[Illustration: FIG. 31.--A sea anemone closed.] The structure of this interesting animal may be observed by glancing at Figure 32. The stomach is placed in the center of the animal, and is held in position by a number of partitions that are attached to the side of the anemone. These form little rooms in the body of the anemone, arranged about the stomach, but not opening into it. Each room has two windows leading into the room beyond, hence all are connected, and at the bottom all are connected with the stomach. Each room connects upward with a tentacle, which is hollow. When the animal is swallowing, the food passes down and is floated in water through the various rooms, the hard portions being rejected at the mouth. The animal has a current of water circulating through it almost continually, and it is water which, filling them, makes the tentacles stand upright and firm. Between the bases of the tentacles are the eyes. When the animal closes up, it forces the water out of its mouth and is able to shrink to a small and inconspicuous object. [Illustration: FIG. 32.--Section of an anemone: _c_, tentacles; _g_, little rooms; _d_, mouth; _g´_, opening between rooms; _a_, sucking deck or foot; _e_, stomach.] Lowly as are the sea anemones, they often display an amount of intelligence that few would give them credit for. On the Florida Reef was a large lagoon, its bottom pure sand, and so light that the slightest dark object was easily observed. In the sand, buried several inches deep, lived a large anemone, whose normal hue was a dark brown, but when expanded was almost the exact color of the sand; not only this, its tentacles were covered with bits of sand. In a word, the anemone had disguised itself so that large and threatening fishes would not see it, as they swam along in search of food. The habit of placing bits of shells and sand on the tentacles is a common one. I have noticed it in a sand-living form on the California coast. As the tide went out and left the anemones dry, they were invariably covered with sand which adhered to the tentacles as though it had been gummed. To accomplish this protection from the hot rays of the sun, the anemone had picked up the atoms of sand with its tentacles and distributed them over its surface. As there were thousands of pieces, the amount of work may be imagined.