232 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 



concluded that the spots of the inside resident corresponded 

 with the external spots of the shell it inhabited. I won- 

 dered why there was so general a turn-out, but I ascribed 

 it to the brackish state of the stream. 



Genus XXXI. ACTINIA, Linnaus. 



Gen. Char. Body conoid or cylindrical, adhering by a broad 

 base ; the space between the mouth and the rim of the upper 

 disc occupied by one or more uninterrupted series of conical un- 

 divided tubular tentacula, which are entirely retractile. Dr. 

 Johnston. 



Before entering on any description of the various species 

 of these sea-anemones, it may not be improper to make a 

 few preliminary observations on their character in general. 

 They claim attention on account of their beauty ; and then 

 we cannot excuse our neglect of them by saying, what is 

 true with respect to not a few of the most interesting objects 

 in nature, that they are too small to be seen without the aid 

 of the microscope, for all Actinia can be seen by the naked 

 .eye, and several of them, when fully expanded, are of con- 

 siderable magnitude. The very names by which they are 

 commonly known, show that their beauty has been both 



