90 On Actiniadse /"oM/idf on the Coast of Devon. 



examples from light orange to cream colour. The description 

 of the species in Dr. Johnston's work is very good, and the 

 figure in the Rev. Dr. Landsborough's little popular work on 

 * Zoophytes ' is very faithful. It is a lovely species and can 

 scarcely be confounded with any other kind. 



At the time of making these investigations we had not seen 

 Mr. Gosse's interesting ' Rambles on the Devonshire Coast/ but 

 under its guidance we may hope to find several other species, 

 since he has met v/ith them (as for example Actinia hellis, A. 

 anguicoma, A. rosea (Gosse), and A. nivea (Gosse)) within the 

 boundaries of coast here mentioned. There are also scattered in 

 my note-book legends of other species of the genus, which it is 

 to be hoped may some day ripen into certainties, but these are 

 the only Actinia of which I can at present give a detailed 

 description. Of other Actiniadce the only kind we have found 

 on the coast is, — 



10. Anthea Cereiis, 



which is far from rare. We have once met with it in a sand- 

 pool beyond the rocks at Teignmouth, and also on the sands 

 below Torre Abbey, but its chief haunt is in the pools amid the 

 rocks which separate the Dawlish beach from that of the Warren. 

 It seems to be very gregarious in its habits, many always being 

 found in the same pool. 



It is a very lively and pleasant Anemone to keep, moving 

 about with much activity, but always, as far as we have seen, by 

 aid of the disc only. They often make the entire tou.r of their 

 prison-house, and it is to be feared that sometimes these ex- 

 peditions are of an aggressive character, for more than once 

 have we had to rescue some lesser species from the grasp of 

 their tentacles. I am sorry to confess this, for the Anthea is a 

 favourite of mine ; I would try, however, to defend him from an- 

 other charge brought against him, namely that of stinging. Of 

 course one affirmative declaration must outweigh any number 

 of negative assertions, yet we have all frequently handled them, 

 without experiencing any unpleasant sensation. The tentacles 

 adhere very firmly to any object brought within their grasp, but 

 scarcely more so than those of Actinia coriacea. 



It lives well in confinement, and is amusing from its activity 

 and from its constant changes of form. They sometimes attain 

 a large size : one found in a pool amongst the Warren Rocks had 

 the tentacles, when erect, almost of the calibre of a goose-quill, 

 and must have been, when in full expansion, considerably more 

 than an inch in breadth, exclusive of the tentacles. In the 

 same })Ool were five other specimens, but all of smaller size. I 

 have seen twenty even in a very little pool in the same locahty. 



