a 
ANIMAL FLOWER. 
The long retention is a certain indication of the 
health of these animals. It is said, that de- 
voured muscles and crabs are disgorged with the 
shells close, though their substance is consumed. 
Of the former, we have seen some escape unhurt 
after being retained several hours. The animal 
flower is capable of very slow progression only; 
and lies in wait for its prey, spreading abroad its 
numerous tentacula, which are susceptible of ex- 
quisite feeling. While the tentacula are thus 
displayed, the moment one of them touches the 
prey, it, by some means unknown to us, adheres; 
another is immediately applied, and the rest suc- 
eessively, until the victim, if living, is over- 
powered, and literally swallowed alive. Probably 
the tentacula are perforated, and closed at the 
extremity by a kind of sphincter, which may be 
opened at the will of the animal, and allow the 
water inflating it to escape. Notwithstanding 
their extreme voracity, the actiniz can endure 
long protracted abstinence. They survive above 
a year, perhaps considerably longer, without any 
sustenance but what invisible particles dissem- 
inated in the sea-water may afford. Then they 
diminish in size, and if the water is not renewed 
for months, they generally become close and con- 
tracted, frequently casting off exuvie, and seldom 
or never displaying the tentacula: but they im- 
mediately expand on a new supply, and soon ap- 
pear as healthy and vigorous as ever. 
The actiniz apparently transport themselves to 
any considerable distance from their abode, by 
detaching the base, the under part of which is 
kept inflated, and they are thus carried by the 
waves in a reversed position. But, independent 
of this, their adhesion to rocks, stones, or other 
substances, is so powerful, that we have found no 
method of detaching them without injury, but 
violent and continued agitation of the water, an 
expedient which naturalists seem hitherto to 
have overlooked. 
The generation of the actiniz is not clearly 
ascertained. They appear to be hermaphrodites, 
and to propagate without the sexual union. The 
number of young is various, from one to at least 
twenty, which are produced by the mouth. The 
Abbe Dicquemare had studied these creatures 
ten years before discovering this fact ; but it was 
observed long before by Ellis. The period of pro- 
pagation, in a state of confinement, is not limited 
to any particular season. It commonly takes 
place in autumn, which seems consistent with 
what probably succeeds in a state of nature. The 
young, according to our observations, have only 
one row of tentacula. 
The actinize also propagate by spontaneous divi- 
sion, it is said, and the divided part becomes a 
perfect animal. When the period of this pheno- 
menon approaches, it appears restless and dis- 
turbed; various extensions, contractions, and con- 
tortions of the body ensue, amidst which, several 
fragments separate from the lower part towards 
the base. These, though at first rude and shape- 
less, are gradually unfolded into new actiniz, with 
all the parts and proportions of the old ones. We 
have not witnessed this mode of propagation, it 
is true, and perhaps it but rarely happens. We 
| know however that there is a species of planaria, 
common in Scotland, which propagates in a man- 
ner analogous. The tail separates from the 
body: it remains contracted, and almost motion- 
less. Should the temperature of the atmosphere 
be favourable, a new head shoots forth from the 
upper extremity, similar, in all respects, to that 
of the parent-animal; while, in the meantime, 
the parent, whose activity and motion have hardly 
undergone any sensible interruption, acquires a 
new tail. But, independent of the natural modes 
of generation, the animal-flower enjoys the pro- 
perty of reproducing the parts lost or destroyed, 
in an astonishing degree. Not only are full and 
perfect actiniz produced by division into two, or 
more, portions, with the knife; but, on tearing 
these from the place of adhesion, the very shreds, 
or fragments, left of the base, regenerate into 
complete animals, with all the members peculiar 
to their species. Experiments with these minute 
sections are not uniformly attended with success. 
Large shreds perish, and the small ones must be 
severed clean off. A single shred often produces 
several anemones, which sometimes remain con- 
nected, and become monsters, though commonly 
detaching themselves asunder. 
Actiniz frequently change theirskin. Thecelour 
then appears clearer, and somewhat lighter. We | 
apprehend that all darken with age; and it is | 
known that some are of a different hue in autumn 
and winter, from what they exhibit in spring and 
summer. Actinize die when kept in fresh-water : 
they scarcely move, and their brilhant colours 
fade. They can bear a temperature as low as 45° 
with impunity; but the exact degree of cold de- 
structive to them is not yet ascertained. From 
several experiments, it appears that they suffer 
pain from 95 to 99° of heat, and lose their hold 
at 115°: increasing it still further, 144° destroys 
them. When dying from disease, they grow flac- 
cid, contracted, unable to inflate themselves, and 
gradually waste away. Sometimes repeated sup- 
plies of water will protract life, and infuse vigour 
into them; and their death and dissolution are 
evidently accelerated without it. It is said that 
these animals suffer nothing from a vacuum; 
and that they neither close on the exhaustion of 
the air, nor open on returning 16. 
The anatomical structure of the actiniz is little 
understood. Cuvier observes, that nothing re- 
sembling nerves is to be found in them, yet they 
possess a delicate sense of feeling; and although 
eyes seem entirely wanting, they are sensible of 
the presence of light, which, in general, seems to 
produce some agreeable sensation. We cannot 
explain by what means their powerful adhesion 
is occasioned ; whether or not it is simply by ex- 
clusion of the surrounding fluid; nor do we know 
how the tentacula retain their prey; whether it 
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