reflection more or less acute) , the reflections will take yellow, orange, scarlet and crimson hues.
As it crawls, the Aphrodite usually elevates the tail, which is so folded together as to form a deep groove beneath. ”

“ I have many times found Hermit-crabs out of their Shells in the mingled mass of a dredge-haul, and on three occasions have watched the method in which the houseless creature domiciliates himself. These were the only occasions on which I endeavoured to observe the operation: they always seem willing enough to exhibit their housing performance.
My plan of observation was simply this:—I put a naked crab into a large glass jar of sea water with one shell, the latter of size about proportioned to the former; and then I contemplated. In each case the crab proceeded in the same way. ”

“ Eyes it seems to have, and most sharp ones; for, as we saw, the animal is peculiarly sensitive to the approach of any object, even though this be on the outside of a glass tank, at the bottom of whose interior it is expanded. Yet I have searched in vain for any distinct organs of vision.
The mechanism by which the Serpula projects its body from its shelly tube, and by which it withdraws on alarm with such inconceivable rapidity, is wondrously curious. ”

“ Yet here and there, along the line of retrospective glance, there are points and prominences, which seem as if they could never die, occurrences which are, as it were, burnt-in on the memory, and which the haziness of approximate scenes and incidents serves only to place in bolder relief; just as an increase of distance often makes more conspicuous the mountain peaks, which the proximity of a multitude of minor objects concealed or obscured. ”

“ The eyes, though evidently alert, are I think less trusted. As the morsel comes within reach, the second feet, the principal organs of prehension, are stretched out, with the two fingers (pincers) widely extended; these seize it with the most easy action possible, and in a moment thrust it towards the mouth.
CLEANLINESS.
Many contemplative minds have been exercised on the immense amount of energy and time that are expended in the mere procuring of food and clothing; and the pious have bowed to the necessity as part of the curse under which the earth still groans on account of sin. ”

“ What is there in this structure that can represent a concave mirror? Yet no one can look at the sight I am speaking of, without feeling certain that the optical process is one of concave reflection and convergence of the rays; and that the reflecting surface is in the interior of the globose compound eye. The reflection is seen whatever part of the eye is opposite the light, (provided it be facetted of course) but is most full direct in front, where no unfacetted portion can be seen. ”

“ When engaged in this operation, the animal commonly throws in the tail under the body, in that manner which we see assumed in the pink specimens that are brought to table, which is not, however, the ordinary posture of life, the body being nearly straight. Then he brings his forefeet to bear on the belly, thrusting the bottle-brushes to and fro, and into every angle and hollow with zealous industry, withdrawing them now and then, and clearing them of dirt by passing them between the foot-jaws. The reason of the inbending of the tail is manifest ”

“ Our bodies, our garments, our furniture, our houses, our streets, are perpetually being cleaned: it is clean, clean, clean,-wash, scrub, scour, brush, sweep,-from morning to night, from week to week, from year to year, a constant unremitting war with dirt; a war hopeless because endless, a war with an enemy that may be kept in check, but can never be conquered. ”

“ It is a doubtful point whether the Soldier is a murderer and free-booter, like Ahab in Naboth's vineyard, slaying before he takes possession, whenever he happens to fancy a tenanted shell, or whether he merely makes free with a house that he finds unoccupied. Wishing to settle the point, I procured a living Whelk of about the size to suit the Crab's necessity, and put it into the tank, when the latter was in the state of uneasiness described above. ”

“ The condition of existence being what it is, a fallen condition, a state in which a proclivity to sin is the universal rule, how merciful is the appointment of a discipline which should directly minister blessing to the mass of mankind in several ways! ”

“ When this species (Pagurus bernhardus) inhabits the shells of the Whelk, it is quite common, though by no means universal, to find the spire of the shell occupied as the seat of that very fine Anemone, Act. parasitica, which rears its tall and stout form like a thick pillar, surmounted by its dense fringe of tentacles that wave, brush-like, with every vagrant movement of the Crab. ”

“ Two of them can scarcely approach each other without manifestations of hostility; each warily stretches out his long feet and feels the other, just as Spiders do, and strives to find an opportunity of seizing his opponent in some tender part with his own strong claws. Generally they are satisfied with the proofs afforded of mutual prowess, and each, finding the other armed at all points, retires; but, not unseldom, a regular passage of arms ensues, the claws are rapidly thrown about, widely gaping and threatening, and the combatants roll over and over in the tussle. ”

“ When viewed with a candle the eyes of the Prawn reflect the light with a glare exactly like that seen in a cat's eyes under similar circumstances. The light, in the case of the Prawn, is seen only when the candle is held between the beholder and the insect, and becomes brighter and larger the more nearly the flame of the candle is brought to the line which unites the observer's eyes and the object. ”

“ If we look at a Serpula recently dead,—which we may readily do, since it is the habit of most tubicolous Annelida to come out to die,—we shall find, with a lens, a pale yellow line running along the upper surface of each foot, transversely to the length of the body. ”

“ You will then see that the front feet are cleansing organs. They are beset with hairs which stand out at right angles to the length of the limb, radiating in all directions, like the bristles of a bottle-brush. You will not see them to advantage, it is true, in dried specimens; but in a living state, or even when preserved in spirits, they are conspicuous enough under a lens. ”

“ A second Whelk-shell in my Aquarium, surmounted also by a Parasitic Actinia, but which has been deserted by the Soldier, retains a Nereis as its tenant: and I know from experience as well as from the report of others, that this showy Worm is usually found, a co-occupant with the Soldier of old shells. The fishermen of Weymouth prize this Worm for bait more than any other; and are so well aware of its habits that they commonly break all Whelks containing Soldiers, in order to extract the Nereis which they know is within. ”

“ Ever and anon the tiny forceps of the hand are employed to seize and pull off any fragment of extraneous matter which clings to the skin too firmly to be removed by brushing; it is plucked off, and thrown away, clear of the body and limbs. ”

“ The different species of Pagurus, and Crabs, as Portunus, exhibit the same phenomenon, but in a lower degree; the disk of light being smaller and of less brilliance; though their eyes are larger. I have seen the same appearance in the eyes of Moths and other nocturnal insects; so that doubtless it is dependent on the common structure of facetted compound eyes. ”

“ Hence we find not only that the procuring of food occupies a large portion of the time and energy of the brute animals, but also that of what remains much is devoted to operations of cleanliness, personal and local. ”

“ Preventively, by limiting our opportunities of evil; temporally by giving support, directly or indirectly, to myriads of persons; and spiritually, by reminding us of an inward uncleanness, which must be effectually purged away, before we can become inhabitants of that city of light and bliss, into which shall enter "nothing that defileth!" ”

“ The association which often exists between animals of different races and even of different classes, is always a curious phenomenon; and the motives which impel to the companionship, no less than the mode in which acquaintance is first formed, are most recondite. ”

“ Occasionally it was dragged quite away from the Crab's jaws, and quickly carried into the recesses of the shell; sometimes in this case he put in one of his claws and recovered his morsel; at others he gave a sudden start at missing his grasp, which frightened the Worm and made it let go and retreat; but sometimes the latter made good his foray, and enjoyed his plunder in secret.
The worm is itself a striking and even handsome animal ”

“ The lofty cliffs of white chalk are interrupted for a little space by a huge promontory of black rock, cutting across the sandy beach, and projecting southward into the sea. The western angle of the mass sends off a spur which runs parallel with the shore, enclosing a snug little cove ”

“ The two species (P. serratus and P. squilla) are so closely alike in their colours and in the distribution of these, that it is only by minute examination and comparison that we can determine what is characteristic of each. The most obvious distinction is, that in the former the outer tail-plate has a yellow line, the intermediate one no spot or rarely a minute speck; the middle plate two parallel specks also minute. In P. squilla each plate has a roundish or squarish spot of yellow, all equal in size, and forming an angular band of spots. ”

“ These organs come into operation when the animal would extrude its body from the mouth of its tube. Their action is manifestly that of pushing against the walls of the interior, which on close examination are seen to be lined with a delicate membrane, exuded from the animal's skin. The opposite feet of one segment protrude the pencils of bristles, one on each side, the acute points of which penetrate and catch in the lining membrane ”

“ It is true we may trace it to the laws of matter; to the excretions of living beings, the natural course of decomposition in organic substances, the abrasion of inorganic surfaces by friction, the laws of motion, of gravitation, and the like. ”

“ No sooner by herculean efforts have we made a successful onslaught on the foe, and apparently subdued him so that he cannot shew his face again, and begin to sit down in complacency, than lo! we descry his unsightly sappers and miners retaking all the points we thought we had secured, and we exclaim, in disappointment and despair ”

“ As long as the candles are in the room, it remains pretty still, but as soon as darkness reigns it sets out on its travels. Not indeed with the railway pace of some of its fellows, does our little ancient travel; he is but a "slow coach;" ”

“ The long antennæ and all the other limbs, are cleaned by means of the foot-jaws principally.
THE SERPULA.
There is scarcely any object more familiar to the eye of one accustomed to dredge, or to pore about the water's edge at extreme low tide, than the tubes of stony or shelly substance which are found adhering, in various contortions and aggregations, to almost every stationary object that is habitually submersed. ”