HARJDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



249 



In June and July, it is abundant at Salcombe and 

 other places on the South Devon coast. 



Fig. 208. — Beania mirabilis. X 50. 



The Beania mirabilis is, I suppose, one of the rarer 

 British marine Polyzoa ; or perhaps it is a species 



the microscopic organism has been unduly enlarged. 

 As a matter of fact, the silvery white cells were barely 

 visible, and I had no idea of the find until the micro- 

 scope revealed the entanglement of finely-spiked cells, 

 connected by creeping threads, and twisting in and 

 out between the red fronds. 



I have not been able to distinguish the slightest 

 signs of life in my specimen, nor could I find any 

 more in subsequent search through the same pools. 

 I am under the impression that the polyp never has 

 been seen. The frosted white of the stems is very 

 attractive, and the curious form of the spinous cells 

 renders the species unmistakable. Amongst the 

 recorded stations around our coasts for the Beania, 

 Scilly and Falmouth are named. Mr. W. P. Cocks 

 is the authority for the Falmouth district, and Mr. 

 Bean, I believe, discovered the zoophyte on a Cellu- 

 laria, at Scarborough. 



In our snatches of holiday, it is impossible to 

 master the life-history of a tithe of what we may find ; 

 it would require steady work day by day for half a 

 lifetime, to investigate the marine fauna of such a 

 favourable spot as Salcombe estuary. But I am 

 induced to offer these notes to readers of SciENCE- 

 GossiP, not because they possess original merit in 



Fig. 209. — Beania on Plocamhim coccineuvi. 



which is occasionally over-looked in the wealth 

 of parasitic growth. Fig. 209 gives the frond of 

 Plocamium, on which the Beania attached itself in 

 the low-tide zone. In the endeavour to present a 

 picture of the natural growth, I think the real size of 



this age of growing knowledge, but in the hope 

 that young students may be roused to the pursuance 

 of a delightful sea-side source of recreation and 

 learning. 



C. Parkinson. 



