ANIMAL LIFE IN THE MAEINE AQUARIUM. 101 



the base by which the animal affixes itself to the piece 

 of rock, for a wounded base often occasions death. If 

 the anemone enjoys the luxury of nerves at all, it is quite 

 probable that the base is where the ganglion may be 

 concentrated. Once in the Aquarium, if disposed to live 

 at all, they will soon provide themselves with a suitable 

 position, and proceed to business. 



The Actinia crassicornis (Thick-horned Sea Anemone) 

 would probably take the palm from all its congeners for 

 beauty. The mouth is of a delicate straw color, the 

 tentacles white, with bands of pink, and the body or stem 

 a rich orange-brown, sprinkled with tubercles of a bright 

 yellow. It seldom if ever flourishes in the Aquarium. 

 The A. gemmacea (Gemmed Sea Anemone) might possibly 

 contest the point of elegance with the Crassicornis ; for its 

 body is also embellished with rows of brightly tinted 

 tubercles, and its whole surface toned with orange-pink, 

 blue, and pale rainbow hues, while gem-like touches of 

 blue, yellow, and brown, are seen about its mouth and 

 sharply-pointed tentacles. The tentacles, as we have 

 mentioned, are food-seizers, in fact, although they look 

 so innocent ; the tubercles have an air of still greater 

 innoxiousness, but they are perfect engines of war, for 

 they contain a thread, armed with a barbed and poisoned 

 dart, which the creature can project to a considerable 

 distance, and with an unerring certainty that leaves its 

 prey but little hope of escape, however secure he may 

 have imagined himself in his distance. 



