CLAVA LEPTOSTYLA. 



on the creeping stems, which are usually agglutinated 

 together in a mass, very tall and graceful, the body much 

 attenuated for a short distance (about ^ of an inch) 

 above its origin, after which it suddenly increases in dia- 

 meter to about three times that of its base, and rises 

 to the height of half an inch in full-grown specimens, 

 with a very slightly tapering outline; tentacles not 

 less than 35 in the adult, arranged in a close 

 spiral, tapering, pointed, very long, and slender; GONO- 

 PHORES round, forming compound raceme-like bunches, 

 which sometimes occupy one-third of the length of the 

 body, but more commonly are croAvded at the upper 

 part. 



THE above description is based on the account of this 

 species given by Agassiz in his great work on the Natural 

 History of the United States. I owe it to the kindness 

 of Mr. F. H. West, of Leeds, that I am able to make this 

 interesting addition to our British list. He was good 

 enough to send me some time ago a very fine specimen of 

 a Clava, which he had obtained from Morecambe Bay. 

 The remarkable size and gracefulness of the polypites at 

 once arrested my attention ; and a little examination dis- 

 closed the slender and stalk -like base of the body, which 

 is so marked a character of the C. leptostyla. This speci- 

 men, which formed a crowded colony on the surface of a 

 muss el -shell, lived with me for some time, so that I was 

 able to make careful observations upon it ; but, unfortu- 

 nately, my notes have been mislaid, and I retain little but 

 the general impression of its striking beauty. I add a few 

 particulars, taken from Agassiz's detailed description : 



" The creeping stems are usually so closely interwoven 

 and agglutinated to each other by their horny sheaths 

 that, owing to the density of the mass, they cannot be 

 easily distinguished as tubular bodies; but upon the out- 



