182 ANTHOZOA HELIANTHOIDA. 



rally remarked, and the source of the name Sea Anemonies 

 by which the typical species are known in this country. 

 When speaking of these Ellis says, " their tentacles, being- 

 disposed in regular circles, and tinged with a variety of bright 

 lively colours, very nearly represent the beautiful petals of 

 some of our most elegantly fringed and radiated flowers, such 

 as the Carnation, Marygold, and Anemone.'" The language 

 of Le Sueur in respect of the tropical coral-bearing tribes is 

 still warmer. The little polypes of Porites astroi'des, when in 

 blow, remind him of a field enamelled with small flowers ; 

 and of them in general he says, " Quand la mer est calme, 

 c'est un spectacle admirable que de voir les belles couleurs 

 veloutees qu'ils etalent : elles imitent les tapis les plus riches 

 et les plus varies. Pres d'eux se montrent des gorgones et 

 des serpules dont les houpes blanches, jaunes et rouges, brill ent 

 de Teclat le plus vif, et des amphitrites qui elevent au-dessus 

 de Teau leur tete couronnee de palmes enrichies des teintes les 

 plus vari6es. Je ne pouvois me lasser d'admirer avec quelle 

 profusion ces animaux sont groupes et enlaces : c'etoit a regret 

 qu'apres rn'etre promene long-temps au milieu d'eux je me 

 determinois a les arracher du sein des eaux, et a en mettre 

 des fragments dans un baquet, que je faisois de suite trans- 

 porter chez moi pour examiner a loisir les animaux particuliers 

 a chacun des polypiers." * It is only, however, when they 

 lie with their upper disk expanded and their tentacula dis- 

 played, that they solicit comparison with the boasts of Flora, 

 for when contracted the polypes of the madrepores conceal 

 themselves in their calcareous cups, and the Actiniae hide 

 their beauty, assuming the shape of an obtuse cone or hemis- 



* Memoires du Museum, torn. vi. p. 272 and 287. Ehrenberg " was so struck 

 with the magnificent spectacle presented by the living polyparia in the Red Sea, that 

 he exclaimed with enthusiasm, ' Where is the paradise of flowers that can rival in 

 variety and beauty these living wonders of the ocean?'" MantelPs Wonders of 

 Geology, p. 486. " There are few things more beautiful to look at than these coral- 

 lines when viewed through two or three fathoms of clear and still water. It is hardly 

 an exaggeration to assert, that the colours of the rainbow are put to shame on a 

 bright sunny day, by what meets the view on looking into the sea in those fairy 

 regions." Captain B. Hall's Fragments of Voyages and Travels, vol. i. p. 115. For 

 an illustration of the impression which our own Sea- Anemonies may make on a man 

 of observation and genius, see Southey's "Poetical Works," (Edit, in 1 vol. Lond. 

 1845), Pref. p. ix.; Thalaba, bk. xii. p. 308 ; and Kehama, xvi. p. 604. 



