152 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



confinement, some will quit their hold, if left dry for 

 a considerable time, or detach themselves, if the water 

 be rendered very impure. But no effect is thus pro- 

 duced on many ; nor does anything whatever induce 

 them to move, or to abandon their fixture ; they remain 

 to perish. The only practicable mode of obtaining a 

 coveted object under such circumstances, is, if possible, 

 to chisel off a portion of the hard rock below it, a 

 tedious and precarious alternative, but one which 

 nevertheless will often repay the naturalist for his 

 trouble. 



On finding a specimen which the collector may be 

 anxious to preserve, it may be wrapped in moist sea- 

 weed, or in a handkerchief wetted with sea-water, 

 where it will be quite safe for many hours ; and, if 

 wanting a sufficient vessel for its deposition, he may 

 first use a small saucer, which can be afterwards 

 lodged in a larger vessel. A small quantity of water 

 suffices for it, in case of necessity, wherein it may be 

 kept uninjured for a long period in a vessel of very 

 moderate capacity, but entirely covered by the ele- 

 ment, or frequently washed with it. There is no 

 difficulty either in feeding or preserving it, such is 

 the variety of substances it devours. 



The Actinia must be deemed a long-lived animal. 

 A specimen of Actinia mesembryanthemum, whose 

 portrait we reproduce (PI. III. fig. 5), is figured by 

 Sir J. Dalyell, which he had kept in a state of captivity 

 for twenty years, and which could not have been under 

 thirty Clears old ; and another, apparently of equal age 

 with the former when taken, had lived for thirteen or 

 ourteen years in his possession; nevertheless, both 



