19S 



HARmVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sept. 1, 1S69. 



about like a flash of lightning 1 , and probably fires off 

 the contents of bis tiny ink-bag to let the wide 

 world he has just entered see that he is a true 

 Sepia. 



Erom the limp unpleasant-looking tubes we flung 

 into the bottle gorgeous annelids have come forth 

 to show their rainbow hues : these are of the family 

 Eunicidce, and this fellow with four antennae on his 

 head and three on his neck is Onuphis tubicola : he 

 is of a pale canary colour; the currents of his bright 

 red blood are shown with remarkable distinctness 

 passing from tail to head by the dorsal vessel; green 

 and blue lights play about him when he is in motion, 

 and on the slightest disturbance he goes through the 

 most wonderful contortions, looking like the letter 

 S in convulsions ; he has deserted his old tube, and 

 is beginning to manufacture a new one, stretching 

 threads across from side to side of the pie-dish into 

 which he has been poured out. It is a most curious 

 process ; but of this more anon ; we have come to the 

 end of our tether, and if in the small space we are 

 permitted to occupy we have been able to aid the 

 young seaside naturalist in finding and identifying 

 any one object, we shall not regret the hours spent 

 in endeavouring to describe for him the things he 

 cannot fail to see the next time he goes out to hunt 

 for specimens under the seaweed. 



Bury Cross, Gosport. 



SERTULARIANS. 



|"T is more than a hundred years since Ellis pub- 

 -*- lished his "Essay towards a Natural History 

 of Corallines," and throughout this period that work 

 has maintained a reputation for care and fidelity on 

 the part of the author not always merited by writers 

 on natural history, but which in this instance is 

 well deserved. No separate work devoted to 

 zoophytes appeared in this country between 1755, 

 the date of Ellis's book, and 1838, when the first 

 edition of Johnston's " History of Zoophytes " was 

 published. This was another excellent work, which 

 did good service in its time, and represented the 

 advance which science, or classification, had made 

 during the interval. Nine years later the second 

 edition was produced, and this remained the only 

 book of authority until a few months since, when 

 the Rev. T. Hincks's; " History of the British 

 Hydroid Zoophytes," long promised, at length ap- 

 peared. Ellis's " Corallines," and Lamouroux's 

 " Flexible Corallines," included the organisms com- 

 monly called " Zoophytes," and these Johnston 

 combined with Polyzoa, Sea Anemones, and other 

 animals under the same vague title. Hineks adopts 

 " Hydroid Zoophytes " to represent the order 

 Hydroida of the class Ilydrozoa. It is not our pur- 

 pose to pursue the details either of the bibliography 

 or classification of these organisms, but at once to 



select a single group, or family, called [the Sertu- 

 lariidce, the polyparies or horny skeletons of 

 which are freely cast upon our shores aft er rough 

 weather, and are known to every observaut rambler 

 on the beach. 



In a previous number (August, 1S65) we pub- 

 lished some remarks on this subject, accompanied 

 by illustrations, which included a portion only of 

 the Sertularians, with less regard to their micro- 

 scopical characters than we hope now to furnish. 



The family of Sertularians are easily recognized 

 by their external form, divided, according to our 

 latest authority, into five genera, of which one only 

 has the calycles, or cells (containing the polypite, 

 or living animal), imbedded in what may be called 

 the axis. This is the genus TImiaria, to which the 

 " Bottle Brush Coralline " belongs. Of the remain- 

 ing four genera, one only has the calycles, or cells, 

 confined to one side of the axis. This is represented 

 by the "Sickle Coralline" {llydrallmannia) . The 

 three genera which have biserial, or two-rowed 

 cells, are Sertulariella, in which the cells have' an 

 operculum ; and of those without an operculum 

 Diphasia has the capsules, or Goniotheca, with a 

 cleft margin, and internal pouch; whilst mSertularia 

 the orifice is plain, and there is no internal pouch. 

 Those who are acquainted with the genus Sertularia 

 as represented in Johnston's " Zoophytes," will find 

 it thus divided into three genera, one of which 

 retains the original name. 



Taking these in the order in which we have 

 already enumerated them, rather than the more ac- 

 curate and scientific sequence adopted by Hineks, 

 we commence with the "Bottle Brush Coralline" 

 {Thuiaria timid), of which we give an illustration of 

 a small specimen, natural size (fig. 116). It is found 

 attached to shells from deep water. The stem is 

 erect and bare in its lower portion, from the falling 

 off of the branches, whilst in the upper portion the 

 branches remain attached, forming a cylindrical 

 brush-like head. The Cells, or calycles, are imbedded 

 in the substance of the branches (fig. 117, a). The 

 capsules are pear-shaped and smooth, springing 

 from the base of the cells (fig. 117, h). Eor informa- 

 tion of the structure and function of these repro- 

 ductive bodies, we must refer the reader to Mr. 

 Hincks's book. 



Another species of this same genus is the " Sea 

 Spleenwort " {Thuiaria articulata), in which the 

 stem is naked below, and the branches above are 

 arranged in a pinnate or feathery manner. It also 

 occurs on shells and stones in deep water, and both 

 are freely distributed around our coasts. 



The " Sickle Coralline " {Hydrallmannia falcata) 

 is the same as the PI umularia falcata of Johnston. 

 Its external appearauce is so very characteristic 

 that it cannot well be mistaken for any other, and 

 it is, moreover, so common everywhere, cast up by 

 the tide, that the " skeleton " may almost always 



