HALF AN HOUR WITH SEA-ANEMONES. 129 



Mr. Gosse, in his enthusiastic style, exclaims : 

 " When left by the receding tide, it protrudes from 

 its tiny cavity in the overhanging rock, and droops 

 a pear-shaped button of orange brown, with a 

 cluster of brilliant purple tentacles just showing 

 their tips from the half-opened centre, and a drop 

 of water sparkling like a dewdrop hanging from 

 them." The " Eosy Anemone " usually frequents 

 holes in the rock, so that its capture is attended 

 with no little difficulty. When describing its ap- 

 pearance and colour more in detail, Mr. Gosse says : 

 " It has a firm fleshy column of Sienna brown, paler 

 towards the base, and with the upper part studded 

 with indistinct spots, marking the situation of 

 certain organs which have an adhesive power. The 

 disk is of a pale neutral tint, with a crimson mouth in 

 the centre, and a circumference of crowded tentacle, 

 of the most lovely rose-purple, the rich hue of that 

 lovely flower that bears the name of General 

 Jacqueminot. In those specimens that are most 

 widely opened this tentacular fringe forms a blossom 

 whose petals overhang the concealed column, ex- 

 panding to the width of an inch or more ; but there 

 are others in which the expansion is less complete 

 in different degrees, and these all give distinct 

 phases of loveliness. We find a few among the rest 

 which, with the characteristically coloured ten- 

 tacles, have the column and disk of a creamy white, 

 and one in which the disk is of a brilliant orange, 

 inclining to scarlet. Most lovely little creatures 



