Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/88

78 naked eye they appeared mere flocculent specks, but a lens revealed their true form as they adhered to the side of the vessel; every one of the little creatures, with its tentacles expanded, a real microscopic gem, combining the grace of a flower with the tinting of a pearl, and the delicate volition of a new-born animal.

When full grown, the gemmed anemone is very showy in its tintings. Pink, yellow, and grey are all beautifully blended, and the rows of glands which reach from the margin to the base, add their dots of white to the garments of this tiny harlequin. The disk is brilliantly coloured, scarlet, green, and orange, shading into each other, and occasionally mingled with half-tints of every colour of the rainbow. The lip is usually of a vivid green, and the tentacles exhibit rose, violet, orange, and white on their upper surfaces. In the cut, this anemone is seen partially closed on a piece of stone behind two specimens of A. Bellis.

Actinia Crassicornis is another of the more delicate kinds, that dies speedily, unless treated with great care, and in a well-established tank. It is very abundant on every part of our coasts, and must be removed with the stone to which it is found adhering; for if removed, or even handled, it perishes in the course of a few hours. It is, however, too beautiful not to be worth an effort to preserve it; and, if the tank is in good condition, it will be well to obtain two or three specimens, and watch them narrowly, so that if any of them die, they may be immediately removed to avoid polluting the water.

The colour of this anemone varies considerably in