■iO 



F L U S T R A. 



In Auguft 1770, I found feveral of this kind of frefh- 

 water polype, which I kept for fome months, and found 

 that they fend forth 12 claws when they are in perfec- 

 tion. 



For a further defcription of this extraordinary animal, 

 with the remarkable experiments on its reproduction 

 when cut in pieces, I fliall refer the reader to a moft cu- 

 rious treatife, wrote particularly by Mr. Abraham Trem- 

 bley, F. R. S. on this fubjecl; ; and likewifein the intro- 

 duction to my Effay on Corallines, the reader will find a 

 fhort defcription of its properties ; as alfo in my letter 

 to the Earl of Hillfborough, in the 57th Vol. of the Phi- 

 lofophical Tranfadtions, upon the Actinia Sociata, 



III. FLUSTRA. 



Animal affixum, raro 

 tubulis radicalibus. 



Stirps membra7iacea fo- 

 il aceci) ex feriebus cellula- 

 rum multijidis et diver- 

 gentibus coalita^ quafi 

 contexta. 



Cellulae ringentes, ca- 



THE SEA MATT 



Is an animal that grows on 

 other bodies, and fometimes, 

 but rarely, it adheres by little 

 radical tubes to them. 



The ftem is a membranaceous 

 leaf-like fubflance, confuting 

 of many rows of cells united 

 together, which fpread out as 

 they grow, and divide into 

 many parts ; the whole fur- 

 face having the appearance of 

 being wove like a matt. 



It fends forth through the 



pitula 



