84 THE SEA ANEMONE. 



when the arms are fully expanded, and the effect is 

 increased by the fine colours which they often 

 assume, and which vary in different individuals. 



THE SEA ANEMONE, OR ACTINIA. 



These animals are endowed with great sensibility, 

 contracting not only when touched, however deli- 

 cately, but even when a dark cloud passes over the 

 sky, as if apprehensive of impending danger from the 

 sudden obscuration of the light. They can lengthen 

 their bodies, and turn with expanded arms from side to 

 side, either to enjoy the rays of the sun, or in quest 

 of prey. If a person endeavours to disengage them 

 from the rock to which they are attached by their 

 sucker-like base, they forcibly contract themselves 

 into a firm round mass, with a slimy surface, and 

 are not easily removed without injury. They are 

 not, however, so fixed that they cannot change their 

 situation ; they can slowly glide upon the surface of 

 the rock, or they can become detached entirely, and 



