550 NOCTILUCA. ANTHOZOA. 



leads through a sort of (Esophagus into a large irregular cavity, 

 apparently channelled-out in the jelly-like substance of the body, 

 and therefore regarded by some in the light of a mere 'vacuole,' 

 though by Mr. Huxley it is considered to possess regular walls and 

 to be a true Stomach ; whilst from its cavity there passes-forth a 

 prolongation, which leads, in his belief, to a distinct Anal orifice.* 

 The external coat is denser than the contained Sarcode ; and the 

 former sends thread-like prolongations through the latter, so as to 

 divide the entire body into irregular chambers, in some of which 

 ' vacuoles ' are frequently to be seen. It seems to feed on 

 Diatoms, as their loricce may frequently be detected in its interior. 

 This animal appears to multiply both by Subdivision and by 

 Gemmation ;+ but nothing is yet known of its Sexual Generation ; 

 and until the mode in which it performs that important function 

 shall have been made-out, and it shall have also been determined 

 whether it passes through any other phase of existence, we are 

 scarcely in a position to speak positively of its true affinities. So 

 far as its character is at present known, its place would seem to be 

 rather among the Protozoa, than in any more elevated group. The 

 nature of its Luminosity is found by Microscopic examination to be 

 very peculiar ; for what appears to the eye to be a uniform glow, 

 is resolvable under a sufficient magnifying power into a multitude 

 of evanescent scintillations ; and these are given -forth with in- 

 creased intensity whenever the body of the animal receives any 

 Mechanical shock, such as that produced by shaking the vessel or 

 pouring out its contents, or is acted-on by various Chemical stimuli, 

 such as dilute Acids, which, however, speedily exhaust the light- 

 producing power, occasioning disorganization of the body. 



426. Anthozoa. — This group, which constitutes the second great 

 division of the Class of Zoophytes, includes all those larger forms, 

 whose Polypes, when expanded, present the likeness of ' animal 

 flowers:' and it consists of two principal subdivisions, — the Aster- 

 oida or Alcyonian Zoophytes, whose Polypes, having only six or 

 eight broad short tentacles, present a star-like aspect when ex- 

 panded, — and the Helianthoida or Actiniform Zoophytes, whose 

 Polypes, having numerous tentacles disposed in several rows, bear a 

 resemblance to Sunflowers or other Composite blossoms. Of the 

 first of these orders, which contains no Solitary species, a charac- 

 teristic example is found in the Alcj/onium digitatumoi our coasts, 

 which is commonly known under the name of 'Dead-man's toes' 

 or ' Sea-Paps.' When a specimen of this is first torn from the 

 rock to which it has attached itself, it contracts into an unshapely 

 mass, whose surface presents nothing but a series of slight depres- 



* "Quart. Journ. of Microsc. Science," Vol. Hi. (1855), p. 49; see also 

 Dr. Webb, at p. 102, and Dr. Busch, at p. 199 of the same volume ; and 

 Gosse, in " Eambles on the Devonshire Coast," p. 257. 



t See Brightwell in "Quart. Journ. of Microsc. Science," Vol. v. (1857), 

 p. 185. 



