ACTINIA. 235 



it is an admirable spectacle to behold the beautiful velvety 

 {veloutees) colours which they display. They resemble the 

 richest and the most varied carpets; near them are seen 

 GorgoiiSj Serpulas, whose white, yellow, and red tufts sliine 

 with the liveliest splendour, and Amphitrites which raise 

 towards the surface of the water their head crowned with 

 palms rich in the most varied hues. I could not tire myself 

 in admiring the profusion with which these animals are 

 grouped and intermingled; it was with regret, that after 

 having walked long in the midst of them I resolved to tear 

 them from the bosom of the water, and to put fragments of 

 them into a pail {bacpiet), w^hich I caused immediately to be 

 sent home, that I might examine at leisure the animals 

 peculiar to each of the polypidoms.^' 



This is language that is employed to describe foreign 

 Actini(s ; but nearly as strong are the terms in which the sea- 

 anemones of our own shores are described by one who 

 knew them well. Sir J. G. Daly ell. " Some are distin- 

 guished by the beauty of their form^, some by symmetrical 

 proportions or by the radiance of their colours. Rows of 

 delicate organs arranged in concentric circles ornament the 

 surface ; or deep- waving lobes, bordered with luxuriant 

 fringes, are pendent from the margin. Many are green, or 



