第 26 节
作者:精灵王      更新:2021-04-30 17:23      字数:9320
  mouth。      The dragging…rope should be strong; and at least three                   times as
  long as the perpendicular depth of the water in which you                   are working; if;
  indeed; there is much breeze; or any swell at all;              still more line should be
  veered   out。     The   inboard   end   should   be      made   fast   somewhere   in   the
  stern sheets; the dredge hove to            windward; the boat put before the wind;
  and you may then amuse              yourself as you will for the next quarter of an
  hour; provided that        you have got ready various wide…mouthed bottles for
  the more      delicate monsters; and a couple of buckets; to receive the large
  lumps      of  oysters    and   serpulae    which     you   will   probably     bring   to  the
  surface。
  As   for   a   dredging   ground;   one   may   be   found;   I   suppose;   off   every
  watering…place。        The most fertile spots are in rough ground; in not                 less
  than    five   fathoms    water。    The     deeper    the  water;    the  rarer   and    more
  interesting     will   the  animals     generally    be:    but    a  greater    depth     than
  fifteen fathoms is not easily reached on this side of                  Plymouth; and; on
  the   whole;   the   beginner   will   find   enough   in   seven     or   eight   fathoms   to
  stock   an   aquarium   rivalling   any   of   those   in      the   〃Tank…house〃   at   the
  Zoological Gardens。
  In general; the south coast of England; to the eastward of                     Portland;
  affords     bad   dredging      ground。     The     friable   cliffs;   of   comparatively
  recent formations; keep the sea shallow; and the                bottom smooth and bare;
  by  the   vast deposits   of sand and   gravel。           Yet   round the   Isle   of Wight;
  especially at the back of the Needles;             there ought to be fertile spots; and
  Weymouth; according to Mr。              Gosse and other well…known naturalists; is
  a   very   garden     of  Nereus。       Torbay;     as  may    well    be  supposed;     is  an
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  admirable       dredging     spot;    perhaps     its  two    best   points   are   round    the
  isolated     Thatcher     and     Oare…rock;       and   from    the   mouth     of   Brixham
  harbour to Berry Head;           along which last line; for perhaps three hundred
  years;   the   decks     of   all   Brixham   trawlers   have   been   washed   down   ere
  running      into   harbour;      and   the   sea…bottom     thus    stored   with   treasures
  scraped up       from deeper water in every direction for miles and miles。
  Hastings   is;   I   fear;   but   a   poor   spot   for   dredging。 Its   friable  cliffs
  and   strong   tides   produce   a   changeable   and   barren   sea…floor。           Yet   the
  immense quantities of Flustra thrown up after a storm                    indicate dredging
  ground at no great distance outside; its rocks;                 uninteresting as they are
  compared with our Devonians; have yielded                    to the industry and science
  of   M。   Tumanowicz   a   vast   number   of   sea…   weeds   and   sponges。           Those
  three     curious    polypes;     Valkeria     cuscuta     (Plate     I。  fig。  3);   Notamia
  Bursaria; and Serialaria Lendigera;             abound within tide…marks; and as the
  place is so much visited by            Londoners; it may be worth while to give a
  few hints as to what         might be done; by anyone whose curiosity has been
  excited by the       salt…water tanks of the Zoological Gardens and the Crystal
  Palace。
  An   hour   or   two's   dredging   round   the   rocks   to   the   eastward;   would
  probably yield many delicate and brilliant little fishes; Gobies;                     brilliant
  Labri; blue; yellow;  and orange;  with tiny  rabbit mouths;                   and   powerful
  protruding   teeth;   pipe   fishes   (Syngnathi)   (25)   with         strange   snipe…bills
  (which      they    cannot     open)    and    snake…like     bodies;      small     cuttlefish
  (Sepiolae)   of   a   white   jelly   mottled   with   brilliant    metallic   hues;   with   a
  ring of suckered arms round their tiny              parrots' beaks; who; put into a jar;
  will   hover   and   dart   in   the   water;   as   the   skylark   does   in   air;   by   rapid
  winnowings of their           glassy side…fins; while they watch you with bright
  lizard…eyes; the       whole animal being a combination of the vertebrate and
  the mollusc;       so utterly fantastic and abnormal; that (had not the family
  been     amongst   the   commonest;   from   the   earliest   geological   epochs)   it
  would      have    seemed;     to   man's    deductive     intellect;   a   form    almost    as
  impossible   as   the   mermaid;   far   more   impossible   than   the   sea…   serpent。
  These;   and   perhaps   a   few   handsome   sea…slugs   and   bivalve           shells;   you
  will be pretty sure to find:        perhaps a great deal         more。
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  Meanwhile; without dredging; you may find a good deal on the shore。
  In the spring Doris bilineata comes to the rocks in thousands; to                    lay its
  strange     white    furbelows      of  spawn     upon     their  overhanging        edges。
  Eolides of extraordinary beauty haunt the same spots。                  The     great Eolis
  papillosa; of a delicate French grey; Eolis pellucida               (?) (Plate X。 fig。 4);
  in which each papilla on the back is            beautifully coloured with a streak of
  pink;    and   tipped   with   iron   blue;    and   a  most    fantastical   yellow    little
  creature; so covered        with plumes and tentacles that the body is invisible;
  which I     believe to be the Idalia aspersa of Alder and Hancock。
  At the bottom of   the rock pools; behind   St。 Leonard's baths; may  be
  found hundreds of the snipe's feather Anemone (Sagartia                   troglodytes); of
  every line; from the common brown and grey snipe's                   feather kind; to the
  white…horned Hesperus; the orange…horned                 Aurora; and a rich lilac and
  crimson variety; which does not seem               to agree with either the Lilacinia
  or Rubicunda of Gosse。           A more       beautiful living bouquet could hardly
  be seen; than might be made            of the varieties of this single species; from
  this one place。
  On the outside sands between the end of the Marina and the Martello
  tower;   you   may   find;   at   very   low   tides;   great   numbers   of   a   sand…   tube;
  about three inches long; standing up out of the sand。                I do    not mean the
  tubes   of   the   Terebella;   so   common   in   all   sands;   which    are   somewhat
  flexible;  and   have   their upper   end   fringed   with   a    ragged   ring of   sandy
  arms:     those   I   speak   of   are   straight   and  stiff;   and   ending   in   a   point
  upward。      Draw them out of the sand …            they will offer some resistance …
  and put them into a vase of           water; you will see the worm inside expand
  two delicate golden        combs; just like old…fashioned back…hair combs; of a
  metallic     lustre; which   will astonish   you。        With   these combs   the   worm
  seems      to burrow head downward into the sand; but whether he always
  remains   in   that   attitude   I   cannot   say。 His   name   is   Pectinaria    Belgica。
  He    is  an   Annelid;    or   true  worm;     connected     with    the   Serpulea     and
  Sabellae of which I have spoken already; and holds                   himself in his case
  like   them;    by   hooks    and   bristles  set  on   each    ring    of  his  body。    In
  confinement   he   will   probably  come   out   of   his     case   and die;   when   you
  may dissect him at your leisure; and learn a               great deal more about him
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  thereby than (I am sorry to say) I know。
  But   if   you   have   courage   to   run   out   fifteen   or   twenty   miles   to   the
  Diamond;   you   may   find   really   rare   and   valuable   animals。             There   is   a
  risk; of course; of being blown over to the coast of France; by a                        change
  of   wind;   there   is   a   risk   also   of   not   being   able   to   land   at night   on   the
  inhospitable Hastings beach; and of sleeping; as best                    you can; on board: