SEA-ANEMONES I THEIR WEAPONS. 407 



CHAPTER XIX. 



SEA-ANEMONES : THEIR WEAPONS. 



A VERY vast amount of the energy of animal life is 

 epent either in making war, or in resisting or evading 

 it. Offence and defence are sciences which the infe- 

 rior creatures can in nowise neglect, since all are 

 interested in one or other, and many in both ; and 

 various are the arts and devices, the tricks and strata- 

 gems, the instincts and. faculties, employed in that 

 earnest strife which never knows a suspension of hos- 

 tilities. All classes of animals, invertebrate as well as 

 vertebrate, are warriors by profession : the Spider is 

 as carnivorous as the Lion, and more strategic ; and 

 the invisible Brachion is as ruthless and insatiable as 

 either. 



An enumeration and description of the diverse 

 weaj)ons, by means of which this truceless warfare is 

 carried on, would make a volume : nor would the 

 subject be then exhausted ; for since it enters so 

 largely into the very existence of animal life, the 

 discoveries of advancing science are ever bringing to 

 light new forms and modifications, strange and unex- 

 pected contrivances, all calculated to enhance our 

 view of the inexhaustible resources of the Lord God 

 Omnipotent, "who is wonderful in counsel, and excel- 

 lent in working." 



