OF SEA-ANEMOXES. 35 



you will not forget for many a day. What a magnifi- 

 cent " bloom ! " it is too large for a " show" Chrysan- 

 themum, and too gorgeously arrayed; it is a good 

 four inches across, pearly-white in the centre, then 

 a broad ring of translucent lake, and then the 

 petals ! — row after row of transparent tentacles 

 ringed with lake and deKcate brown, and pearly 

 white. Does not this come up to your "heart's 

 desire ? " If not, you must be very hard to please. 

 Ah ! 5^ou have touched it, and it has vanished en- 

 tirely ; w^e can see nothing but gravel, and a little 

 crab, which is scuttling away sideways, in a state of 

 pugnacious amazement. Now, if you put your hand 

 down upon the place where you last saw the flower, 

 you will feel a round lump of gravel ; scrape away 

 all the loose stones round it, and then with the 

 knife detach it very gently from its resting-place, or, 

 if the rock be soft, cliisel it away as patiently as you 

 can. This is Actinia coriacea (the "thick-skinned" 

 anemone), and he puts on this coat of stones to con- 

 ceal and defend himself, and every stone is attached 

 by means of minute suckers, w-ith which his body is 

 covered. Recollect that the least injury done to 

 this anemone is generally fatal, and also remember 

 that you may frequently discover him w^hen he is 

 not expanded, by feeling diligently in shingly nooks 

 and corners just covered by the water, or even at the 

 bottom of deep pools. There are innumerable 

 varieties of this kind ; the body is generally marbled 



