304 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 
species of Bryozoa are furnished, have engaged the careful 
attention of naturalists, and their form and movements 
have been accurately described. But though we have many 
conjectures as to their precise function, and relation to the 
economy of the animal, few facts have as yet been recorded 
which throw light on the uses of this curious portion of 
structure. Such being the case, the following observations 
may have some interest. 
“The organ to which I refer bears a striking resemblance 
to a miniature bird’s head, and is mounted on a short pe- 
dicle, furnished in most cases with a basal joint, by means 
of which it can be swayed backward and forward. These 
‘processes’ are distributed in great numbers over the poly- 
pidom, one being generally placed on each cell. 
«The beaks are continually gaping and closing with 
much vehemence ; and the entire organ is frequently swung 
to and fro. The movements, as it has often been noted, 
are quite independent of the polypes; and Mr. Darwin has 
well remarked, that in their functions these bodies ‘ are 
related rather to the axis than to any of the polype.’ 
“There is something very comical in the energy and — 
earnestness with which these tiny jaws open and close, and 
throw themselves about, no cause being apparent, in general, 
