160 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



body in a horizontal position. In this condition, while 

 the tentacula are vigorously displayed, a number of 

 dark substances may be occasionally seen in the ten- 

 tacula, forming the lower half of the circle, but none 

 are found in the distended tentacula of the upper half. 

 The observer having counted ten, fifteen or twenty 

 occupying the tentacula, may miss a portion of them, 

 or even the whole, on returning to inspect them after 

 a brief interval all have disappeared nor may he 

 ever see them again. Under favourable circumstances, 

 however, minute corpuscula, as well as larger and 

 denser substances, are found in the distended ten- 

 tacula, one or more in each, the corpuscula in motion, 

 the others at rest. The latter are so many young 

 Actiniae in different stages of growth, some appa- 

 rently so mature as to be ready for production, others 

 in a less advanced condition. At first sight the 

 observer will be disposed to class the animals before 

 him with the numerous parasites infesting so many 

 living creatures, and he may naturally enough look 

 for them in the vessels containing Actiniae. But his 

 search will be in vain ; for, unless on the rarest occa- 

 sions, they are never seen at large. Instead of await- 

 ing such an uncertain event, a more ready expedient 

 can be resorted to, in amputating the gravid tentacula 

 for the sake of obtaining their contents ; and the ap- 

 pearance of these corpuscles, not being confined to any 

 particular period of the year, allows greater scope for 

 the experiment. 



Sir John Dalyell, having inspected a distended ten- 

 taculum towards the end of October, severed it from 

 the Actinia with sharp scissors, receiving the ten- 



