Page:The common shells of the sea-shore (IA commonshellsofse00wood 0).pdf/50

40 the decomposition of sundry animal and vegetable substances; so that in no sense does the mud-wader tread a path of roses, except, perhaps, as far as the thorns are concerned.

Supposing that the enthusiastic naturalist has procured a quantity of the mud, and is about to examine it for the sake of discovering its various inmates, he has still no savoury task before him. Armed with his sieve and a bucket or two, he expends a vast amount of time in breaking up the tenacious substance and washing it through the sieve, until all the mud runs through the meshes, and all its inhabitants are left in the sieve.

Should the locality be judiciously chosen, the explorer is fully repaid for his trouble, inasmuch as the mud is the favoured habitation of a vast number of animals belonging to different classes, such as molluscs, crustacea, and worms. He will thus obtain specimens of shells such as cannot be procured in any other manner, and will be able to secure the living animal as well as the empty shell—the former being, indeed, the more valuable to a true zoologist. But he must previously make up his mind that he will have to undergo such discomfort as none but a true and earnest zoologist would voluntarily endure; and if he thinks to gain the treasures without working hard for them, he will find himself grievously mistaken.

Perhaps the powers of mud are never so well developed as is the case when the explorer has allowed his enthusiasm to overpower his judgment, has forgotten that the tide is ebbing, and has allowed his boat to be "hung up" on a mudbank. From such a situation there is no escape. Were the boat surrounded with water, it would be possible to swim on shore; but when it is surrounded with mud of treacherously smooth surface and unknown depth, there is no help for it but to wait for the next tide. I have had several narrow escapes from this mishap, and not long before writing these words was nearly placed in a very awkward predicament.