72 
LIFE, IN ITS LOWER FORMS. 
chance of double fare. A new mouth, furnished with two 
rows of numerous tentacula, was opened up on what had 
been the base, and led to the under stomach : the indivi- 
dual had, indeed, become a sort of Siamese twin, but with 
greater intimacy and extent in its unions !”* 
What may be the duration of life in these low forms of 
existence wo know not, but recorded facts seem to warrant 
the belief that it is considerable. Sir John Dalyell stated 
in 1845, that one was then in vigorous health which had 
lived in his possession for a period of seventeen years.t 
They appear subject to few vicissitudes, and to enjoy a 
more than usual immunity from the attacks of other 
animals. 
The reproductive energy is no less vigorous in these 
animals than in the Hydra ; and similar experiments to 
those already described have been instituted on these with 
similar results. They have been variously maimed and cut 
into pieces, the fragments reproducing the parts lacking, 
and rapidly assuming a complete aud normal condition. 
We have at least fifty species of Sea- Anemones, including 
the allied genera, on the British coasts ; and it is probable 
that they are even much more numerous than this, as 
new discoveries are constantly rewarding the close exami- 
nation of any particular locality. Among them are two 
or three representatives of a form which is far more 
abundant in the tropical seas, where they have acquired 
renown above their fellows as “master-builders.” The 
* Brit,. Zoophytes, i. 235. 
+ We were informed, hut a few days ago, that this notable individual still 
(September 1S5«) survives. From its appearance Sir John Dalyoil considered 
that it was aixiut seven years old when ho procured it; it must now, there- 
fore, have attained the age of thirty-five years. 
