Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
164
Glaucus; Or, The Wonders of the Shore
·
Charles Kingsley
50
Now
for
the
tapering
brown
spires.
They
are
Turritellæ,
snail-like
animals
(though
the
form
of
the
shell
is
different),
who
crawl
and
browse
by
thousands
on
the
beds
of
Zostera,
or
grass
wrack,
which
you
see
thrown
about
on
the
beach,
and
which
grows
naturally
in
two
or
three
fathoms
water.
Stay:
here
is
one
which
is
“more
than
itself.”
On
its
back
is
mounted
a
cluster
of
barnacles
(Balanus
Porcatus),
of
the
same
family
as
those
which
stud
the
tide-rocks
in
millions,
scratching
the
legs
of
hapless
bathers.
Of
them,
I
will
speak
presently;
for
I
may
have
a
still
more
curious
member
of
the
family
to
show
you.
But
meanwhile,
look
at
the
mouth
of
the
shell;
a
long
grey
worm
protrudes
from
it,
which
is
not
the
rightful
inhabitant.
He
is
dead
long
since,
and
his
place
has
been
occupied
by
one
Sipunculus
Bernhardi;
a
wight
of
low
degree,
who
connects
“radiate”
with
annulate
forms—
in
plain
English,
sea-cucumbers
(of
which
we
shall
see
some
soon)
with
sea-worms.
But
however
low
in
the
scale
of
comparative
anatomy,
he
has
wit
enough
to
take
care
of
himself;
mean
ugly
little
worm
as
he
seems.
For
finding
the
mouth
of
the
Turritella
too
big
for
him,
he
has
plastered
it
up
with
sand
and
mud
(Heaven
alone
knows
how),
just
as
a
wry-neck
plasters
up
a
hole
in
an
apple-tree
when
she
intends
to
build
therein,
and
has
left
only
a
round
hole,
out
of
which
he
can
poke
his
proboscis.
A
curious
thing
is
this
proboscis,
when
seen
through
the
magnifier.
You
perceive
a
ring
of
tentacles
round
the
mouth,
for
picking
up
I
know
not
what;
and
you
will
perceive,
too,
if
you
watch
it,
that
when
he
draws
it
in,
he
turns
mouth,
tentacles
and
all,
inwards,
and
so
down
into
his
stomach,
just
as
if
you
were
to
turn
the
finger
of
a
glove
inward
from
the
tip
till
it
passed
into
the
hand;
and
so
performs,
every
time
he
eats,
the
clown’s
as
yet
ideal
feat,
of
jumping
down
his
own
throat.
{72}
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
