ACTINIAEIA. 185 



of being applied to every point, and adhere by suction with consider- 

 able tenacity, throwing out, according to Gaertner, of their whole 

 surface a number of extremely minute suckers, which, sticking fast to 

 the small protuberances of the skin, produce the sensation of roughness, 

 which is so far from being painful that it even cannot be called dis- 

 agreeable. 



" The size of the prey is frequently in unseemly disproportion to 

 the preyer, being often equal in bulk to itself. I had once brought 

 me a specimen of A. crassicornis, that might have been originally two 

 inches in diameter, which had somehow contrived to swallow a valve 

 of Pecten maximus of the size of an ordinary saucer. The shell, 

 fixed within the stomach, was so placed as to divide it completely into 

 two halves, so that the body, stretched tensely over, had become 

 thin and flattened like a pancake. All communication between the 

 inferior portion of the stomach and the mouth was of course prevented ; 

 yet, instead of emaciating and dying of atrophy, the animal had availed 

 itself of what undoubtedly had been a very untoward accident to in- 

 crease its enjoyment and its chance of double fare. A new mouth, 

 furnished with two rows of numerous tentacula, was opened up on 

 what had been the base, and led to the under stomach ; the individual 

 had indeed become a sort of Siamese Twin, but with greater intimacy 

 and extent in its unions !" 



The sea anemones pass nearly all their life fixed to some rock, to 

 which they seem to have taken root. There they live a sort of un- 

 conscious and obtuse existence, gifted with an instinct so obscure 

 that they are not even conscious of the prey in their vicinity until it 

 is actually in contact, when it seizes it in its mouth and swallows it. 

 Nevertheless, though habitually adherent, they can move, gliding and 

 creeping slowly by successive contractile and relaxing movements of the 

 body, extending one edge of their base and relaxing the opposite one. 



At the approach of cold weather the Actiniadse descend into the 

 deepest water, where they find a more agreeable temperature. 



We have said that the sea anemones are scarcely possessed of vital 

 instinct ; but they are capable of certain voluntary, movements. 

 Under the influence of light, they expand their tentacles as the daisy 

 displays its florets. If the animal is touched, or the water is agitated 

 in its neighbourhood, the tentacles close immediately. These ten- 

 tacles appear occasionally to serve the purpose of offensive arms. The 



