Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/27

8 them; they contain many corpuscles of a reniform shape, and are richly provided with thread-cells, whose filaments are of the spiral kind. The gastric appendages are shorter and wider, and are provided with stomata, which are applied to the prey, seized and benumbed by the tentacles. If the prey be small, it is sucked bodily into the gastric sac; if large the sac becomes distended with its juices and dissolved parts, the gastric secretion being a very rapid and powerful solvent. The mouth of each sac is wide, with a broad everted lip, armed with a series of "nettle cells." The whole gastric appendage is highly contractile, and in constant motion in the living animal. Great was our joy as we sat examining these gem-like creatures, quite forgetting the old adage, that "time and tide tarry for no man," until a huge wave compelled us to decamp hastily, and when well beyond its reach we observed on looking round, our collecting bottle into which our treasures had been placed, floating away high on the crest of one wave, now deep down in the trough of another, fairly out to sea,—a sad loss! for before it could be replaced, the tide would have carried away the very specimens we were so anxious to procure. After mourning awhile, and at length somewhat appeased by the consolations of our companion, we set to work anew. Anon, something very much like the object we had lost so prematurely appeared about fifty yards a-head, but bottles are unfortunately too common objects of our shores, so we sauntered slowly towards it, hoping at the best to find the wherewith to make an impromptu aquarium, when to our great joy, here,