SEA-ANEMONES : THEIR WEAPONS 401) 



finds vent at these natural orifices, and the forcible cur- 

 rents carry with them the acontia, each through that cinclis 

 which happens to lie nearest to it. The frequency with 

 which a loop is forced out shows that the issue is the result 

 of a merely mechanical action; which is, however, not the 

 less worthy of admiration because of the simplicity of the 

 contrivance, nor the less manifestly the result of Divine 

 wisdom working to a given end by perfectly adequate 

 means. The ejected acontia, loaded with their deadly 

 cnidce in every part of their length, carry abroad their fatal 

 powers not the less surely than if each had been provided 

 with a proper tube leading from its free extremity to the 

 nearest cindis." 



Curious as these contrivances are, there is yet much 

 more to be told: these are preparatory and ancillary, as it 

 were, to the elaborate mechanism by which the ultimate 

 object of the whole provision is to be attained. The acon- 

 tium is but a reservoir for the weapons a kind of quiver 

 for the arrows; and the cinclis is a provision for getting 

 them ready for action: we have not yet looked at the 

 arrows themselves. 



They occur under three principal forms; and for the 

 investigation of these we shall find it convenient to have 

 recourse to different species. 



The first and most generally distributed form is the 

 Chambered Cnida, as it is also the most elaborately organ- 

 ized. I know of no species in which it can be examined 

 under so favorable circumstances as the pretty Madrepore 

 (Cyathina Smithii) of our southwestern coasts; and as I 

 have several specimens of that species in my aquarium, 

 subjects are at hand for our investigation. The clear 



tentacles are, as you perceive, crowned with opaque glob- 

 15 SCIENCE 18 



