198 ZOOPHYTES. 



have disgorged a ball of what might be thought most grateful, within four 

 hours of feeding. 



The remarkable voracity of this creature warns the naturalist to be- 

 ware of its presence among his collections, otherwise they shall assuredly 

 perish. Simple contact of the tentacula is the prelude of destruction. 

 Some animals, as if conscious of their inevitable fate, seem paralyzed by 

 the touch, and yield without a struggle. Others, whose size and strength 

 should insure indemnity, are held in its relentless grasp ; the tentacula 

 crowding faster and faster around, until the victim is speedily swallowed 

 alive. 



From the incapacity of resistance, it has been supposed that the cap- 

 tor can discharge some deleterious fluid on its living prey, depriving it 

 instantaneously of sense and motion. But of this I have seen no confir- 

 mation, and in many cases it is quite evident that superior power is the 

 only means employed for victory. 



The Actinia absorbs some of the testacea entire, even those of con- 

 siderable dimensions. Two or three days after a mussel has been thus 

 swallowed, the shell is rejected, quite empty. It may be asked, " How 

 are the contents consumed ?" In explanation, it is to be observed, that 

 as the bivalves weaken, which constantly ensues, if their condition be 

 unsuitable, the shells gape, and in this manner admit the access of the 

 digestive fluids. 



But the Actinia is capable of enduring protracted abstinence with 

 impunity, plainly indicating its precarious supplies. The smallest portions 

 of food prove restorative. By abundance its dimensions are immediately 

 enlarged and its strength renovated. It seems as if having never suffered. 

 Yet this is a creature capable of surviving one or two, perhaps three com- 

 plete years, without farther sustenance than the water can afford. 



Naturalists affirm, but erroneously, that the only orifice of the ani- 

 mal's body is the mouth. Masses of indigested food are rejected, indeed, 

 by the mouth, and those large in quantity ; but there are many other 

 orifices, numerous, it may be, according to the species. Copious streams 

 issue, like so many artificial jets, from the tentacula of the Actinia crassi- 

 cornis : bright purple flakes are discharged by a dilatable aperture of each 



