80 A MANUAL 



season can tell, by the same means, to which of his 

 ewes every new-born lamb belongs. It is said, too, 

 that birds can be similarlj^ distinguished. I am not 

 prepared to state that each individual anemone pos- 

 sesses a distinguishable character of its own, but it is 

 quite certain that each species has a distinctly marked 

 set of habits, and, after a lengthened observation of 

 our captive's ways and means of life, we are not in- 

 disposed to allow our imagination the license of as- 

 serting that a distinctive disposition is invariably 

 included in a " specific character." 



Take our friend the " daisy" {Actinia hellis). He 

 is livety, sociable, easily pleased, active, amiable. 

 As soon as we settle him in his new quarters, he will 

 shoot out his white threads in a moment of pardon- 

 able irritation, but very quickly recovers his temper, 

 and expands his flat disc and innumerable tentacles 

 in a state of perpetual bloom. He moves but little, 

 and that slowly, about his tank, but when touched 

 contracts instantly, and presently opens himself out 

 again, or festoons the edge of his disc in numberless 

 graceful curves and lines of beauty. He is fond of 

 the society of his own species, and he will congregate 

 with his relations in a shady corner, and flourish 

 amicably and continuously without giving his owner 

 any anxiety about his well-doing or his prospects. 

 I have now a most lovely group of "daisies" in a 

 shallow glass vase, and the contrast of colour in the 

 different varieties is very striking and beautiful. 



