108 THE GEMMACEOUS ANEMONE. 



thing that caught my attention was an Actinia, which 

 I at once saw was new to me. It was projecting ex- 

 panded from a crevice in the rock, just helow the 

 surface, in a little pool. A few minutes' labour en- 

 abled me to open a passage for the draining of the 

 water, so far as to expose my Anemone, which I then 

 soon dug out of his retreat by means of the chisel 

 and hammer. On examination at home it proved to 

 be Act. gemmacea^ a fine species apparently rare, 

 since Dr. Johnston seems not to be personally ac- 

 quainted with it. He gives only Gaertner's specific 

 character and locality, and old Ellis's description, and 

 for his figures he is indebted to Mr. Cocks. Mr. Ealfs, 

 however, had given in the Guide to North Devon 

 this very locality for the species, and I afterwards 

 found it not uncommon on this coast. 



I searched some time without success for the Coral, 

 and had begun to despair of finding it, for the tide 

 was almost at its lowest ; when sudddenly I caught 

 sight of one projecting from the under surface of one 

 of the slanting ridges of rock. The water would not 

 allow me to reach it with any hope of detaching it 

 uninjured, but presently I peeped into a small cavern 

 formed by large masses of the rock piled one against 

 another, in which there were nearly a score of them. 

 By a little manoeuvring I managed to squeeze my 

 body between the stones, so as to work with the chisel, 

 disregardful of the water that covered my feet below, 

 and of the coating of mud, the slimy zoophytes, and 

 sponges, that adhered to the overhanging rock above 

 me. The Corals varied in size, from that of a pea to 

 J of an inch in height and diameter. They were not 



