1903-4.] On Aged Specimens of Sagartia troglodytes, etc. 295 
Observations on some Aged Specimens of Sagartia 
troglodytes, and on the Duration of Life in 
Coelenterates. By J. H. Ashworth, D.Se., Lecturer in 
Invertebrate Zoology in the University of Edinburgh, and 
Nelson Annandale, B.A,, Deputy-Superintendent of the 
Indian Museum, Calcutta. Communicated by Professor J. C. 
Ewart, M.D., F.R.S. 
(MS. received June 10, 1904. Read June 20, 1904.) 
We have, during the last two years, made a series of observa- 
tions upon specimens of Sagartia troglodytes which are at least 
fifty years old, and have thought it worth while to give a some- 
what detailed account of these, as, so far as we can ascertain, there 
is only one other recorded case of longevity in Coelenterates (see 
p. 302), and very few in the whole of the Invertebrata.* 
These specimens of Sagartia troglodytes were collected by Miss 
Anne Nelson (Mrs George Brown) on the coast of Arran, some few 
years previous to 1862 (the exact date has not been recorded), and 
were placed in bell-jars containing sea- water. In 1862 they were 
transferred to the care of Miss Jessie Nelson, in whose possession 
they still remain, and to whom we are indebted for the opportuni- 
ties of observing these interesting anemones. Sixteen of the 
original specimens are still living, so that they have lived in 
captivity for about fifty years. They are kept in a bell-jar about 
13 inches in diameter and 9 in depth. The original specimens 
are all together on a piece of stone, which bears a number of deep 
depressions in which the anemones have ensconced themselves. 
These conditions closely resemble those in which S. troglo- 
dytes is usually found, the specific .name of this anemone 
being derived from its favourite habit of dwelling in holes and 
crevices of the rock. These specimens have been under constant 
observation since 1862, and there can be no doubt that they are 
the original ones. 
* See the appendix to Weismann’s Essay on the Duration of Life, 1891, 
p. 36. 
