THE WONDERS OF THE SHOEE. 107 



plates, and little exquisitely formed and coloured 

 tentacula, witli white clubbed tips fringing the sides 

 of the cup-shaped cavity in the centre, across which 

 stretches the oval disc marked with a star of some 

 rich and brilliant colour, surrounding the central 

 mouth, a slit with white crenated lips, like the orifice 

 of one of those elegant cowry shells which we put 

 upon our mantelpieces. The mouth is always more 

 or less prominent, and can be protruded and ex- 

 panded to an astonishing extent. The space sur- 

 rounding the lips is commonly fawn colour, or rich 

 chestnut-brown ; the star or vandyked circle rich 

 red, pale vermilion, and sometimes the most brilliant 

 emerald green, as brilliant as the gorget of a hum- 

 ming-bird." 



And what does this exquisitely delicate creature 

 do with its pretty mouth ? Alas for fact ! It sips 

 no honey-dew, or fruits from paradise. — "I put a 

 minute spider, as large as a pin's head, into the 

 water, pushing it down to the coral. The instant it 

 touched the tip of a tentacle, it adhered, and was 

 drawn in with the surrounding tentacles between the 



