CLASS III.— ORDER II. 



GENERA AND SPECIES. 



The Polypidoms of this order (formerly all included 

 under the denomination of Gorgonieae) are tree- 

 formed, and inarticulate : the interior consists of an 

 axe, generally horny and flexible, but sometimes of 

 sufficient hardness to receive a high polish ; at others 

 it consists of a whitish substance, very soft, and re- 

 sembling cork ; this axe is enveloped in an exterior 

 which is gelatinous and fugitive, or fleshy and solid, 

 animated, and frequently irritable, becoming more or 

 less chalky when dry, and enclosing the animals as well 

 as their cells when there are any. 



