138 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



of the smaller finny tribes, the fiercest of the Crustacea, 

 the whole vermicular race, and the softer tenants among 

 the testacea, fall a prey to the ActiniaB/' One is aston- 

 ished to meet with such a passage from so accurate an 

 observer. It is pure exaggeration, which succeeding 

 writers have accepted as literal truth. Thus, Eymer 

 Jones says, that " no sooner are the tentacles touched 

 by a jDassing animal, than it is seized and held with 

 unfaiHng pertinacity/' Had the professor given his 

 attention to Anemones he would know that, so far 

 from the grasj) being " unfailing," it as often fails as 

 succeeds, when the captive is of tolerable activity ; 

 and very noticeable is the fact, that when the animals 

 escape, they escape unhurt ; a fact in direct contradic- 

 tion to the belief in a poison secreted by the tentacles. 

 I resolved to bring this question to the test, and 

 dropped a tiny crab, rather smaller than a fourpenny 

 piece, on the tentacles of my largest Crassicornis 

 (nearly as large as a glass tumbler). He was clutched 

 at once, and the tentacles began to close round him ; 

 he struggled vigorously, and freed himself after a few 

 seconds. Placed there a second time, he again got 

 away. I waited to see if any symptoms of paralysis 

 would declare themselves after this contact, but he was 

 as lively as ever. Later in the day I j)laced him on 

 the tentacles of the voracious Anthea, the most power- 

 ful of all the Anemones, and the only one which seems 

 to sting ; but the crab was too active, or too little 

 appetising ; he got away as before. I tried another 

 Anthea and a Daisy (Actinia hellis), but with the 



