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ZOOPHYTOLOGY. 



In Johnston's ' History of British Zoophytes,' six genera of 

 Vesiculariadan Polyzoa are described, but of which one, 

 Beania, is more properly referrible to the cheilostomatous 

 sub-order. To these have subsequently been added two or 

 three others ; as Avenella, by Sir J. Dalzell, Mimosella by the 

 Rev. T. Hincks, and, more recently, a form described under 

 the name Nolella, by Mr. Gosse. To this number we have 

 now to add another generic form, new to the British Fauna, 

 and a new species belonging apparently to the established 

 genus Farrella, although the characters of that genus, as 

 assigned to it by Van Beneden, will require some modification 

 for its admission. 



Order. Polyzoa inftjndibulata. 

 Sub-order III. Ctenostomata (Vesictjlabina). 

 Fam. 1. Vesiculaeiad^. 



§ 2. Polypides without a gizzard. 

 Gen. 1. Farrella, Ehrenberg. 

 Lagenella, Farre. 

 Laguncula, Van Beneden. 

 Char. Cells oblong or tubulous, scattered, arising from a creeping sto- 

 toniferous tube. 



Farrella gigantea, Busk (n. sp.). PI. V., figs. 1, 2. 



Cells tubulous, sessile, not contracted at the base ; tentacles numerous 

 (18 — 20). Ectocyst flocculent, rendered opaque by imbedded earthy 

 matter. 



Hab. Tenby. 



This very distinct form is characterized, in the first place, 

 by the comparatively enormous length of the cells, which 

 occasionally exceed 1-lOth of an inch in length ; and secondly, 

 by the peculiar constitution of the wall or ectocyst. This is 

 not horny and transparent, as in most of the other Vesiculari- 

 dans, but appears to be of a soft, flocculent texture, in which 

 is imbedded, as it were, an abundance of earthy matter, 

 apparently derived from the mud in the water in which the 

 creature lives, and consequently composed for the most part 

 of argillaceous and silicious particles. A similar constitution 

 of the ectocyst is observed in Anguinella palmata^ and may 

 therefore be expected to occur in others of the same family. 

 This peculiarity of the ectocyst, and the extraordinary length 

 of the cells, appear to constitute the chief distinctive charac- 

 ters between Farrella gigantea and what I take to be the 

 Avenella {Farrella) fusca of Sir J. Dalzell. For specimens 



