THE PALLID ANEMONE. 81 



In my limited opportunities of investigating this Ane- 

 mone, I found it impatient of light, and sufficiently loco- 

 motive. A specimen, adhering to the upper surface of a 

 flat stone, I put into a tea-saucer ; it immediately crawled 

 to the edge of its stone, glided round, and passed under, 

 till it was quite out of sight : it thus traversed about thrice 

 its own length in a quarter of an hour. I then turned up 

 the stone, and the animal presently crawled off to the 

 bottom of the saucer : closed all the time, except that the 

 tips of its tentacles were protruding. 



Its manner of crawling was somewhat curious. It gradu- 

 ally distended a portion of its body, which then was swollen, 

 and quite pellucid, having a strange appearance, owing to 

 the white china shining through the tissues of the distended 

 portion. Then this part, being raised from the bottom so 

 as to be loose, was pushed out and took a fresh hold, and 

 the other half was rapidly pulled up to it, when the ante- 

 rior half began again to distend instantly, and proceeded 

 as before. The progress could be easily watched with a 

 lens, over the minute specks of the bottom. It was impos- 

 sible to witness the methodical regularity of the process, 

 and the fitness of the mode for attaining the end, without 

 being assured of the existence of both consciousness and 

 will in this low animal form. At night I found it had 

 marched about three inches, or twenty-four times its own 

 diameter, in six hours : but its progress, while I watched 

 it, was much more rapid than this. 



The only recognised habitat for Sagartia pallida is — 

 Dartmouth, E. W. H. E. 



sphyrodeta. 



PALLIDA. 



dianthus. 



G 



