A. crassicornis grows to a very large size. Some specimens would, when expanded, cover the crown of a man's hat, while others are no larger than a 'bachelor's button.' Unless rarely marked, I do not now introduce the 'crass.' into my tanks, from a dislike, which I cannot conquer, to the strange peculiarity which members of this species possess, of turning themselves inside out, and going through a long series of inelegant contortions. Still, to the young zoologist, this habit will doubtless be interesting to witness. One author has named these large anemones 'quilled dahlias;' and the expression is so felicitous, that if a stranger at the sea-side bear it in mind, he could hardly fail to identify the 'crass.,' were he to meet with a specimen in a rocky pool. Not the least remarkable feature in connection with these animal-flowers, is the extraordinary variety of colouring which various specimens display.
A. troglodytes, is seldom found larger than a florin. Its general size is that of a shilling. From the description previously given, the reader will be able to make the acquaintance of this anemone without any trouble whatever.
A. dianthus (Plumose anemone), is one of the most delicately beautiful of all the Actiniæ; it can, moreover, be very readily identified in its native haunts. Its colour is milky-white,—body, base, and tentacula, all present the same chaste hue. Specimens, however, are sometimes found lemon-coloured, and occasionally of a deep orange tint. Various are the forms which this zoophyte assumes, yet each one is graceful and elegant.
The most remarkable as well as the most common shape, according to my experience, is that of a lady's corset, such as may often be seen displayed in fashionable milliners' windows. Even to the slender waist, the interior filled with a mass of lace-work, the rib-like streaks, and the general contour, suggestive of the Hogarthian line of beauty, the likeness is sustained.
When entirely closed, this anemone, unlike many others, is extremely flat, being scarcely more than a quarter of an inch in thickness; indeed, so extraordinary is the peculiarity to which I allude, that a novice would have great difficulty in believing that the object before him was possessed of expansive powers at all, whereas, in point of fact, it is even more highly gifted in this respect than any other species of Actiniæ.