On the Seashore

On the Seashore, by R.
Cadwallader Smith

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Title: On the Seashore
Author: R. Cadwallader Smith
Release Date: December 22, 2003 [eBook #10513]
Language: English
Character set encoding: US-ASCII
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Cassell's "Eyes and No Eyes" Series, Seventh Book
ON THE SEASHORE
By R. CADWALLADER SMITH

With Eight Colour Plates And Many Black-And-White Illustrations

CONTENTS
LESSON
I. FIVE-FINGERED JACK
II. A STROLL BY THE SEA
III. BIRDS OF THE SHORE
IV. CRABS
V. SHRIMPS, PRAWNS AND BARNACLES
VI. PLANTS OF THE SHORE
VII. FLOWER-LIKE ANIMALS
VIII. SEA-WEEDS AND SEA-GRASS
IX. THE JELLY-FISH
X. SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (1)

XI. SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (2)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOUR PLATES
TREASURES OF THE SEASHORE [Missing]
GULLS
THE REDSHANK
HERMIT CRABS FIGHTING
THE COMMON LOBSTER AND HERMIT CRAB
CRUSTACEA
WEST PAN SAND BUOY
SHELLS

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
COMMON FIVE-FINGERED STARFISH
TEST OR SHELL OF A SEA-URCHIN
THE CRAB
PURSE CRAB
HERMIT CRAB IN WHELK'S SHELL
HERMIT CRAB WITH SEA FLOWERS
THE LOBSTER

THE SHRIMP
SEA LILY
SEA ANEMONE
SEA-WEED FROND
SEA MAT
MEDUSA
A MEDUSOID
PRECIOUS WENTLETRAP
COWRIES

LESSON I.
FIVE-FINGERED JACK.
What fun it is down by the sea at low tide! Scrambling among the
slippery rocks, we quickly fill a bucket with curious things. Some are
dead, others very much alive; but all have a story to tell us--the story of
the life they lead on the bed of the sea, or among the sands and rocks of
the shore.
Look, here is a Starfish! It is lying on the sand, left high and dry by the
waves, for now the tide is low. The Starfish looks limp and lifeless, its
five reddish-coloured "arms" are quite still.
We know it is an animal that lives in the sea, and dies when washed
ashore. But what does it do in the sea? How does it move without legs
or fins? How can it live without a head? Has it a mouth? What does it
eat, and how does it find its food?
Like so many other sea-animals, the Starfish is a puzzle. Some of its

little tricks puzzled clever people until quite lately. But we know most
of its secrets now.
Pass your finger down one of its arms, or rays. It feels rough, being
covered with knobs and prickles. Now turn the Starfish over, and look
carefully at its underside. In the centre, where the five arms meet, is the
animal's mouth. A harmless sort of mouth, you think, too small to be of
much use. Really, it is a terrible mouth, the mouth of an ogre!
We notice a groove down the centre of each ray. But what are those
little moving things which bend this way and that, as if feeling for
something? Now that is exactly what they are doing. They are the feet
of the Starfish. Each tiny foot is really a hollow tube, which can be
pushed out or drawn in. At the tip of each is a powerful sucker, which
acts rather like those leather suckers boys sometimes play with.
Suppose the Starfish wishes to take a walk along the bed of the sea.
First, it pushes out its tube-feet. Each sucker fixes itself to a stone or
other object, and then the animal can draw its body along. You will see
presently that the suckers can do other work too.
Our Starfish will die, however, unless we carry it to a pool. Before
doing so, we must look at the tip of each ray for a small reddish spot.
That is the Starfish's eye. Are those little eyes of much use in helping
the creature to find its dinner? I think not. Most likely the Starfish
smells its way.
If we put the animal on its back in a rock-pool we shall see the
tube-feet at work. Once in the water our Starfish revives, and makes
efforts to right itself. Can it turn over and crawl away?
The little tube-feet come out of their holes and begin to bend about.
Now those near the edge of one "arm" feel the ground. Each tiny sucker
at once takes hold, more and more of them touch the ground as