MULTIPLICATION OF THE " MES." 103 



in the morsel, and with it all the tentacles and 

 the upper portions of its body, until they reach 

 the stomach. Digestion then goes on very quietly, 

 the presence of its own arms in its stomach being 

 of no consequence at all to the animal; and in 

 due time it untucks itself, and tosses away the 

 indigestible portions of its food. 



The " mes " multiplies readily in a tank. At 

 the beginning of last September I had fifteen 

 specimens in the aquarium, and by February 

 in the present year there were between forty 

 and fifty, many of them very minute, and very 

 transparent. Indeed, scarcely a day passed with- 

 out the discovery of a nursery full of little pink 

 or green actiniae, contained in an empty shell, or 

 studding the surface of a shady pebble. Funny 

 little things they are, and have a most conse- 

 quential look as they spread out their tiny ten- 

 tacles in search of food. 



When the "mes" is caught for the purpose 

 of stocking an aquarium, it will travel well if 

 wrapped in wet sea-weed. If care is taken, the 

 idvse, or enteromorphse, that are used for this 

 purpose, can be transplauted into the tank, and 

 so two objects secured at once. The best plan 

 is to put some wet green algae at the bottom of 

 a basket, and then to lay on them the anemones, 



