Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
164
Glaucus; Or, The Wonders of the Shore
·
Charles Kingsley
79
The
first
object
which
strikes
the
eye
is
probably
a
group
of
milk-white
slugs,
from
two
to
six
inches
long,
cuddling
snugly
together
(Plate
IX.
fig.
1).
You
try
to
pull
them
off,
and
find
that
they
give
you
some
trouble,
such
a
firm
hold
have
the
delicate
white
sucking
arms,
which
fringe
each
of
their
five
edges.
You
see
at
the
head
nothing
but
a
yellow
dimple;
for
eating
and
breathing
are
suspended
till
the
return
of
tide;
but
once
settled
in
a
jar
of
salt-water,
each
will
protrude
a
large
chocolate-coloured
head,
tipped
with
a
ring
of
ten
feathery
gills,
looking
very
much
like
a
head
of
“curled
kale,”
but
of
the
loveliest
white
and
primrose;
in
the
centre
whereof
lies
perdu
a
mouth
with
sturdy
teeth—
if
indeed
they,
as
well
as
the
whole
inside
of
the
beast,
have
not
been
lately
got
rid
of,
and
what
you
see
be
not
a
mere
bag,
without
intestine
or
other
organ:
but
only
for
the
time
being.
For
hear
it,
worn-out
epicures,
and
old
Indians
who
bemoan
your
livers,
this
little
Holothuria
knows
a
secret
which,
if
he
could
tell
it,
you
would
be
glad
to
buy
of
him
for
thousands
sterling.
To
him
blue
pill
and
muriatic
acid
are
superfluous,
and
travels
to
German
Brunnen
a
waste
of
time.
Happy
Holothuria!
who
possesses
really
the
secret
of
everlasting
youth,
which
ancient
fable
bestowed
on
the
serpent
and
the
eagle.
For
when
his
teeth
ache,
or
his
digestive
organs
trouble
him,
all
he
has
to
do
is
just
to
cast
up
forthwith
his
entire
inside,
and,
faisant
maigre
for
a
month
or
so,
grow
a
fresh
set,
and
then
eat
away
as
merrily
as
ever.
His
name,
if
you
wish
to
consult
so
triumphant
a
hygeist,
is
Cucumaria
Pentactes:
but
he
has
many
a
stout
cousin
round
the
Scotch
coast,
who
knows
the
antibilious
panacea
as
well
as
he,
and
submits,
among
the
northern
fishermen,
to
the
rather
rude
and
undeserved
name
of
sea-puddings;
one
of
which
grows
in
Shetland
to
the
enormous
length
of
three
feet,
rivalling
there
his
huge
congeners,
who
display
their
exquisite
plumes
on
every
tropic
coral
reef.
{116}
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
