SEA-ANEMONES. 75 



column for a good meal. Alas ! he was a victim to gluttony. 

 One day I brought home a Butter-fish, or Gunnel (Mur&noides 

 guttatd], about six and a half inches in length. Thinking he 

 was large enough to take care of himself, I put him in with the 

 big Opelet. He had been there but a few minutes, when I 

 looked in to see how he was settling down in this new world. 

 He was already dead or insensible, in the snake-like folds of 

 the green tentacles which were tightly coiled around the fish. 

 I attempted a rescue, but these tentacles are wonderfully 

 adhesive, and feel as though they had been painted with 

 patent glue : they adhere on the slightest touch. 



I was too late to save his life, so I did not trouble to recover 

 the corpse. Before long it had reached the mouth, which 

 extended considerably in order to accommodate it ; but it was a 

 little while before the intelligence of the Opelet could be so 

 brought to bear on the matter in hand that the Anemone 

 could comfortably get the Gunnel " end on." Now the task 

 was easy, and although the Gunnel considerably exceeded the 

 Opelet in length, the Anemone tucked him safely in. It was 

 not a comfortable arrangement in spite of the elasticity of the 

 Opelet ; and the fish, as could plainly be seen from outside, 

 had to be slanted. Whether this caused a rupture of any 

 vital part, or whether the Gunnel was too much for the 

 Opelet's digestive powers, cannot now be ascertained ; but 

 the Opelet sickened, and though the fish was discharged 

 next day, the Anemone never recovered, but finally died about 

 a week after this inordinate meal. 



The late Mr. Gosse experimented upon the Opelet as an 

 addition to our breakfast table, and declared it good. He 

 says that " the dish called Rastegna, which is a great favourite 

 in Provence, is mainly prepared from the Opelet." 



Perhaps some of our readers would like to experiment in 

 the same direction whilst they are at the seaside ; in that case 

 we should be glad to have their experience and candid opinion 

 on the suitability of our native Anemones for human food. 



