126 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
-- he anemones are vigorous and voracious. Nothing is too 
much for their gluttony. Every animal which comes within their 
reach is seized, engulfed, and devoured. Nevertheless, with all 
the power of their mouths, their insatiable stomachs cannot retain 
the prey they have swallowed. Sometimes it contrives to make 
its escape; at other times it is adroitly snatched away by a watch- 
ful marauder, more cunning and more active than the anemone. 
A shrimp which has seen the prey devoured from a distance 
will throw itself upon the anemone, and audaciously wrest his 
booty from him, and to his great chagrin devour it before his eyes. 
Even when the savoury morsel has been swallowed, the shrimp, by 
a great effort, succeeds in drawing it back again from the stomach ; 
seating itself upon the extended disc of the anemone, with its 
small feet it prevents the approach of the tentacles, and, at the 
same time, inserts its claws into the digestive cavity and seizes 
the food. In vain does the pilfered anemone endeavour to con- 
tract and close its mouth; it is useless; the vagabond crustacean 
generally comes off victorious; but sometimes the conflict becomes 
serious when the anemone is strong and robust, the aggressor is 
repelled, and the shrimp runs the risk of supplementing the repast 
of. his victim. 
During the process of digestion the actiniz appear to sleep, 
passing into a state of torpor; they then close their tentacles 
tightly, forming a pointed pinnacle above their mouth. Thus 
shut up they look exactly like the bud of a flower ready to open. 
The visceral cavity of these creatures appears large in proportion 
to the other part of their frames, and is divided into sections 
by radiating compartments. It is remarkable, that litmus paper 
plunged into this organ, whether the animal be fasting or whether 
digestion be in progress, detects no sign of acidity or the opposite 
alkaline state. 
Like the fresh-water polypes, the anemones frequently swallow 
a quantity of food greatly disproportionate to the cavity of their 
stomachs. In less than an hour, one of these creatures emptied 
the shell of a mussel and disposed of a crab, rejecting the 
hardest parts by turning its stomach inside out! Dr. Johnson 
tells us that an Awemone crassicornis, from having swallowed a 
shell which separated it into two halves, was well-nigh perish- 
