380 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 14, 1858. 
1 variety of creatures in which one common type is observable— 
radiation from the centre, and in the star fishes the radiate 
form is more strikingly exhibited than iii any. The ray-like 
form is not to be easily traced, except by the naturalist, in 
many of the tribes belonging to this division ; but in those 
which especially claim the attention of the aquarian, it is very 
plainly evident. A sea flower consists of a cylindrical column, 
the lower part of which may be termed the foot, because by 
hi cans Cf it the animal holds by the power of suction to the 
object on which it has taken up its abode. The column itself 
h ! ‘consists of a double wall, more or less muscular or horny. 
I Between the outer and the inner wall there is a series of 
1 vertical, flutes of a gristly character, filled between with a 
1 gelatinous flesh, and the thick ring thus made encircles the 
stomach. The digestive orifice, therefore, occupies the centre 
of the column; and the most highly organised part of the 
| creature is the outside ring of vertical plates of fleshy mat ter ; 
I because there are situated the organs of reproduction, the 
young sometimes escaping from the warts on the outer sur¬ 
face of the column, and sometimes from the mouth. 
It is in the appendages of the top of the column or disc-, 
that the ray-like structure is most evident; and for individual 
character and beauty we look chiefly to the tentacles which 
serve the Anemone for lungs, fingers, weapons of war, and, 
i occasionally, means of locomotion. When relinquishing its 
foothold the creature skims the surface of the water, and, by 
a slow movement of the tentacuke, uses the stratum of air 
next the water as a fulcrum for movement. It is in this 
possession of tentaculce that the sea flower has its most obvious 
relationship to Zoophytes generally. In the fresh-water hydra 
there are no vertical plates, no lipped mouth, and but. few of 
those details of high organization observable in the Actinia ; 
| but there is the sac-like stomach, open at one end, and fringed 
; with tentaculce, by means of which the creature secures its 
supplies of food. Even in the star fish, where the rays are 
coated with calcareous matter, tentaculce are still to be traced 
in those thousands of delicate suckers which, when the animal 
is viewed from below, play on the glass like miniature piano¬ 
forte keys. Without eyes, without legs, destitute of the 
sense of hearing, and, perhaps, of smelling, the Almighty 
has compensated these creatures, as far as they need com¬ 
pensation, by a peculiar development of the organs of touch; 
and every tentacle is a hand reaching far out, for the means 
of sustenance, and for tokens of danger ; and so perfect is the 
| unanimity of action, the delicacy of sensation, and the com¬ 
bined power of the tentacular fringes, that they serve for eyes, 
hands, teeth, suckers, paddles, weapons of offence and defence, 
and, sometimes, even as baits and nets for taking prey. Hence, 
the daily observation of Actinice in tanks, where they exhibit 
all their individual peculiarities of temper, appetite, and 
eccentricity, chiefly in the various actions and uses of the 
tentacles, is as instructive as it is entertaining ; and, while it 
gives us new readings in natural theology, it suggests, also, 
how much we have yet to learn of the varied workings of 
Omnipotence, in regions which we have yet but little, or not at 
all explored. In the light of science all the old fables become 
facts, and here is the Briareus of the sea armed with a hun¬ 
dred hands, and ready to do battle, to the despoiling of all 
comers. 
When we come to examine the Actiniae in detail, we find 
that they differ in form, proportions, and colouring, very con¬ 
siderably ; but the chief differences are in the arrangement-, 
number, and constitution of the tentaculse. If you put the 
lovely Dianthus —the most gorgeous sea flower ever culled by 
Peri “ under Omar’s green water ”—beside the strange-looking 
Anthea cereits, you see at once, that to class them together, 
except in the general assemblage of Actinoids, is impossible. 
A closer acquaintance with the various forms of sea flowers 
strengthens the desire to group them into smaller divisions ; 
and thus we have a new classification, the invention of which 
lias caused some little disputation among marine zoologists, 
but which, nevertheless, must be adopted until a better, if 
needed, can be devised. 
A Sea Anemone, or Actinia , is a Zoophyte belonging to the 
class Anthozoa, or flower-life, and the order Helianthoida, 
or Sunflower-like creatures. The central disc of the sea 
flower is composed of the lips, which open into a mouth 
which communicates with the simple sac that constitutes the 
stomach, and the petals or fringes that surround it are the 
tentacles. The Actiniadee are divided into two great families, 
adherent, and non-adherent. Among the first are those 
already referred to, which hold to the rocks by means of a 
sucking base ; and, among the second, the Ddwardsia may 
be cited as the most interesting example, because, instead of 
adhering by means of a sucking base, this creature lives in 
a tube which it constructs for itself, and from the mouth of 
which it protrudes its elegant star of tentacles. The ad¬ 
herent Actiniae are divided into two distinct classes, namely, 
those which are capable of retracting their tentacles, and those 
which either never, or very slightly, retract them. Among 
the non-adherents the divisions into sub-tribes depend on 
more distinctive and individual differences. 
Anthea cereus. 
Now, if you place Antliea cereus and Sagartia dianthus 
side by side once more, and touch them both with the finger, 
you detect at once a very evident difference of constitution. 
If your sense of touch is very delicate, you will feel a slight 
stinging sensation communicated by the Anthea, and, perhaps, 
it may adhere very tightly to your finger, so that you may 
have a moment’s difficulty to get rid of it. I have frequently 
had them hold to my hand with such a firm grip as to have 
some trouble to detach them unhurt, but I never felt the 
stinging. The disturbance, too, does not cause the Anthea to 
withdraw his fingers ; he remains expanded as before, but w ith 
less fullness, for, in fact, they can retract a little, but never 
close up in the style of a Sagartia ; and, indeed, when they 
die, the tentacles still remain expanded, though their beauty 
is gone. But, on the other hand, the slightest contact with a 
full-blown Dianthus causes it to shrink, as if smitten with 
horror ; and, if severely handled, it throws out an immense 
number of slender, snow-white threads, the end of every one 
of which is barbed ; and these threads appear to have the 
power of entangling and destroying the prey which the 
animal may purpose to appropriate for its nourishment. It 
is as to this alleged benumbing and killing power of the 
barbed threads that the most energetic disputes have arisen. 
Mr. Gosse says, of the parasitic Anemone, the threads are 
“ weapons of offence, and very effective ones j” and, at page 
115 of “ The Aquarium,” he describes the death of a little 
fish, a corkwing, resulting from contact with the filaments— 
“ I saw the little fish with one of the filaments sticking to its 
mouth; it was greatly distressed ; darted hither and thither 
wildly, as if in agony, and w r as presently dead.” 
In a paper which lately appeared in “ Blackwood,” from 
the pen of an experimental naturalist, this killing power of 
the barbed threads is denied, small fishes having been pur¬ 
posely exposed to their influence without any other effect 
than momentary inconvenience. That by means of the 
| threads the Actiniae do make attacks, and that the death of 
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