THE SNOWY ANEMONE. 
69 
the level of the lowest part of the margin of the pool, which 
of course never varies, such animals and plants as require 
to be perpetually covered with water enjoy circumstances 
suited to their wants. In the deepest shadow, fine speci- 
mens of the fleshy Dulse (Iridcea edulis), and the lovely 
leaf-like Delesseria sanguinea, display their crimson fronds 
in copious tufts ; plants that cannot bear the absence of 
water, their delicate leaves becoming orange-coloured in 
large patches, which soon die and slough away, — if left 
unbathed even for a single tide. The curious white Cows’ 
paps {Alcgonium digitatum), all studded with their clear 
glassy polypes, project from the rock ; and here I saw 
several white AcHnice, which at once attracted my notice, 
though beyond my reach, on the opposite side of the pool. 
At length, however, by searching in another smaller pool, 
to which I could gain access, I found, beneath the drooping 
Oarweeds, one of the white Actinice within reach. It was 
three or four inches beneath the surface ; so that to procure 
it, it was needful to bale out the water to that depth, which 
I effected by the aid of one of my collecting jars, and then 
to cut out the animal’s cell with the steel chisel. I was, 
however, sufficiently repaid for the labour by the beauty of 
this snow-Avhite Anemone. 
After an absence of nearly six years, I visited this inter- 
esting spot again. It had often been a subject of specula- 
tion with me whether the minute features of a rocky coast 
change rapidly under the action of weather and sea ; and I 
had looked forward to this visit with interest, as likely to 
afford me data for determining the question. The shore 
was as if I had left it hut yesterday. Everything appeared 
as if it had been untouched : every tide-pool, every projec- 
tion, I recognised : the broad cleft that I have described 
(Devonsh. Coast, p. 34) ; the little basins within it ; the 
slight projections on the face of the cliff by means of which 
