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
shuttlecock. 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 whelks, 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.
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