The lower part of an anemone’s body is called the “foot,” and is really a big and strong sucker, by means of which the animal clings so firmly to the surface of a rock or a stone that it almost seems to be growing out of it. But these creatures do not spend the whole of their lives without moving, as oysters and barnacles do. Sometimes they will creep slowly along over the surface of the rock, in order to find a more comfortable situation, or one where they will have a better chance of catching prey. And sometimes they will loose their hold of the rock altogether, rise to the surface of the water, turn upside down, and hollow their bodies in such a way that they form little boats, which can float along over the waves for quite a long distance. PLATE XLI THE SMOOTH ANEMONE (1) This is by far the commonest of all the sea anemones, and you may find it in hundreds and thousands by going down among the rocks when the tide is out, and looking into the pools. You are almost sure to see that their rocky walls are dotted all over with lumps of brown or dark green jelly, some only about as big as peas and some as large as plums. These are Smooth Anemones, with their fleshy feelers, or “tentacles” closed. And just here and there you may see one of them open, and you will notice that all the way round the edge of its body, between the roots of the tentacles, it has a row of little bead-like objects of the most beautiful turquoise blue. For this reason the smooth anemone is sometimes known as the “beadlet.” You can easily keep these anemones in captivity, for they are very hardy, and are no trouble at all to feed. Indeed, they will go without any food at all for three or four months together, and seem all the better for their long fast. But if you put a tiny dead crab, or a shrimp, or a sandhopper, into the midst of their spreading arms, you will see the tentacles close round it, and push it down into the mouth, which lies just in the very middle. For about forty-eight hours the animal will then remain closed up. But as soon as it has digested its dinner out will come the tentacles again, bringing with them the empty shell of the victim. Every now and then, like other anemones, this animal changes its skin, and when it leaves its position on the side of a rock-pool and crawls to a new one, it nearly always leaves a cast skin behind it. [Illustration: PLATE XLI 1. THE SMOOTH ANEMONE. 2. THE DAISY ANEMONE.] PLATE XLI THE DAISY ANEMONE (2)