67 



tlie interior portion of tlie stomach and the mouth was 

 of course prevented, yet instead of emaciating; and dying; of 

 a hytrophy, the animal had availed itself of what undoubtedly 

 Iiad been a very untoward accident, to increase its enjoyments 

 and its chances of double fare. A new mouth, furnished 

 with two rows of numerous tentacula was opened on what 

 had been the base, and led to the under stomach : the indi- 

 vidual had indeed become a sort of Siamese twin, but with 

 greater intimacy and extent in its union.'' This case also 

 illustrates the power these creatures have of sustaining 

 injuries of the most formidable kind, with apparent impunity, 

 and which is exceeded only by the Hydra. They have 

 been divided longitudinally and transversely, and the sepa- 

 rated portions have either again united or become developed 

 into separate animals. On two occasions I have met with 

 results similar to those described by the Abbe Dicquemare, 

 having divided transversely several specimens of the common 

 Anemone (A, Mesembryantkemum) in such a manner that 

 any thing taken in at the mouth passes out at the truncated 

 surface below ; but the cut surface closed in a few days 

 so as to retain the food and in six weeks a new mouth and 

 tentacula were formed, presenting the curious spectacle of an 

 animal taking food at both extremities. If in taking the 

 animal from its situation it be very much mutilated, it soon 

 regains its former state, and if a portion be separated, it will 

 frequently be developed into another polype. It has been 

 said that if the base be torn the animal dies ; an observation 

 I am unable to confirm and have good reason to doubt. If 

 any portion of an actinia be injured or destroyed, the animal 

 possesses a power of replacing it. This power of repro- 

 ducing lost parts, however, is not confined to Zoophytes, but 

 is found in the re-formation of the rays of star fishes, of the 

 claws of crabs, and extends even to the vertebratae as is seen 

 in the Batrachian reptiles. 



The manner in which the wafer is taken in and expelled 

 in the Actiniae is not yet settled. Professor Jones says it is 

 taken in through the tentacula, while Professor Sharpey says 

 he has repeatedly noticed the water entering by the mouth, 

 and I have on many occasions seen the same thing; perhaps 

 some also enters by the small openings distributed over the 

 surface, and through which the white threads are sometimes 

 expelled. It sometimes escapes by the mouth and fre- 

 quently through the tentacula; if the animal be pressed, it 

 will be found to escape only through a few of the tentacula, 

 but if the animal be allowed to eject it itself, nearly all are 

 pervious; from which it would appear that great foreign 

 pressure prevents a relaxation of the muscles guarding the 

 orifices. 



