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Show 388 POLYPI. ORDER I. CARNOSI. . fleshy animals that usually fix The first order comprises 1 of which however, have the themselves by their base, se;era or even ~f detaching it alto-power of crawling on that :;e,_ g themselves to be carried · ·ng or suuerm gether, and swimm~t Most commonly however they ~erely away by the curre . h' h is also the anus. It IS sur-h l aperture, w IC d expand t e ora 1 umber of tentacula, an opens d . th greater or ess n 1 d rounde WI a Between this interna sac an h en cul-de-sac. ·n b into a stomac . :find a tolerably complex, but stl o - the external. sku·i n we . . t' ng of fibrous and vertical on chiefly consis I d scure organtzha' ch t'h e ovari.e s, that resemble tangled thre.a s, leaflets, to w 1 • 1 f these leaflets commumcate h d The mterva s o are attac .e · . of the tentacu1 a , and it appears that .w ater with the mterwr . f them by small orifices m the penetrates into and Issues :~~he Actinire, at least, sometimes circumference of the mout ' ejaculate it in this manner(l ). .A.cTINIA, Lin. 1 i is frequently ornamented with The fleshy body of these Po yp tentacula placed round the bright colours, and exhibits numerouls f a double flower, and hence mouth in severa1 range s ' like the peta s 0 They are extremely senst'b le e of Sea-.IJ.nemones. · the their common nam d close in proportion to to the influence of light, an:h;x~.:~ra;tr their tentacula, the open~ng fineness of the day. When y . : t and closes over them hke through which lh?se organs pass contl ac s the mouth of a purse. (l) See Spix, Ann. du .~...u...u s., XIII' xxxiii, f, 1-5• CARNOSI. 389 Their power of reproduction is scarcely inferior to that of the Hydr.e; parts that have been amputated shoot out again, and the animal may be multiplied by division. Their usual mode of generation is VIVIparous. The little Actinire pass from the ovary into the stomach and issue from the mouth. These Zoophytes, when hungry, dilate their mouth to a gt·eat extent. They devour all sorts of animals, especially Crustacea, Shell-fish, and small Fishes which they capture with their tentacula and soon digest(IJ. AoTINIA, proper. The true Actin ire fix themselves by a broad and flat base. The species most common on the coast of France are .11. aenilia, L.(2) Three inches wide, with a coriaceous, uneven, orange-coloured envelope, and two ranges of moderately - long tentacula, marked with a rosy ring. It is generally found on the sand into which it soon sinks if disturbed. .fl. equina, L. (3) The skin soft and finely striated, u2ually of a fine purple colour frequently spotted with green; it is smaller than the senilis, with longer and more numerous tentacula. This species covers all the rocks on the French coast of the British channel, ornamenting them as if with the most splendid flowers. .11. plumoaa, Cuv.( 4) White, and more than four inches wide; the edges of its mouth are expanded into lobes all loaded with innumerable little tentacula; there is an inner range of larger ones. .fl. ejfreta; Rond., lib., XVII, cap. xviii; Bast. xiv, 2(5). A (1) See Diquemare, Journ. de Phys., 1776, June, p. 515, and the Memoir on the Polypi and .B.ctinire, by M. Rapp; Weimar, 1829, 4to., (2) It is the .dctinia amilia, Gm., Diquemare, Phil. Trans., LXIIJ, pl. xvi, f. 10, and pl. xvii, f. 11; the .B.ctinia craaaicornia, Baster, XIII, 1; the .B. ct. digitata, Zool. Dan., CXXXIII; and the .!let. holaatica, lb., CXXXIX. (3) It is the .B.ctinia equina, L., Diqucm., Philos. Trans., LXIII, XYi, 1, 2, 3, and the Hydra meaembrianthemum, Gm., Grert., Phil., Trans. LIJ, 1-5. ( 4) We have no good figure of this species, but I think that of Daster, Xlli, 2, must represent it. The Hydra diantltua, Gm., Ellis, Phil. Trans., LVII, xix, 8, and Encyc., LXXI, 5, is also closely allied to it, and perhaps even the Hydra anemone, Phil. Trans., lb., 4, 5, Encyc., lb., s, 6. (5) I also believe it to be the .B.ct.felina, Diquem., Phil. Trans., LXIII, xvi, 13, referred by Gmelin to his .ll.ctinia truncata. It is necessary to remark, that the variation in the form and colours of the Actini~ renders them extremely difficult to determine, and that we are not to trust to |