144 LOCOMOTIVE POWERS. 



a few minutes after being swallowed, but from what motive it 

 would be difficult to say. 



The locomotive powers of the Anemones are not great. Many 

 of the species, indeed, remain attached for months together to the 

 spot where they are first placed ; though others are comparatively 

 restless and frequently change their position. This is especially 

 the case with Anthea cereus ; and as this species is very fond of 

 attaching itself to the glass sides of the Aquarium, its movements 

 may easily be watched. It glides along upon its base with a 

 slow and equable motion, in the same manner as a slug or snail, 

 but much more slowly ; occasionally, however, it has been seen to 

 progress by a series of somersaults, employing base and tentacles 

 alternately as a means of attachment. The common Smooth 

 Anemone is also of a vagrant disposition ; and on one occasion a 

 specimen of the Strawberry variety, now in our possession, 

 travelled a distance of more than twelve inches in one night. It 

 is said, moreover, that when this species is confined in a tank iu 

 which there are blocks of stone projecting above the sur- 

 face of the water, it will sometimes climb up high and dry to 

 give itself an airing for a few hours, and then descend again to 

 its proper element no doubt intending by this procedure to 

 compensate itself for the loss of that alternate exposure to air and 

 water, which, more than any other species, it obtains by the 

 regular ebb and flow of the tide. 



Dianthus is another of the Anemones which at times seems 

 to take a pleasure in exhibiting its powers of locomotion, being 

 on these occasions almost as fond of wandering over the per- 

 pendicular sides of the Aquarium as Anthea cereus. As a 

 general rule, however, dianthus is rather stationary in its habits, 

 first seeking out a good position, and then, as we shall presently 

 find, veiy literally sticking to it. Its most favourite position, 

 perhaps, is high up on the side of the Aquarium, close to the sur- 

 face of the water, where it stretches itself out horizontally, en- 

 joying in its own fashion the luxury of an air bath. 



We have now in our possession two individuals of this species, 

 which have been seated thus on the sides of a large vase for 

 nearly eight months ; and what is not a little curious, as showing 

 their partiality for being just at the surface of the water, they 

 have two or three times during this period shifted their position 

 up and down as the level of the water has been altered. 



