and Presermng Animals. 281 



rents which permeate them enter by " mouths," always provided 

 with a crown of feelers or seizers, called tentacles, and communi- 

 cating with digestive sacs or " stomachs," into which the pores of 

 the nutrient canals open. The tentaculated mouths are called 

 "polypes." Their fleshy tissue, as well as that which connects 

 them together into an oi'ganic whole, when the coral is compound, 

 or has more than one mouth, is " sensitive," or retracts and shrinks 

 when touched. For the purposes of the collector, corals may he divi- 

 ded into the " fleshy" (Polypi carnosi), in which the flesh has no firm 

 supporting part ; the " horny or flexible," usually having this support- 

 ing substance as an external tube ; and the " calcareous," in which 

 the supporting substance is usually covered by the animal matter 

 or flesh, forming an internal skeleton, usually of one piece, rarely 

 jointed. 



The above-defined classes of organised beings, which all present 

 the " habit," or outward form, more or less, of plants, are found 

 from the extreme high water mark to a depth of from 50 to 100 

 fathoms. Living algse rarely descend below 50 fathoms, but corals 

 of the genera Lepralia, Retepora, and Hornera, have been dredged 

 up from 270 fathoms, and fragments of dead coral from 400 fa- 

 thoms.* Specimens within the reach of the tide are to be collected 

 at low water, especially of spring tides ; the most interesting species 

 occur at the verge of low water mark. Those that dwell at greater 

 depth must be sought by dredging, or by dragging after a boat an 

 iron cross furnished with numerous strong hooks. One or more 

 strong glass bottles with wide mouths, or a hand-basket lined with 

 japanned tin, should be provided for the purpose of bringing on 

 board the smaller and more delicate species in sea-water, and they 

 should be kept in it, the " Floridese" more especially, until they 

 can be arranged for drying, or other modes of permanent preserva- 

 tion can be attended to. 



In collecting algaj, corallines, or the branched, horny, or calca- 

 reous corals, care should be taken to bring the entire specimen, with 

 its base or root. With respect to the coarser algse, it is merely re- 

 quisite for the purpose of transmission, to spread the specimens im- 

 mediately on being brought fresh from the sea, without previous 

 washing, in an airy situation to dry, but not to expose them to too 

 powerful a sun ; if turned over a few times, they will dry very ra- 

 pidly. When thoroughly dried, they may be packed loosely in paper 

 bags or boxes, and will require only to be remoistened and properly 

 pressed, in order to make cabinet specimens. For the purpose of 

 transmission, it is better not to wash the specimens in fresh water 

 previous to drying, as the salt they contain tends both to preserve 

 them and to keep them pliable, and more ready to imbibe water on 



* Capt. Sir .J. Ross's " Antarctic Voyage," Appendix, No. IV. 



