SENSE OF SMELL IN ACTINIiE. 475 



pended iu the water, others we placed ou the floor of the tanks. 

 At neither aquarium were the creatures in a lively state ; and at 

 the Crystal Palace many of them were sloughing ; but the result 

 of many trials convinced us that the Anemones certainly were 

 conscious of the presence of the stuff, the consciousness being 

 show^n by gradual opening. The greatest distance from the bait 

 at which we found this consciousness displayed was a span's 

 breadth. In one case which we watched for a considerable time, 

 the Anemone opened somewhat rapidly, and for some time seemed, 

 as we judged from the motions of its tentacles, to be trying to 

 determine in what direction the bait lay, and finally rested with 

 its tentacles spread out in a wrong direction. In another case, that 

 of a large and unhealthy-looking Anemone, the presence of the 

 food seemed to excite repulsion, as some minutes after the bait 

 had been laid down, the creature, which was to begin with and 

 throughout remained half open, had bent itself away from the 

 piece of Cockle which was put within about two inches of it. On 

 the whole, our impression was that the creatures knew that food 

 was near them, but could not distinguish, unless it was quite 

 close to them, in what direction it lay. 



Addendum hy Geoege J. Eomanes, LL.D., F.E.S., Sec. L.S. 



As Mr. Pollock has referred to my name in connexion with 

 his paper, I should like to make a few remarks upon the results 

 which his experiments have yielded. 



There can be no question at all concerning the truth of the 

 facts ; and they apply equally to all the species of Actinice which 

 we have had the opportunity of observing. 



The sense which is thus shown to be presented by these 

 animals may most properly, I think, be called a sense of smell ; 

 and they are the lowest animals in which any such sense has 

 hitherto been noticed. It was not found practicable to determine 

 by experiments whether the sense is restricted to any special 

 part of the organism, or is diffused over the whole ; for this could 

 only be determined by section, and section has the effect of 

 making Sea- anemones close so firmly, that no inference could be 

 drawn from the fact of their subsequently failing to expand 

 when food was placed in their vicinity. 



That their sense of smell does not enable the animals to 

 localize the direction in which the food is lying, is not remark- 

 able ; indeed it would only be remarkable were the fact other- 



