362 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SHA. 
opened upon what had been the base, and led to the under 
stomach; the individual had indeed become a sort of Siamese 
twin, but with greater intimacy and extent in its unions. 
From this instance we may naturally infer that the Actinic 
are no mean adepts in the art of accommodating themselves to 
circumstances. They may be kept without food for upwards of 
a year; they may be immersed in water hot enough to blister 
their skins, or exposed to the frost, or placed within the ex- 
hausted receiver of the air-pump, and their hardy vital principle 
will triumph over all these ordeals. Their reproductive powers 
are truly astonishing. Cut off their tentacles, and new ones 
sprout forth; repeat the operation, and they germinate again. 
Divide their bodies transversely or perpendicularly through the 
middle, and each half will develop itself into a more or less 
perfect individual. 
But these apparently indestructible creatures die almost 
instantly when plunged into fresh water, which is for them, or 
for so many other marine animals, a poison no less fatal than 
prussic acid to man. 
Though generally firmly attached by means of a glutinous 
secretion from their enlarged base to rocks, shells, and other 
extraneous bodies, the sea-anemones can leave their hold, and 
remove to another station, whensoever it pleases them, either by 
gliding along with a slow and almost inperceptible movement 
or by reversing the body and using the tentacula as feet; or, 
lastly, inflating the body with water so as to diminish its specific 
weight, they detach themselves, and are driven to a distance by 
the random motion of the waves. They are extremely sensible 
not only to external irritations—the slightest touch causing 
them to shrink into a shrivelled shapeless mass—but also ot 
atmospherical changes. They hide their crown under a glare 
of light; but in a calm and unclouded sky expand and disclose 
every heauty, while they remain contracted and veiled in cloudy 
or stormy weather. The Abbé Dicquemare has even found, 
from several experiments, that they foretell changes of the 
weather as certainly as the barometer. When they remain 
naturally closed there is reason to fear a storm, high wind:, 
and a troubled sea; but a fair and calm season is to be antici- 
pated when they lie relaxed with expanded tentacula. The 
ova of the Actiniz are detained for some time after their sepa- 
