Page:The common shells of the sea-shore (IA commonshellsofse00wood 0).pdf/14

4 exactly like the skin-bottles which are so common in Eastern countries. They are very prevalent in the mouths of rivers, especially if the ground be muddy, and are sometimes so plentiful as to become a serious annoyance to the professional fisherman. When trawling in the Medway and Thames, I have often known the net to be so filled with these curious creatures that it could not be lifted out of the water, and the sailors were obliged to hang over the side of the vessel and throw out the unwelcome guests, before they could bring the pocket of the trawl on board. They look wonderfully like white hothouse grapes, being partly transparent and of a very similar colour to the fruit. The fishermen have an odd notion that these animals are merely congealed sea-water, and assert that the beams of the summer sun congeal the water, while the cold weather of winter dissolves them again.

They exist in large masses, a vast number of individuals being grouped together; and when handled, they eject so violently the water with which they are filled, that they have well earned the name of Sea-squirts. I have often seen a novice in such matters drenched in a moment, by inadvertently taking up a mass of these animals which had been purposely laid in his way. In order that their structure may be known, an illustration is given explanatory of their formation.

In Cut 1 are three figures, which will explain the particular conformation of these remarkable creatures. At fig. 3 are shown three perfect individuals, as they