OF SEA-ANEMONES. 83 



than the hottom of their tank. They are hardy and 

 will live for a length of time in captivity. "When in 

 freedom they live in companies, and resemble the 

 "cave-dweller" in selecting the holes bored by the 

 Pholas, or similar cavities, as dwelling-places, and on 

 being disturbed they draw in their tentacles and re- 

 tire to the furthest limit of their dens. 



The constitution of the beautiful "thick-skinned" 

 anemones is very delicate, and they seem to take a 

 pleasure in refuting the statement of the poet, that 



" Bright things can never die," 



for, if the outer skin be ruptured, they protrude their 

 "convoluted bands," which presently mortify and 

 slough away, whereupon the animal dwindles and de- 

 creases without ceremony. If they be taken off their 

 native rocks without injury they will flom'ish and 

 bloom for a considerable time. They are inactive, 

 and move but little upon their bases ; if they want to 

 make a journey they detach themselves from their 

 moorings, inflate their bodies with water, draw in 

 their tentacles, and surrender themselves to the guid- 

 ance of the tide and the currents. Thus we gene- 

 rally find them in companies at the further extremity 

 of deep chasms in the rocks, whither they have been 

 washed, and where they adhere and expand their 

 tentacles in quest of food. 



The "gem" is fickle and lethargic. He shuts 

 himself up as if he wanted the colouring of his 



