Sept. 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



203 



The " Sea Cypress " {Sertularia cupressina) lias 

 long wiry stems, the branches drooping and less 

 rigid than in the " Squirrel's Tail." The calycles 

 are longer, tubular, and with a two-lipped aperture 

 (fig. 102, a). Thecapsules are similar in both species, 

 rather more cylindrical in this than the former, with 

 two spines at the upper end, and a prominent 

 mouth (fig. 162, h). 



Fig;. 162. Sertularia cupressina. a. calycles; b. capsule. 



These brief characters with accompanying figures 

 will, we hope, enable anyone to name such specimens 

 of the Sertul avians as he may collect during his 

 rambles on the shore. We have purposely omitted 

 all description or reference to the living animals, as 

 foreign to our present purpose ; but those who 

 desire to pursue the study, and become better ac- 

 quainted with these interesting organisms, we refer, 

 with confidence, to the Rev. T. Hincks's " History 

 of Hydroid Zoophytes," recently published by Van 

 Voorst ; or an article on " Sertularian Zoophytes," 

 by the same author, in the last number of the 

 Popular Science Review. 



SEA ANEMONES * 



rpHE modern aquarium exposes the spectator to 

 -*- many wonderful surprises. Coiled up against 

 the transparent crystal walls of the basin he ob- 

 serves living creatures of the most brilliant shades 

 of colour, and more resembling flowers than 

 animals. Supported by a solid base and cylindrical 

 stem, he sees them terminate like the corolla of a 

 flower, as in the petals of the anemone : these are 

 the animals we call Sea Anemones — curious 

 zoophytes, which, as all persons familiar with the 

 seashore may have observed, are now seen sus- 

 pended from the rocks, and presently buried at the 

 bottom of the sea, or floating on its surface. These 

 charming and timid creatures are also called 



* Extracted from the " Ocean World," translated from the 

 French of Louis Figuier, and published by Messrs. Chapman 

 & Hall, to whose kindness we are also indebted for the illus- 

 trations to this article. 



Actinia, as indicating their disposition to form rays 

 or stars, from the Greek clktIv, a ray. 



The body of these animals is cylindrical in form, 

 terminating beneath in a muscular disk, which is 

 generally large and distinct, enabling them to cling 

 vigorously to foreign bodies. It terminates above 

 in an upper disk, bearing many rows of tentacles, 

 which differ from each other only in their size. 

 These tentacles are sometimes decorated with 

 brilliant colours, forming a species of collarette, 

 consisting of contractile and often retractile tubes, 

 pierced at their points with an orifice, whence issue 

 jets of water, which is ejected at the will of the 

 animal. Arranged in multiples of circles, they dis- 

 tribute themselves with perfect regularity round the 

 mouth. These are the arms of this species of 

 zoophyte. 



The mouth of the Actinia opens among the 

 tentacles. Oval in form, it communicates by means 

 of a tube with a stomach, broad and short, which 

 descends vertically, and abuts by a large opening 

 on the visceral cavity, the interior of which is di- 

 vided into little cells or chambers. These cells and 

 chambers are not all of the same dimensions ; in 

 parting from the cylindrical walls of the body, they 

 advance, the one increasing, the others getting 

 smaller, in the direction of the centre. Moreover, 

 they have many kinds of cells, which dispose them- 

 selves in their different relations with great 

 regularity — their tentacula, which correspond with 

 them, being arranged in circles radiating more or 

 less from the centre. 



The stomach of the sea anemones fulfils a multi- 

 tude of functions. At first it is the digestive 

 organ ; it is also the seat of respiration ; and is un- 

 ceasingly moistened by the water, which it passes 

 through, imbibes, and ejects. The visceral cavity 

 absorbs the atmospheric air contained in the 

 water ; for the stomach is also a lung, and through 

 the same organ it ejects its young ! In short, the 

 reproductive organs, the eggs, and the larvse are 

 all connected with the tentacles or arms. In the 

 month of September the eggs are fecundated, and 

 the larvae or embryos developed. As Eredol says 

 in " La Monde de la Mer," " these animals bear 

 their young, not upon their arms, but in their arms. 

 The larvaj generally pass from the tentacula into 

 the stomach, and are afterwards ejected from the 

 mouth along with the rejecta of their food — a most 

 singular formation, in which the stomach breathes 

 and the mouth serves the purposes of accouche- 

 ment — facts which it would be difficult to believe 

 on other than the most positive evidence." 



"The daisy- like anemones [Sagartia bellis, 

 Gosse) in the Zoological Gardens of Paris," says 

 Eredol, " frequently throw up little embryos, which 

 are dispersed, and attach themselves to various 

 parts of the aquarium, and finally become miniature 

 anemoues exactly like the parent. Au actinia 



