CHISELLING ANEMONES. 19 



" There ! Don't place it too near him ; give liim room — 

 an inch all round. Not too hard ! Never mind the tough- 

 ness of the rock — clay-slate isn't made of butter ; but with 



patience and steady blows What ! youVe rapped your 



knuckles instead of the chisel? Well, it does fall out so 

 sometimes. W^hile you are hammering, 111 try elsewhere." 



Accordingly I am left stretched on a sloping ledge, lean- 

 ing into a pool of about a foot deep, where I have to baiig 

 away at my chisel, not in the least seeing the effect of my 

 blows, for the crumbling of the rock has made the water the 

 colour of a London gutter. From time to time I pull my 

 chisel out, and feel with my hand to ascertain progress. 

 At last a piece of the rock comes away, and I bring up the 

 Anemone named Grassicornis — a very ill-favoured gentle- 

 man, to judge by his present aspect ; but I throw him into 

 the jar of sea-water, in full reliance on what he will be to- 

 night or to-morrow. He has cost me twenty minutes' hard 

 labour ; but he was worth it. 



If you are anxious to know why all this pains was 

 taken to chisel away the rock, you may learn a curious fact 

 — namely, that these Anemones, like Achilles, are invulner- 

 able, except in one spot. They will bear an extraordinary 

 amount of cutting and tearing if you keep their base un- 

 lacerated. Not only have I cut off portions of them for 

 microscopic examination, as you would cut buds off a tree, 

 but, while I write this, there are several of the exquisite 

 little Auroras and Venustas which have been cut or torn 

 in half by the splitting of the stones on which they 

 rested, and each half is as vigorous as if notliiiig had in- 

 terfered with its integrity. In the course of some weeks 



