THE WEYMOUTH ANEMONE. 29 



wlilch the vegetation is cleared away before it, all 

 strike the mind as both wonderful and beautiful. 



There are other things, however, besides Periwinkles 

 and Tops, to be found on these cleft and weed-draped 

 ledges. The very first hour I spent in searching 

 them, I found several animals that were new to me, 

 and some that are marked as rare in zoological works. 

 Among them was an Actinia of much beauty, which 

 was known hitherto only by a single specimen found 

 here by Mr. W. Thompson, and described by him 

 under the name of A. clavata. I afterwards found 

 it quite common in these ledges, of which it appears 

 characteristic* 



Its habit is to lurk in narrow fissm-es, in the cavi- 

 ties of the under sides of stones, or not infrequently in 

 the deserted holes of Pholas or Saxicava. The disk 

 is wide and flat ; and as it is very expansile, it spreads 

 itself to a considerable distance around the margin 

 of its hole. So essential is it to its comfort, however, 

 that it should have a retirement, that if it be put 

 into an Aquarium, though it may at first affix itself 

 to a flat stone or to the surface of a shell, it will crawl 

 along upon its base till it finds some loose stone, 

 beneath which it will insinuate itself till it is quite 

 concealed ; or a narrow crevice or fissure, as between 

 two contiguous stones, into which it may thrust its 

 body. 



* I have since received several specimens from Torquay, where it 

 appears rare. Mr. W. P. Cocks, in the Report of the Cornwall Poly- 

 technic Society, for 1851, describes the same species as rare at 

 Falmouth ; he has given to it the name of A . Balii, but Mr. 

 Thompson's name has the priority. — {Second Edition.) 



