ACTINIADJi : ACTINIA. 211 



Ixiii. 364, pi. 16, fig. 17. t Mull. Zool. Dan. prod. 231. Flem. Brit. Anim. 

 497. Cuv. Reg. Anim. iii. 292. Johnston in Trans. Newc. Soc. ii. 243. Dalyell 

 in Edin. New. Phil. Journ. xvii. 411 ; and in Proc. Brit. Assoc. 1834, 599. 

 Templeton hi Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 303. Act. mesembryanthemum, Ellis and 

 Soland. Zooph. 4. Encyclop. Meth. Vers. pi. 73, fig. 3. Turt. Brit. Faun. 131. 

 Rapp Polyp. 52, taf. 2, fig, 1. Johnstonin Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. 81, fig. 12. Grube 

 Actin. 10. Couch Zooph. Cornw. 31 : Corn. Faun. iii. 74, pi. 14, fig. 1. Hassall 

 in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vii. 285. Act. hemisphaerica, Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 



104. Berk. Syn. i. 186. Hogg's Stock, 30. Act. rufe, Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 



105. Jameson in Wern. Mem. i. 558. Stew. Elem. i. 393. Roget Bridgew. 

 Treat, i. 198, fig. 86, 87. Act. corallina, Risso TEurop. mend. v. 285. Common 

 Actinia, Buckland Bridgew. Treat, ii. 89, pi. 54, fig. 4. Small red Sea-Nettle, 

 Wallis Hist, of Northumb. i. 374. Hydra mesembryanthemum, Slew. Elem. ii. 

 451. 



Hob. On rocks between tide marks, very common. 



Body one, or one and a half, inch in diameter, hemispherical when 

 contracted, when relaxed forming a short cylinder with a breadth 

 greater than the height ; of a uniform liver-colour, or often olive- 

 green, and sometimes streaked with blue or greenish lines, either 

 continuous or in spots : the base generally of a greenish colour, 

 encircled with an azure-blue line, but it is often also streaked with 

 red, and the blue marginal line is occasionally wanting. The tenta- 

 cula, when fully extended, are nearly equal to the height of the 

 body, and of the same colour, or a shade lighter. There are about 

 25 blue tubercles in a full-grown specimen j they are situated 

 within the margin of the oral disc, and are formed by papillary 

 projections of the parenchyma of the body, covered over on the top 

 with a thick layer of dense blue matter : in it, as well as in the 

 skin generally, minute fusiform spicula, some slenderer than others, 

 may be detected in abundance with the microscope. Mr. Bailey 

 suspects that these spicula .are siliceous (Ann. and Mag. N. Hist, 

 xii. 39), but as I find them to be entirely destroyed by burning, 

 and not altered by the action of vinegar, they are probably horny. 

 On each side of the mouth, in the median line, there is a small 

 purple spot; and the mouth itself is encircled with a fringe of 

 numerous very short tentacles, of a pale or roseate colour, which is 

 rarely exposed, and has been hitherto unnoticed. 



Except in colouring, this our commonest species is not subject to 

 much variety. It is a cleanly animal, and loves the purest water, in 



t Dicquemare himself uses no specific names : they were applied to his figures by 

 Dr. Solander, who, it is to be presumed, was well acquainted with the Linnsean spe- 

 cies. To those acquainted with the subject, it is unnecessary to assign a reason for 

 the unconditional rejection of Linnaeus' specific names. 



