118 HALF AN HOUR WITH SEA- ANEMONES. 



VIII. 



HALF AN HOUR WITH SEA-ANEMONES. 



THERE are few marine objects more deservedly 

 popular than those to which we purpose devoting our 

 present "half hour." Since the almost universal 

 establishment of those charming sources of interest 

 and amusement, marine aquaria, much greater in- 

 formation has been obtained as to the habits, &c., 

 of sea-anemones. The principal writer on this 

 subject is Mr. Gosse, whose attractive style has 

 thrown a charm over it, and helped more than any- 

 thing else to increase the number of species peculiar 

 to Great Britain. Less than a quarter of a century 

 ago there were only twenty-four British species 

 known now there are upwards of seventy. Their 

 study in domestic aquaria has lightened many a 

 hour of suffering and tedium, for no more beautiful 

 creatures exist in the whole range of the animal 

 kingdom. Well do they deserve the name which, 

 under the Greek compounded word of. Anthozoa, 

 naturalists have given to them. They are, indeed, 

 " living flowers," clad in brighter colours than the 

 proverbial "lilies of the field," and yet exhibiting 

 the habits, appliances, and instincts of true animals. 

 Anemone collecting is now a recognised sea-side 

 pursuit, and along the shores of our rockier bathing- 



