192 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



These little creatures belong to the class Infu- 

 soria; they are found to exist in inconceivable 

 multitudes and in great variety in the open ocean 

 .far from land, and even in the cold waters of the 

 Polar seas. 



An hour or two spent in dredging for speci- 

 mens in the deep water off the shore often sup- 

 plies many members of the great sub-kingdom 

 we are now speaking of. Examples of the class 

 Zoophytes may thus be frequently obtained. 



Among these are the Tubularia and Sertularia, 

 which comprehend a great many varieties of 

 species. Some of these may be found in such a 

 rock-pool as we have been visiting or attached to 

 sea-weeds near low-water mark. The Coryne 

 Pusilla is an object which ordinary industry may 

 discover on almost any shore. It is a very remark- 

 able zoophyte, or animal-plant, as the term 

 means. It is found attached to stones and sea- 

 weeds, and resembles a plant with its stem and 

 branches. The ends of the branches are termi- 

 nated by the heads of the zoophyte, which are 

 fleshy and of a reddish colour and covered with 

 short and thick tentacula. 



The Sertularia are also zoophytes. The speci- 

 men we pick up on some sea-weeds at low-water 

 mark is a very common but elegant species. It 

 is called Sertularia filicula ; it resembles a fern 

 in shape, having a middle stem from which pin- 

 nated branches, (like the fronds of some species 

 of fern,) proceed. These, and others of the 

 same genera, are compound and formed of a vast 



