POLYPES. 
cr 
able duration, your sea-weeds must be procured with their 
root-bases uninjured, tbo fragments of rock on which they 
grow being knocked off by the help of a hammer and 
chisel; but for a shorter period — a week or two, for 
example — it will suffice to pluck up the living sea-weed 
with the fingers, securing as much of the base as possible. 
The bright-green weeds are the best. 
In a wash-basin of moderate size, a dozen Sea- Anemones 
may be accommodated comfortably, and will flourish and 
display their beauties and their instincts for an indefinite 
period, without any further care, if the vessel be so placed 
that the sun’s light may every day fall on it, yet not so 
exposed as to become tepid. The water, maintaining its 
purity and its clearness, will not need to be changed ; and 
a scene of charming interest will be constantly presented. 
The animals will soon begin to re-attach themselves by 
their broad basal disks to the pieces of rock, or to the 
sides of the vessel, and after a few hours will have made 
themselves at home in their new habitation. Some of 
them will be contented to abide week after week where 
they first chanced to settle ; others, more restless, will 
manifest a travelling propensity, shifting their position 
from one part of the stone to another, or from rock to 
rock, or crawling slowly along the sides of their prison. 
It is true the motion is not appreciable to the eye, 
being about as tardy as that of tho hour-hand of a watch; 
still it is not uncommon for an Actinia to accomplish a 
march of three or four inches in the course of a night. It 
is effected by a gliding of the muscular base along the 
surface, much like the crawling of a snail. 
A Sea-Anemone, or Actinia, is essentially a Hydra, 
