SEA-ANEMONES. 289 



CHAPTER XVI. 



SEA-ANEMONES AND OTHER ZOOPHYTES, ETC., 

 OF MARINE AQUARIA. 



EVEN before the days of large public aquaria, Gosse, 

 Lankester, and others had taught us the ease with 

 which those charming, flower-like objects called "sea- 

 anemones " could be kept alive in vessels of sea water. 

 No flowers in full bloom exceed them in colour or 

 graceful shape, whilst in them there is superadded the 

 extra interest which life gives to any object. These 

 sea-anemones (Actinia) have been studied and ob- 

 served more than any other group of marine animals. 

 They are easy to keep alive, with certain necessary 

 precautions, but require some little feeding. So 

 flower-like are they that even insects are occasion- 

 ally deceived by their floral appearance. Sir John 

 Lubbock and others have recently shown how won- 

 derfully co-related flowers and insects are ; and if 

 it had been a less trustworthy observer than the 

 late Jonathan Couch who related the following, it 

 would have been difficult to believe that an insect 

 so intelligent as a bee could make so gross a mis- 

 take as to take a sea-anemone for an open flower! 

 Mr. Couch states that he saw an expanded " crass " 



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