SEA-ANEMONE. CARYOPHYLLIA. 503 



appears to have an important connexion with the development 

 of the progeny ; and the introduction of water into the ovarial 

 chambers may not improbably furnish them with supplies of food 

 as well as of air. 



1070. The Actinia have been stated to feed upon small 

 Crustacea, Fish, &c. In their turn, they become the prey of 

 the larger species of these tribes. They constitute by no means 

 an unpalatable article of food, even for Man. Particular species 

 are highly prized as delicacies in some tropical countries ; and 

 others are commonly employed by the inhabitants of northern 

 shores. Along our own coasts, there is a remarkable neglect of 

 these and of many other marine productions, to which, if not 

 constantly employed, recourse might be advantageously had in 

 times of scarcity. They seem to have been a favourite dish at 

 the Abbe Dicquemare's table. " Being boiled some time in sea- 

 water," he tells us, " they acquire a firm and palatable consis- 

 tence, and may then be eaten with any kind of sauce. They 

 are of an inviting appearance, of a light shivering texture, and 

 of a soft white and reddish hue. Their smell is not unlike that 

 of a warm crab or lobster." A few species have the power of 

 stinging, like the Acalephse with which they were associated 

 by former naturalists. 



1071. The Actinice are by no means the only Polypes be- 

 longing to this Order. Several other genera exist, of which 

 some are, like it, unpossessed of any calcareous deposit, whilst 

 others form a hard skeleton more or less complete. Between 

 these, however, there are links of close connection ; for some 

 among the first have a portion of the base and of the lower part 

 of the cylindrical body hardened into a kind of horny cell, 

 within which the animal can retract the upper portion that re- 

 mains soft. In those species which construct a stony basis, the 

 calcareous matter is deposited in the same situation. Such a 

 deposit is formed by the CaryophyUia, a solitary Polype much 

 resembling the Sea- Anemone, which is to be met with on the 

 southern shores of England ; and thus a stony cell is formed, 

 in the bottom of which are to be seen a number of thin vertical 

 plates or lamellae, formed in the partitions between the ovarial 



