226 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 



this neighbourhood, as the existence of such a zoophyte was 

 then unknown to me, I concluded that it was Zoanthns in a 

 pecuHar state. 



Family ACTIXTAD.E. 



" Ah, yes ! the sea is still and deep, 

 All things within its bosom sleep ! 

 The night is calm and cloudless. 

 And still as still can be, 

 And the stars come forth to listen 

 To the music of the sea ; 

 They gather — gather — gather. 

 Until they crowd the sky, 

 And listen, in breathless silence, 

 • To the solemn litany." — LoiKjfellow . 



Character. Auimal single, fleshy, elongate or conical, capable 

 of extending or contracting itself, fixed by its base, but with the 

 power of locomotion ; mouth in the middle of the upper disc, 

 ver\' dilatable, surrounded by one or two rows of tentacula ; ovi- 

 parous and ^^viparous ; marine. — JoJniston. 



Genus XXYIII. CAPXEA, E. Forbes. 



Ge7i. Char. Body cyhndiic, invested in part by a lobed epi- 

 dermis, and adhering by a broad base. Tentacula simple, very 

 short, retractile, surrounding the mouth in concentric series. — 

 Forbes. 



