THE ABUNDANCE OF LIFE.
The locality was rich in animal life. Besides all the usual varieties of life to be found on the land, there were some particularly abundant at Penikese. But the sea, with the island shores, was the inexhaustible source of supply. The radiates were represented by jelly-fish, sea-cucumbers, sea-anemones, sand-dollars, sea-urchins, and star-fish; the articulates by lobsters, common crabs, hermit crabs, king crabs, etc.; the mollusks by mussels, clams, naticas, pyrulas, whelks, etc., and the vertebrates by turtles and an endless variety of fish from the pounds. All these could readily be obtained for the aquariums, for study while living, or for dissection and preservation. The excursions in search of treasures for the laboratory were always rewarded with ample success, and were full of intense interest and enjoyment. A bed of star-fish discovered that season on the southern shore of Cuttyhunk, ten or twenty acres in extent, almost level, and only twelve or fifteen inches in depth at low tide, afforded literally bushels of these interesting creatures. A small bay on another side of the same island swarmed with limuli, or king crabs, of all ages, while on the shore were hundreds of their cast-off crusts, or skins, in perfect condition. Lobsters were obtained from the fisheries in the neighborhood. Those of us unaccustomed to the rich fauna of the sea were simply astonished and almost bewildered by the abundance of life within our reach and at our command.