THE DEAD MAN's FINGERS. 77 



arm down the hole, I succeeded in laying hold of it, 

 and easily detached it from its base without laceration. 

 My basket of bottles being at a distance, I gently put 

 my prize into my coat-pocket, until I could again 

 immerse it in clear sea-water. The lobes were now 

 contracted, about as large as a man's forefinger, of a 

 cream-white hue, of a smooth surface, except that it 

 w^as covered with slight depressions of a long-oval 

 form, divided by narrow angular lines. In this state 

 I brought it home, and placed it in a glass vase of 

 clear sea-water. 



After a few hours how different was its aspect 1 I 

 will endeavour to describe it as it lies now before my 

 eye ; and the more willingly because neither any de- 

 scription that I have met with, nor any figures, give 

 an adequate idea of either its form or its surpassing 

 beauty. 



I do not mean that its general form and structure 

 are not correctly stated, but that the details of the 

 beautiful flower-like polypes themselves are not given 

 with accuracy. The fingers or lobes are now greatly 

 swollen both in length and thickness, the colour is of 

 a much purer white, and the substance is almost 

 pellucid, especially in those oval, or rather polygonal 

 depressions, which I have mentioned above, and which 

 are the terminating cells of the aqueducts that run 

 through the whole system. They are now, however, 

 depressions no longer ; for from each has protruded a 

 poh'p)e, which resembles a flower of exquisite beauty 

 and perfect symmetry. But how shall I describe one 

 of these ? From each of the cells springs a clear 

 white tube, translucent, but not perfectly transparent, 



