298 PLUMULABinXE. 



spread the surface of the rock in the tidal pools, or invest 

 the stems of the marine plants. So delicate is it, however, 

 that it is often difficult to detect its faint shadow, cast by 

 the strong light of the summer clay on the rock from 

 which it springs, being often the only indication of its 

 presence to the collector*. 



The capsules are produced in the axils only, and often 

 form a continuous row down the centre of the plume. The 

 difference of sex is less marked than in many cases. The 

 female capsule is of an elegant flask-like form, with a pro- 

 longed tubular neck terminating in an orifice sufficiently 



* I recommend the following mode of proceeding to the hunter for minute 

 zoophytes. Of course, I assume that he is equipped in garments which the 

 old-clothesman would hardly covet, and that he is indifferent to appearances, 

 as he will probably be if he is a true naturalist. Let him select a likely pool, 

 one with overhanging ledges and clefts well draperied with weed, upon 

 which the sun may happen to be shining, and then let him lie down at full 

 length beside it, that he may be able to peer into it patiently and intensely, 

 without the fatigue and distraction of stooping. He must prepare for some 

 close and continuous looking not merely running Ms eye over the bottom 

 and the rocky walls, but scanning them carefully inch by inch, raising the 

 curtain of hanging weed, and allowing the sunlight to pierce the chinks and 

 crannies and illuminate their hollows, coloured by the brilliant sponge or 

 the crust of the Lepralia, and teeming with varied life. He should bring 

 his eye to the edge of the pool, and look down the side, so as to catch the 

 outline of any zoophytes that may be attached to it amidst the tufts of 

 minute alga. He must not be content with a hasty glance, but look and 

 look again until his eye is familiar with the scene, and may accurately dis- 

 criminate its various elements. And let him watch for the shadows ; for in 

 following them he will often secure the reality. I have frequently detected 

 the tinyCampanularice and Plumulariae in this way, by means of the images of 

 their frail forms, which the light had sketched on the rock beneath them. 

 For tools, the hunter must have his stout, flat, sharp-edged collecting-knife, 

 a long-armed and substantial forceps, and a varied array of bottles, ranging 

 from the Homoeopathic tube to the pickle-jar. If his choice of ground be 

 good, and his patience proof, and his eye quick, he will have an ample 

 reward for his labour in the rich spoil of beauty which he will bear away, 

 even if he should not hit upon any novelty ; but amongst the minute 

 zoophytes there is still, I have no doubt, much to be done in the discovery 

 of new forms, as there certainly is in working out thoroughly the history of 

 those that are known. 



