SEA- ANEMONES. 117 



circular rows near the edge, and two other circles, less com- 

 plete, towards the centre ; in all the rows amounting to eighty 

 or ninety to above a hundred. 



In AcUnioi generally, a morsel of food is laid hold of by 

 the tentacula and brought towards the mouth ; but when 

 the Cornyactes feeds, the lips of the mouth expand until 

 their circle reaches the morsel held by the tentacula. The 

 opening sometimes extends to the whole width of the body, 

 so as to show the very bottom of the stomach ; and as soon 

 as the lips reach their prey it is soon drawn into the basin, 

 and sunk into the vortex. 



Corynactes Allmanii is commonly of a pale roseate hue, 

 with the rim of bright scarlet, or bright green, and the ten- 

 tacles are generally white. 



The thread- or sting-darting capsules are large in the Co- 

 rynactes compared to those of some other ActiniadcE. They 

 are oval, and the thread, infinitesimally thin, is coiled up in 

 its cell, ready to be unfurled or jerked forwards when re- 

 quired. Its extreme thinness may be imagined when we 

 find a thread the eighth of an inch in length, coiled in more 

 than a dozen spiral folds. 



They have also a smaller set of capsules, the threads of 

 which are furnished with a brush of minute hairs. 



