14 A MANUAL 



— that lie is "raj^ecl" or circular in every respect. So 

 he is a radiate animal, and therefore not a vegetable, 

 and not a fish. Very well ; that is a great point, which 

 we have gained without much trouble, I think. Now, 

 I shall ask you to have a little patience, and go a few 

 steps further. 



We have spoken of the Animal Kingdom, and have 

 arrived at its fourth division, the sub -kingdom of the 

 Radiates. 



These radiates are divided into several classes, 

 one of which is that of the 



Polyi^s,* or True Zoophytes. 

 The meaning of zoophyte is "living plant" (zoon, 

 " an animal," i:>hyton, "plant" — Greek), and the ani- 

 mals included in this class are so called, because, in 

 the first place, they were for a long time considered 

 to be vegetables ; and because, secondly, a vast num- 

 ber of individuals are found united, like flowers on 

 a plant, by a common stem. If you go down to the 

 beach, and pick up the first object wdiich you suppose 

 to be a very delicate sea-weed, you will probably see 

 (with a magnifying glass) that it is an assemblage of 

 horny cells, or hollowed vessels, on a stem of similar 

 structure ; and, if the animal be alive, each cell is 



* Polyi) means "many-footed" {polus, "many," ^jous, "foot" — 

 Greek), and the present class of animals bears this name in conse- 

 quence of a fancied resemblance of the tentacles wliich surround 

 their mouths to the limbs of an Octopus {e.g. cuttle-fish), called 

 Polypus by the ancients. — Cu\ier, vol. iii., p. 7 ; vol. iv., p. 430. 



