VIRGULARIA. 189 



sion of the nascent Virgularia to the surface of the substance whereon it 

 Jay. 



As the position of these nascent hydrse proved inconvenient for ob- 

 servation, the removal of some to watch-glassess was safely effected. 



Now and subsequently I observed that the originating product had a 

 slight adhesion to the surface whereon it rested ; that the anterior part, 

 being a hydra, had considerable action, and that the posterior part, smooth 

 like the whole body, flattened itself together with the extremity. The 

 tentacula are then armed with few pinna? or prongs, and perhaps not with 

 above ten for a fortnight, short and stout, the largest highest on the rib. 

 No resemblance of internal bone can be discovered ; but the stomach is 

 seen with four organs, tendrils, or vessels, descending from the base. I 

 thought that the current of a fluid carrying black particles upwards to- 

 wards the hydra might be discerned. 



Nascent specimens have a tendency to invest themselves with mud. 



Observations on the originating zoophytes were protracted above a 

 month, without leading to any discovery of consequence. They survived 

 somewhat longer, but, like all the other hydrse under similar circumstances, 

 they ceased to unfold ; yet enough was exposed to prove their nature to a 

 certain extent, along with some of the laws by which the perpetuation of 

 the race is regulated. 



Indulging conjectures regarding the incidents of futurity is perilous ; 

 however, the survivance of a nascent animal might shew it to be the first 

 of an originating lobe, that the flesh is carried up in a solid mass beyond 

 the bone, and that in this manner both ends of the Virgularia are fleshy. 



Depositation of the matter constituting the elements of the bone is pro- 

 bably very slow, and in some proportion to the sustenance taken by the pro- 

 duct. Whatever may be the use of the bone, it is in no ways incorporated 

 with the flesh. Its form is cylindrical in the middle, and gradually atte- 

 nuating towards the extremities, as already signified. The lower extre- 

 mity tapers to a point, running down for some distance not thicker than 

 a horse hair, and somewhat of cartilaginous texture. 



The spots inhabited by the Virgularia are certainly extremely circum- 

 scribed ; and it is seldom that specimens extending more than six or eight 



