68 SQUIRTS, POLYPS, AND JELLY-FISHES. 
a continuous fiery crest is apt to mark the action of 
the breakers. At other times, in a quiet sea, there 
may be but little luminosity, unless the water is 
stirred up by the passage of a boat or the dip of 
an oar, when the scattered golden drops appear as 
though cast in metal. How much of the phospho- 
rescence of the sea is produced by these creatures 
alone still remains to be determined, but that they 
contribute very largely to the phenomenon there 
can be no doubt. 
SEA-ANEMONES. 
In her charming description of the animals of 
Massachusetts Bay Mrs. Agassiz says, “ Nothing 
can be more unprepossessing than a sea-anemone 
when contracted. A mere lump of brown or whit- 
ish jelly, it lies like a lifeless thing on the rock to 
which it clings, and it is difficult to believe that it 
has an elaborate and exceedingly delicate internal 
organization, or will ever expand into such grace 
and beauty as really to deserve the name of. the 
flower after which it has been called.” And such 
is the truth. Only when the animal has again ex- 
panded, and thrown out its crown of delicate feelers 
or tentacles, are we placed in a position to appre- 
ciate fully the beauty and grace of the flower of the 
sea. The rock-bound tidal pools and grottos are 
the favored haunts of the sea-anemone, whose vari- 
ously-tinted bodies of orange, purple, pink, and 
white, placed in relief against the sombre walls, 
produce an effect rivalling that of the artist’s pa- 
lette. On our shores, unfortunately, the absence 
