IN THE MUD OF THE LEVANT. 33 



These views, which first dawned upon the mind 

 of Ehrenberg, in 1823, were fully confirmed in 

 1839, when he completely established the point 

 that these little animalswere not to be grouped with 

 the Cephalopoda, but with the Bryozoa or Moss- 

 corals. He has since examined, whilst in a living 

 state, similar animals discovered in the Baltic at 

 Cuxhaven, and elucidated their history still further. 

 He found that in many cases, the foremost or 

 largest cell, and in some cases the two or three 

 following ones, were filled with transparent parts 

 only, but that in general, from the second cell, 

 all the hinder ones were filled with two diff'erently 

 coloured organs, — what he considered to be the 

 thick alimentary canal, and the granular masses, 

 which he suggested may be ovaries. He also 

 found that they had the power of protruding from 

 the foramina in the skin pseudopodia or extensile 

 tentacula, evidently resembling the contractile 

 fringes of Flustra and some minute Gasteropods. 

 He saw great bundles of filaments arbitrarily rami- 

 fying, and though not actually, yet apparently 

 confluent, frequently projecting from the surface, 

 but especially from the umbilical region, where 

 he observes there are perhaps distinct and larger 

 contractile apertures. 



