REPRODUCTIVE POWERS. 59 



other hand, it is well known that certain other parts 

 may be destroyed with impunity. If the tentacula, 

 for instance, be cut away, so great are the repro- 

 ductive powers of the Actiniae, that in a compara- 

 tively short space of time the mutilated members 

 will begin to bud anew. 



' If cut transversely through the middle, the lower 

 portion of the body will after a time produce more 

 tentacula, pretty near as they were before the opera- 

 tion, while the upper portion swallows food as if 

 nothing had happened, permitting it indeed at first 

 to come out at the opposite end ; just as if a man's 

 head being cut off would let out at the neck the bit 

 taken in at the mouth, but which it soon learns to 

 retain and digest in a proper manner/ 



The smooth anemone being viviparous, as already 

 hinted, it is no uncommon circumstance for the 

 naturalist to find himself unexpectedly in possession 

 of a large brood of infant zoophytes, which have 

 been ejected from the mouth of the parent. 



There is often an unpleasant-looking film sur- 

 rounding the body of the Actiniae. This ' film' is 

 the skin of the animal, and is cast off very fre- 

 quently. It should be brushed away by aid of a 

 camel hair pencil. Should any rejected food be 

 attached to the lips, it may be removed by the same 

 means. When in its native haunts this process is 

 performed daily and hourly by the action of the 

 waves. Such attention to the wants of his little 



