368 THE MICROSCOPE. 



by wiping them with a soft hair pencil, or even with the 

 finger, carefully avoiding to rub or press hard on the 

 anemones. Should any of them drop off during this 

 operation, they may be left at liberty j for they will soon 

 of their own accord fix themselves to some other place. 

 Should any "of them die, which will soon be discovered by 

 the milky colour of the water, and an offensive smell on 

 changing it, it must be taken out, and, on the first oppor- 

 tunity, another of the same species be put in its place ; 

 those of a moderate size are the most eligible." 



Anthea, a flower, is the name given by Dr. Johnston 

 to his family Helianthoida. Anthea eereus is of a pretty 

 light-brown colour, having a somewhat cylindrical furrowed 

 body. From 50 to 200 feelers arise from the disc of the 

 animal, which, when expanded, are longer than the body, 

 and of a bright sea-green colour tipped with red; in 

 other kinds the colour varies. They belong to the Ac- 

 tinice, and are common on the Cornwall coast : Ellis says of 

 them, " Their tentacula being disposed in regular circles, 

 and tinged with a variety of bright lively colours, very 

 nearly represent the beautiful petals of some of our most 

 elegantly fringed and radiated flowers, such as the carna- 

 tion, marigold, and anemone." 



Allied to the family Actiniae, are those laminated, circu- 

 lar-form corals, called Fungice, " Sea-mushrooms," usually 

 found in great variety ; colour white, of a flattened round 

 shape, made up of thin plates or scales, around which 

 is a translucent jelly-like substance, and within a large 

 polype ; for, unlike others, they exist as individuals : the 

 lower portion, by which the animal is affixed to the rock 

 whereon it lives, is of a stony character. 



In Ellis's Zoophytes is the following passage, quoted 

 from Rumphius, in regard to the Fungia agariciformis : 

 " The more elevated folds or plaits have borders like the 

 denticulated edge of needlework-lace. These are covered 

 with innumerable oblong vesicles, formed of a gelatinous 

 substance, which appear alive under water, and may be 

 observed to move like an insect. I have observed these 

 radiating folds of the animal, which secrete the lamellae, 

 and which shrink between them when the animal contracts 

 itself on being disturbed. They are constantly moving in 



