124 THE HALL OF SHELLS. 
flowers. The polypier, or polypus stalk, of the 
sea fan, surrounded by only a semicalcareous 
crust, 1s flexible, the whole structure tough and 
elastic. Different species show various, but all 
beautiful formations. Sometimes the branches 
appear nearly straight, at others they are a 
mazy network of the most delicate and itri- 
cate tracery, and when their colonies of jewel- 
like polypi are in bloom they seem the realiza- 
tion of a fairy dream. 
“Gorgonide are found in all seas, but are 
most abundant in those of warm climates, as is 
the case with all species of polypi. 
“These fan manufacturers were cousins to 
the polypi who wrought those miracles m 
stone,” continued the doctor, turning to Tom 
and the corals. “All these little workers 
have been known as Zodphytes, or flower 
animals, They might have been called Phi- 
losopher’s Puzzles, for such they have long 
been, and even now they keep many of 
their pretty secrets safe in their own little 
stomachs, this anatomical locality bemg at 
present regarded by the sages as the ‘seat and 
center’ of personal identity in these pretty 
polyp. 
“Tn their living and active state each little 
worker looks like a tiny star with its rays ar- 
