126 SEA- WATER AQUARIA. 



also noticed the marked diurnal character of the animal, its 

 condition of wide expansion by day, and its tendency to shrink at 

 night. The colour of this Anemone is dependent, I believe, in 

 considerable measure, on the amount of light to which it is 

 exposed. The extremely vivid colouring — the bright green and 

 red — present in some specimens, appears to be due to exposure 

 to direct and powerful sunlight. If the same creatures are placed 

 in positions subjected to less powerful light, then the colouring 

 becomes correspondingly subdued. 



It seems that this species has not been overlooked by epicures, 

 since Johnson observed : — "Even the hot and peppery Anthea has 

 its praise ; from it they prepare the dish called Rastegfia, w^hich is 

 a favourite in Provence." 



Gosse made several experiments in the w^ay of preparing Sea 

 Anemones for food. He did not think much of Althea, but 

 achieved a great success with Tealia Crassicornis. He had these 

 very carefully cleaned, every trace of slime and adherent particles 

 being scraped off completely. They were then fried in egg and 

 bread-crumbs, with the result that " all prejudice yielded to their 

 inviting odour and appearance, and the whole table joined in the 

 repast with indubitable gusto." 



Note. — Since the above paper was written, I have received 

 information regarding the susceptibility of Tealia Crassicornis to 

 cold, which is quite contradictory to the experience of Gosse. A 

 friend writes : — " As regards cold and its effect on Anemones, I 

 had a large Crassicornis in a bowl, and it got frozen into a solid 

 blocks like a fly in amber. It thawed out next day and expanded 

 beautifully, and was as hearty and well as ever." 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES V., VI. 



Plate V. — Plan of a private Sea- water Aquarium. 



Fig. 1. — Strong wooden stand. 

 ,, 2. — Aquarium tank, sides of plate glass, base and both ends of 



slate. 

 ,, 3. — Surface of water in aquarium tank. 

 ,, 4. — Aquarium tank cover of ebonite and glass. 



