HALF AN HOUR WITH SEA-ANEMONES. 



135 



contrast strongly with their lovely, flower-like ap- 

 pearance when covered by water. The " Dahlia 

 Anemone " has a habit of covering its body with large 

 grains of sand, pebbles, or fragments of shells, so 

 that, apart from its great size, this is a good means 

 of recognising it. It is extremely sensitive on its 

 basal portion, the slightest injury frequently causing 



Fig. 69. 



Dahlia Wartlet (Tealia crassicornis). 



death. Its great voracity illustrated by Mr. Wood, 

 who watched one individual catch and swallow two 

 small crabs in a very short time renders it unfit 

 for a general aquarium, an objection which its great 

 size further bears out. But it may be kept in 

 separate glass tanks, and fed with pieces of meat, 

 &c., when it seems to take to its new home very 



