SEA-ANEMONES. 101 



Mr. Gosse has given the following account of his exami- 

 nation of the tentacles of this species. " I cut oft, with a 

 fine pair of scissors, the tips of one or two, and submitted 

 them to the microscope upon the compressorium. As soon 

 as the pressure began to flatten them, it became apparent 

 that the tentacle was composed of rather thick gelatinous 

 walls surrounding a tubular centre. The wall was filled 

 with a vast multitude of very minute granules, of a rich 

 sienna-brown hue, and almost globular in form; all being 

 quite alike in shape, colour, and dimensions. These es- 

 caped by thousands, on the increase of the pressure, from 

 the tip of the tentacle, where was evidently a natural ori- 

 fice forced open by the pressure, but ordinarily, as I sup- 

 pose, kept firmly closed by muscular action. The gelati- 

 nous walls of the tentacle contained, imbedded in their 

 substance, a goodly number of those highly curious organs 

 known as filiferous capsules. They are in this case very 

 minute, being about one twelve-hundredth part of an inch 

 in length, almost linear and slightly curved. The pressure 

 being continued, each of these little organs suddenly shoots 

 forth from one end, to a great length, a slender, highly 

 elastic thread, which had hitherto been coiled up spirally 

 within its cavity. The expulsion of this thread is effected 



