Fig. 21.

DUCK'S FOOT CONFERVA (Flustra foliacea).

"Do look at this beautiful pink sea-weed, mamma," said Agnes.

It

"That is called Delesseria by botanists," said Mrs. Merton, "but I do not know its English name. is very beautiful from its delicate texture, and its brilliant colour. Its seeds are produced on the back of the leaves, or fronds, as in ferns."

66

“I should like to take some of it," said Agnes,may I?"

Certainly," said Mrs. Merton, "but take

great care in drying it, as it is very apt to adhere to the paper. I think you know how to dry sea

weed."

"Oh! yes," said Agnes, " Miss Green taught me. You first put the sea-weed in water, and then put a piece of writing-paper under it, so as to let the plant lie upon the paper as it did in the water; and then you take it up carefully, so as to let the water run off without disturbing the plant."

"You are quite right," said Mrs. Merton; “but you must observe that some sea-weeds are spoiled by putting them into fresh water, and will change their colour, while others will crackle when taken out like salt when thrown on a fire. Some kinds when laid on a plate in fresh water will start and curl up as if they were alive; and nearly all sea animals, such as the Starfish we saw just now, are killed instantly by putting them into fresh water. However, to return to the sea-weed. I am so well pleased at your remembering what was told you, that I will give you some more paper to dry your sea-weed on, if you should not have enough; and you may gather as much as you like."

Agnes did not suffer this permission to lie dormant ; and she gathered as much sea-weed as she thought she could carry, of a great variety of shades of pink, brown, green, black, and even white.

They now found the tide coming in so rapidly that they judged it most prudent to return; though Agnes, who was fond of excitement, would willingly have gone on a little farther, in spite of the danger; which, indeed, was not very great, as the tide seldom rises very high on the back of the Isle of Wight, and there was a considerable space between the cliffs and the shore. The billows, however, came in with considerable force, and they brought with them a piece of board that looked as if it had belonged to a ship. Agnes picked it up, and found some Mussels sticking to it; one of which was attached by what looked like a tuft of coarse brown thread; but, when she asked what it was, her mother smiled, and told her it was the Byssus.

"The Byssus!" cried Agnes: "I thought that was produced by the Pinna, or Sea-wing. Don't you remember, mamma, showing me a pair of gloves made of the Byssus of the Pinna at the British Museum? I am sure you said the Pinna."

"I remember it perfectly; but other shell-fish produce Byssus besides the Pinna."

"Indeed; and are gloves made of it?"

"I believe not; because it is not produced in other shell-fish in sufficient quantities."

"Do not some Mussels produce pearls?" asked Agnes."

"Those are the River Mussels," said Mrs. Merton. "Remember that there are several kinds of Mussels: as, for example, the River Mussel, or Unio, which produces what are called British pearls, and which is common in many British rivers, particularly in the Conway in Wales, and in the Tay in Scotland; the Sea Mussel, or Myrtilus, the animal of which is eaten, and which produces the Byssus; and the Horse Mussel, or Modiola. The kind you have found, however, belongs to none of these, as it is a freshwater species generally found in docks; and it must have adhered to some vessel that has been shipwrecked here soon after it left the dock in which it had been repaired."

"Oh! mamma, don't talk of shipwrecks," cried Agnes, shuddering.

They had now reached a little terrace, raised to a considerable height above the beach, where there was a little shop, the proprietor of which sold fruit, and also engravings of various kinds, in the manner which seems fashionable at Shanklin; as the shops there generally contain articles of the most heterogeneous kinds. Here Mrs. Merton enquired the way to the Chine, and they were directed to apply at a little cottage a