124 THE SEA-SIDE AND AQTJAKIUM. 



of which are truly amusing, considering the form and 

 configuration of the animal in its natural state. 



I must give a sketch of this curious Anemone. 

 The first announcement that I received of his having 

 commenced his performances, was from a servant 

 (who had privately taken an interest in the " Qua- 

 rium," as she called it, and endeavoured to catch up 

 the names of its inhabitants) poking her head within 

 the door of my sanctum, and crying out, " O ! pleassir, 

 do come and look, the enemy (meaning the Anemone) 

 is a turning hisself inside out ! I didn't touch him, 

 sir, indeed I didn't ! " 



I discovered, however, that from a natural enough 

 curiosity she had touched the " enemy" the preceding 

 day a liberty he immediately resented by losing no 

 time in, to her great alarm and surprise, "turning 

 hisself" outside in ! 



For a whole week the animal continued his ma- 

 noeuvres, until he finally detached his base from the 

 rock. After this, he rolled about in a most inflated, 

 dropsical condition, being at least three times his usual 

 size. For a time, uncertain what treatment to adopt, 

 it occurred to me that if the water were well aerated, 

 it might do him good. I accordingly took the syringe, 

 and forced several jets of the briny fluid over his 

 body. This, of course, caused a disturbance of the 

 sand and weed, producing myriads of bubbles in the 

 water, and finally making it quite opaque. Upon 

 becoming clear again, I looked to see what effect my 

 doctoring had had upon the patient. To my intense 



