AqTTABIITM:. 



and see that no worms have made their twining tubes of sand 

 among the weed-stems. If they have, drag them out, for they 

 will surely die, and as surely spoil aU by sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen, blackness, and evil smells. Put your weeds into your 

 tank, and settle them at the bottom, which last, some say, 

 should be covered with a layer of pebbles ; but let the beginner 

 have it as bare as possible, for the j>ebbles only tempt cross- 

 grained annelids to crawl under th^im, die, and spoil all by 

 decaying ; whereas, if the bottom of the vase is bare, you can 

 see a sickly or dead inhabitant at once, and take him out 

 (which you must do) instantly. Let your weeds stand quietly 

 in the vase a day or two before you put in any live animals, 

 and even then do not put any in if the water does not appear 

 perfectly clear, but lift out the weeds, and renew the water ere 

 you replace them. Now for the live stock. In the crannies of 

 every rock you will find sea-anemones {Actiniae), and a doz^n of 

 these only will be enough to convert your httle vase into the 

 most brilliant of living flower gardens. There they hang upon 

 the under side of the ledges, apparently mere rounded lumps of 

 jelly. One is of dark purple dotted with green ; another of a 

 rich chocolate ; another of a delicate olive ; another sienna 

 yellow ; another all but white. Take them from their rock : 

 you can do it easily by slipping under them your finger-nail or 

 the edge of a pewter spoon. Take care to tear the sucking 

 base as httle as possible (though a, small rent they will darn for 

 themselves in a few days easily enough), and drop them into a 

 basket of wet sea-weed. When you get home turn them into a 

 dish full of water, and leave them for the night, and go to look 

 ai. them to-morrow. What a change ! The dull lumps of jelly 

 have tEiken root and flowered during the night, and your dish 

 is filled from side to side with a bouquet of chrysanthemums. 

 Bach has expanded into a hundred-petaled flower, crimson, 

 pink, purple, or orange. Touch one, and it shrinks together 

 like the sensitive plant, displaying at the root of the petals a 

 ring of brilliant turquoise beads. This is the commonest of all 

 the Actiuise (Mesenibryamtherrmm). Ton may have him when 

 and where you will ; but if you will search tbose rooks some- 

 what closer you wiU find even more gorgeous species than him. 

 See in that pool some dozen noble ones in full bloom, and quite 

 six inches across some of them. If their cousins whom we 

 found just now were Hke chrysanthemums, these are like quilled 

 dahUas. Their arms are stouter and shorter in proportion than 

 those of the last species, but their colour is equally brilliant. 



