THE GLOBEHOKN. 
291 
ill the Bristol Channel ; and again on the indented coast of 
Cork, it occurs in profusion on the. perpendicular and over- 
hanging rocks ; while it has been dredged in deep water 
off various points of the same shores, and even in the land- 
locked gulfs on the north-east of Ireland. It is almost 
invariably found in close-set clusters of a dozen to fifty ; 
and though several distinct varieties fre(|uently occur in 
the same immediate vicinity, yet the individuals of the 
same group are invariably found to agree in their tints. 
Hence I incline to believe that these groups are produced 
either by the spontaneous fission,* or the gemmation of a 
primitive polype. I have seen some which were evidently 
connected together by the base, the process of separation 
being incomplete. 
It is somewhat difficult to detach the animals ; their 
bodies are excessively pulpy and tender, and under irrita- 
tion they excrete a vast quantity of mucus, so dense as 
almost to equal in consistency the substance of their own 
bodies, and which might sometimes assume the form of 
an epidermis. If carefully detached, however, they will 
re-adhere ; and I have known individuals even crawl off 
from a fragment of rock to the sides of the tank. In 
general, however, they are stationary, and even sluggish ; 
allowing their tentacles to be handled without contracting. 
They open very freely, and ordinarily remain expanded. 
In a well established aquarium, they will live for a long 
period ; I have some which have lived in captivity fifteen 
months. They seem in other respects tenacious of life; 
for I have seen the tentacles and margin of one side appa- 
rently healthy and contractile, while the whole opposite side 
had become a putrescent mucus, sloughing away. 
All the varieties are charming ; perhaps none more .so 
than the translucent white one which I have named Coina. 
* Several in the possession of Mr. Holdsworth spontaneously divided. 
u 2 
