with the burning-glass the marvellous operations that were
constantly going on in my tank. Here I saw those anemones which
cling, like little red, yellow, and green blobs of jelly, to the
rocks, put forth, as it were, a multitude of arms and wait till
little fish or other small animalcules unwarily touched them, when
they would instantly seize them, fold arm after arm around their
victims, and so engulf them in their stomachs. Here I saw the
ceaseless working of those little coral insects whose efforts have
encrusted the islands of the Pacific with vast rocks, and
surrounded them with enormous reefs. And I observed that many of
these insects, though extremely minute, were very beautiful, coming
out of their holes in a circle of fine threads, and having the form
of a shuttle-cock. Here I saw curious little barnacles opening a
hole in their backs and constantly putting out a thin feathery
hand, with which, I doubt not, they dragged their food into their
mouths. Here, also, I saw those crabs which have shells only on
the front of their bodies, but no shell whatever on their
remarkably tender tails, so that, in order to find a protection to
them, they thrust them into the empty shells of wilks, or some such
fish, and when they grow too big for one, change into another.
But, most curious of all, I saw an animal which had the wonderful
power, when it became ill, of casting its stomach and its teeth
away from it, and getting an entirely new set in the course of a
few months! All this I saw, and a great deal more, by means of my
tank and my burning-glass, but I refrain from setting down more
particulars here, as I have still much to tell of the adventures
that befell us while we remained on this island.