70 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 
ciliated band round the mouth is somewhat spiral, giving 
additional elegance to its appearance; and it may be useful 
as well as elegant, acting probably as a purse-string; and 
woe to the little monads on whom that devouring purse 
closes,—there is no escape. The Stenfors are of different 
colours, some red, others green or blue, and some of them 
have the body as well as the mouth garnished with cilia, 
doubtless to increase their powers of locomotion. 
The Vorticed/a that next came under my notice was a very 
minute, but I am persuaded, a very common one, though 
from its diminutive size very seldom observed. In the 
month of October I placed a tumbler of sea-water, in which 
there were some Nudibranchs, in a dark closet, not by way 
of punishment as naughty children, but because, being in 
the habit of living under stones, they cannot long bear the 
full light of day. Having made the observations I wished 
on the Nudibranchs, I returned them to the deep, and set 
the tumbler with the water in it on the mantel-piece. After 
some time I observed little dim specks on the inside of the 
glass, and applying to them a powerful lens, to my surprise 
I found that these almost invisible dots were replete with 
life and beauty. From the centre from twelve to twenty 
crystalline filaments arose with a graceful bend, each termi- 
