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REPORT on the POLYZOA of the L. M. B. C. 



DISTRICT. 



By Joseph Lomas, 



ASSOCIATE OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL OF SCIENCE. 



Introduction. 



In the autumn of 1751, a collection of Sea-plants and Coral- 

 lines, gathered from the shores of Anglesey and Ireland, was 

 sent to a London merchant named Ellis. 



He disposed of this material *' on thin boards covered 

 with clean white paper, in such a manner as to form a kind 

 of landscape, making use of two or three sorts of Ulva 

 marina or Sea-Liverwort, of different colours, in designing a 

 variety of hills, dales, and rocks, which made proper ground- 

 work and keeping for the little trees, which the expanded 

 Sea-plants and Corallines not unaptly represented." * 



Her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales was 

 pleased to accept some of these landscapes from Mr. Ellis, 

 and, in order to get a greater variety, he collected specimens 

 from other localities. 



While examining and arranging this material by means 

 of a microscope '* in order to distinguish their proper 

 characters with the greater accuracy," he soon discovered 

 " that they differed not less from each other, in respect to 

 their form, than they did in regard to their texture ; and 

 that, in many of them, this texture was such, as seemed to 

 indicate their being more of an animal than vegetable 

 nature." t 



Peysonnel, a French physician, had made this discovery 



* Ellis, CoralL, Introd., p. v. ilbid. p. vi. 

 L 



