The waning day and the turning tide warn us homeward; but we shall
have time to visit a fine dark overarched pool in the rocks which I
know on our route. Here it is; noticeable because of its being the
chosen residence of a colony of that magnificent species, the Dahlia
Wartlet.[44] All round the curving sides of the sea-washed basin,
crowding one upon the other beneath the projecting angles, or seated
in single majesty on some prominence, we see them flaunting the most
gorgeous colours, and attaining a diameter of expanse that no other,
at least of our common forms, can rival or approach. The wide but
low column, rough with coarse warts, may be olive, or deep green,
or purple-crimson, or light green splashed and streaked with scarlet
like an apple; the disk is equally varied, but generally displays
diverging bands of rich red which fork and embrace the tentacles; while
the tentacles, short, stout, and conical, may be white with pellucid
rings, deep crimson, or of the highest flush of rose, with a broad ring
of lilac. Widely expanded, the Crassicornis is as good a mimicry of
the great dahlias of our gardens, as the Sagartiæ are of the daisies
and pompone chrysanthemums. Even bees are occasionally deceived. Mr.
Couch, when once looking at a fine specimen which was expanded so close
to the surface that only a thin film of water covered the disk and
tentacles, saw a roving bee alight on the tempting surface, evidently
mistaking the anemone for a veritable blossom; the tenacious tentacles
instantly seized it, and though it struggled a good deal for its
liberty, retained the disappointed bee till it was drowned, when it was
soon consigned to the insatiable stomach. The story reminds us of the
well-known fact that the flesh-flies, deceived by the carrion smell of
some of the Stapeliæ, sometimes lay their eggs on the flowers; both
cases showing that animal instinct is not quite so unerring as it is
frequently represented.
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