34^ THE PHILOSOPHY 



are dlfpofed in three rows around the mouth, and give the anhnal 

 the appearance of a flower. Through each of thefe horns the fea- 

 nettle fquu'ts water, like fo many jets-d'eau. What is peculiar in 

 the ftrudture of thefe creatures, the whole interior part of their body, 

 or cone, is one cavity or (loniach. When fearching for food, they 

 extend their filaments, and entangle any fmall animals they encoun- 

 ter. When they meet with their prey, they inftantly fvvallow it, 

 and fhut their mouths clofe like, a purfe. Though the animal fhould 

 not exceed an inch, or an inch and a half, in diameter, as it is all 

 mouth and ftomach, it fwallows large whelks and mufcles. Thefe 

 fliell-animals fometimes remain many days in the ftomach before 

 they are ejecTced. Their nutrifying parts are at laft, however, ex- 

 traded ; but how does the fea-nettle get quit of the fhell ? The 

 creature has no other aperture in its body buc the mouth, and this 

 mouth is the inftrument by which it both receives nourishment, and 

 difcharges the excrement, or unprofitable part of its food. When 

 the fhell is not too large, the fea-nettle has the power of turning its 

 infide out, and by this ftrange maneouvre the flaell is thrown out of 

 the body, and the animal refumes Its former ftate. But, when the 

 fhell prefents itfelf in a wrong pofition, the animal cannot difcharge 

 it in the ufual manner ; but, what is extremely fingular, near the 

 bafe of the cone, the body of the creature fplits, as if a large wound 

 had been made with a knife, and through this gafh the fhell of the 

 mufcle, or other fhell, is ejeded. 



With regard to the progreflive motion of the fea-nettle, it is as 

 flow as the hour-hand of a clock. The whole external part of its 

 body is furnifhed with numerous mufcles. Thefe mufcles are tubu- 

 lar, and filled with a fluid, which makes them projed in the form 

 of prickles. By the inftrumentallty of thefe mufcles, the animal is 

 enabled to perform the very flow motion juft now mentioned. But 

 this is not the only means by which the fea-nettle is capable of mo- 

 ving. 



