164 president's address. 



PolT/pcecice, which I had, up to the year 1825,* discovered on the 

 southern portion of the coast of Durham. 



My late eminent friend. Dr. Johnston, of Berwick, when en- 

 gaged in writing his work on "British Zoophytes," obtained 

 from me dried specimens of many rarer species which are named 

 in that List, and also some more recent ones, which I had sub- 

 sequently found near Whitburn, as well as in the vicinity of 

 Hartlepool. Some of these were identified by Dr. Johnston, 

 who inserted their habitats in his beautiful work. 



Having about the same time been engaged in some researches 

 on the Spongilla, and the nature of the Spongice — which are pub- 

 lished in the "Linnean Transactions," vol. 18, I was led, from 

 those examinations, to consider them as vegetable substances, in 

 consequence of the absence of all definite and certain characters, 

 or properties, which are admitted by all Naturalists to belong 

 exclusively to an animal. 



And, although some of our English Naturalists still retain 

 the old idea of their animality — and correctly so, perhaps, witli 

 respect to some of the marine kinds — many eminent Foreign 

 Physiologists are now satisfied that they pertain in reality to 

 the vegetable kingdom. It behoves me, however, to state, that 

 owing to the use of an old and very imperfect microscope, when 

 employed in my investigations, I was unavoidably led into some 

 errors, which I have subsequently corrected. 



I do not here intend to resume the discussion of this question, 

 but I will only mention to you that Mr. Carter, of Bombay, has 

 in a recent paper,j" related his having detected the presence of 

 starch (amylum) in some old specimens of Spongilla. 



" I have lately found," he writes, " that starch is plentifully 

 developed in Spongilla^ towards the end of the season, when it is 

 about to be left uncovered by the water, and that not only are 

 large starch-grains to be observed, apparently in nothing but the 



* After that time, I termed what the French Naturalists called "Polypier," and in 

 Latin, " Polyparium," Po;?//wf «a. derived from 7ta\v7:ovi;^ Polypus, and oiKioi,^ domus, 

 taking the well-known word 'XU^oiy.loi.i Para-cia, — i.e. a Parish, or " accolariim con- 

 ventus" for my best example. Dr. Johnston subsequently used and printed the very 

 inharmonious word Polypidom, which signifies precisely the same. 



t See "Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist." for February, 1856, p, 106. 



