BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. y 



many foi*ms was such as to indicate an animal rather 

 than a vegetable nature. His views were afterwards 

 considerably extended, and he began to suspect that 

 the Zoophytes generally were animals. 



In order to determine these suspicions he went in 

 August, 1752, to Sheppey, in Kent, to examine what 

 he called the branched corallines. From his investi- 

 gations he was fully convinced that " those apparent 

 plants were really ramified animals in their proper 

 skins or cases not locomotive bat fixed to shells of 

 Oysters, Mussels, &c., and to Fucus's.^' 



In June, 1754, he again went to the seaside, this 

 time to Brighthelmstone in Sussex. He presented an 

 account of this journey to the Royal Society. His 

 conclusions were that the Zoophytes generally were 

 animal productions, and that the animals producing 

 them were of similar nature to the Hydra, or fresh- 

 water polyp. The final results of his studies were pre- 

 sented in detail to the public, in 1755, in a beautifully 

 illustrated book, called " An Essay towards a Natural 

 History of the Corallines and other Marine Productions 

 of the like kind commonly found on the coasts of Great 

 Britain and Ireland.^' This work he dedicated to the 

 Princess Dowager of Wales ; and in it he gave a full 

 account of all his discoveries, with descriptions of each 

 species, and extremely accurate drawings. 



To most of the species he discovered he also gave 

 popular names, which they retain to this day. The 

 entire work is a marvel of scientific accuracy. In his 

 introduction he alludes to a person whom he calls his 

 friend, Dr. Buttner, of Bei-lin. This doctor, who was 

 a professor at Gottingen, repayed Ellis' friendship by 

 buidly claiming EUis^ discoveries as his own. That 



