176 Z. ASTEROIDA. Pennatula. 



Penna niarina, Sib. Scot. ii. lib- teit. 28 P. rubra, Bohad. Anim. 



Mar. 101, pi. 8. lig. 1-G Pennatula pLospliorea. Lin. Syst. 1332. 



Ellis in PhU. Trans, liii. 420, pi. 19- fig. 1-5. Mull Zool. Dan. 



prod. 255, no. 3075. Turi. Gmel. iv- 688. Wern. Mem. i. 565. 



Tint. Brit. Faun. 217- Stew. Elem. ii. 450. Blumenb. Man. 274. Lam. 



Anim. s. Vert. ii. 426. 2de edit. ii. 643. Citv. Reg. Anim. iii. 318. 



Bosc, Vers, iii. 62, pi. 28, fig. 3, 4. (pessima) Flem. Brit. Anim. 507. 



Stark, Elem. ii. 420. Johnston in Trans. Newc. Soc. ii. 248, pi. 7- 



Roget, Bridgew. Treat, i. 174, fig. 71, 72. (bad.) P. rubra, Pall. 



Eleneh. 368 P. Britannica, Ellis and Suland. Zoopli. 61. La 



Pennatule luisante, Blainv. Actinolog. 517. 

 Hab. Deep water. " Jt is found in great plenty sticking- to the 

 baits on the tishermen's lines, ronnd the coasts of this kingdom; es- 

 pecially when thty make use of muscles to bait their hooks. Great 

 numbers have been taken on the coast of Scotland, especially near 

 Aberdeen," Ellis. Frith of Forth. Jameson. Coast of Berwick- 

 shire, abundant, G. J 



Our fishermen call this zoophyte the Cock's-comh, a name which 

 is not unapt, but less expressive of its general form than that of Sea- 

 pen conferred by naturalists. It is from two to four inches in length, 

 and of a uniform purplish-red colour, except at the tip or base of the 

 stalk, where it is pale orange-yellow. The skin is thickish, very 

 tough, and of curious structure, being composed of minute crystalline 

 cylinders, densely arranged in straight lines, and held together by a 

 firm gelatinous matter or membrane. These cylinders are about six 

 times their diameter in length, straight and even, or sometimes 

 slightly curved and bulged, closely compacted yet distinct, and of a 

 red colour, for the colour of the zoophyte is derived from them, and 

 they are accordingly less numerous where the purple is faint or de- 

 fective. They are apparently inorganic and calcareous, being dis- 

 solved, with effervescence, in the mineral acids.* Their form and ar- 

 rangement is the same in every part of the skin ; and the papillae on 

 the back of the rachis, as well as the polype-cells, are constructed of 

 them, but none can be detected in the subcutaneous uncoloured ge- 

 latinous flesh. 



The stalk is hollow in the centime, and contains a long slender 

 bone, which is white, smooth, square, and tapered at each extremity 



* Dr Coldstream, of Leith, on wbose observations I place a greater reliance 

 tban on my own, writes me tbus — " The spicula of the Pennatula appear to me 

 to be solid. I have examined them with high powers, after having exposed them 

 to a high temperature, and have not been able to see any evidence of a cavity 

 within ; — whether viewed with reflected or transmitted light they seemed to be 

 opaque. When connected with the body of the animal, they certainly seem to 

 be red, but a slight degree of heat is sufficient to bleach them." 



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