290 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



left behind that is within their reach, the whole 

 having been collected to be employed in the con- 

 struction of a new artificial dwelling adapted to 

 shelter the naked body of the architect. 



The artifice, the selection of materials, and the 

 expedition exhibited by this creature in the manufac- 

 ture of its new abode, are truly admirable ; nor is it 

 a small gratification to the curious that these may be 

 witnessed with the utmost facility. 



We will suppose a tube to have been partially con- 

 structed at the side of the aquarium, wherein a spe- 

 cimen is about to take up its permanent abode. 

 During the earlier part of the day the animal is 

 found lurking in its interior, with only the extre- 

 mities of the tentacula protruding beyond the orifice, 

 and so it will remain till towards noon. But scarcely 

 has the sun passed the meridian, than the creature 

 begins to become restless, and towards four or five it 

 will be seen to have risen upwards, the tentacula 

 extending with the approach of evening until after 

 sunset, when they are in full activity. They are now 

 spread out from the orifice of the tube like so many 

 slender cords each seizes on one or more grains of 

 sand, and drags its burden to the summit of the tube, 

 there to be employed according to the service re- 

 quired. Should any of the tentacula slip their hold, 

 the same organs are again employed to search eagerly 

 for the lost particle of sand, which is again seized 

 and dragged towards its destination. 



Such operations are protracted during several hours, 

 though so gradually as to be apparently of little effect ; 

 nevertheless, on resuming inspection next morning, a 



