SEA- ANEMONES, 121 



and which soon becomes thickened and opaque. It is a 

 very voracious feeder. Mr. Torbes further remarks, that 

 ^' In the habit of protecting itself by sand and gravel, it 

 resembles Actmia vicliiata and some other species, none of 

 which, however, construct a regular tube. In its being 

 free and having no adhesive disc at its posterior termina- 

 tion, reminds us of Ihianthus, a genus of Actiniada, which 

 I discovered three years ago on the Scottish coast, and 

 which I described and figured in the ' Annals of Natural 

 History/ It is evident the animal I now describe fills up 

 an important gap among the polypes, and leads to analo- 

 gical consideration of the greatest interest to the philoso- 

 phical zoologist." 



The Annehde, found at the same time, will be described 

 in its place, under the name applied to it by Chenu, of Am- 

 pldtnte JEgeana. But it is a very curious fact, that both 

 these forms, differing from all other forms in their respec- 

 tive classes, discovered at the same time and place, by the 

 same illustrious naturalist, as presenting each a new link 

 in the chain of beings, should both prove to be natives 

 of our coasts, and find their way at the same period into 

 our own collections. The Annelide did so by accident, hav- 

 ing appeared spontaneously gro^Ying among the pebbles of 



