186 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



hand of the man who has touched them becomes red and inflamed. 

 M. Hollard has seen small mackerel, two to three inches long, perish 

 when touched by the tentacles of the Green Actinia (Comactis viridis 

 Allman). This is a charming little animal. " The brilliancy of its 

 colours and the great elegance of its tentacular crown when fully 

 expanded," says Professor Allman, " render it eminently attractive ; 

 hundreds may often be seen in a single pool, and few sights will be 

 retained with greater pleasure by the naturalist than that presented 

 by these little zoophytes, as they expand their green and rosy crowns 

 amid the algee, millepores, and plumy corals, co-tenants of their rock- 

 covered vase." 



The toxological properties of the Actinia have been attributed to 

 certain special cells full of liquid ; but M. Hollard believes that these 

 effects are neither constant enough nor sufficiently general to con- 

 stitute the chief function of these organs, which are found in all the 

 species and over their whole surface, external and internal. Though 

 quite incapable of discerning their prey at a distance, the sea ane- 

 mone seizes it with avidity when it comes to offer itself up a victim. 

 If some adventurous little worm, or some young and sluggish crustacean, 

 happens to ruffle the expanded involucrum of an actinia in its lazy 

 progress through the water, the animal strikes it at once with its ten- 

 tacles, and instinctively sweeps it into its open mouth. TJiis habit 

 may be observed in any aquarium, and is a favourite spectacle at the 

 " Jardin d'Acclimitation " of Paris, at noon on Sunday and Wednesday, 

 when the aquatic animals are fed. Small morsels of food are thrown 

 into the water. Prawns, shrimps, and other crustaceans and zoophytes 

 inhabiting this medium, chase the morsels as they sink to the bottom 

 of the basin ; but it is otherwise with the Actinia ; the morsels glide 

 downwards within the twentieth part of an inch of their crown 

 without its presence being suspected. It requires the aid of a pro- 

 pitious wand, directed by the hand of the keeper, to guide the food 

 right down on the animal. Then its arms or tentacles seize upon 

 the prey, and its repast commences forthwith. 



The Actinia are at once gluttonous and voracious. They seize 

 their food with the help of the tentacula, and engulf in their 

 stomach, as we have seen, substances of a volume and consistence 

 which contrast strangely with their dimensions and softness. In less 

 than an hour, M. Hollard observed that one of these creatures voided 



