Z MARINE ANIMALS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 



pelier gave him an admirable opportunity, of which he availed 

 himself to the utmost, for carrying out his investigations in this 

 direction. Seba and Klein, two naturalists in the North of Eu 

 rope, also published at about this time numerous illustrations of 

 marine animals, including Radiates. But in all these works we 

 find only drawings and descriptions of the animals, without any 

 attempt to classify them according to common structural features. 

 In 1776, 0. F. Miiller, in a work on the marine and terrestrial 

 faunae of Denmark, gave some admirable figures of Radiates, 

 several of which are identical with those found on our own 

 coast. Cavolini also in his investigations on the lower marine 

 animals of the Mediterranean, and Ellis in his work upon those 

 of the British coast, did much during the latter half of the past 

 century to enlarge our knowledge of them. 



It was Cuvier, however, who first gave coherence and precision 

 to all previous investigations upon this subject, by showing that 

 these animals are united on a common plan of structure expres 

 sively designated by him under the name Radiata. Although, 

 from a mistaken appreciation of their affinities, he associated 

 some animals with them which do not belong to the type, and 

 have since, upon a more intimate knowledge of their structure, 

 been removed to their true positions ; yet the principle intro 

 duced by him into their classification, as well as into that of the 

 other types of the animal kingdom, has been all important to 

 science. 



It was in the early part of this century that the French began 

 to associate scientific objects with their government expeditions. 

 Scarcely any important voyage was undertaken to foreign coun 

 tries by the French navy which did not include its corps of nat 

 uralists, under the patronage of government. Among the most 

 beautiful figures we have of Radiates, are those made by Sa- 

 vigny, one of the French naturalists who accompanied Napoleon 

 to Egypt ; and from this time the lower marine animals began 

 to be extensively collected and studied in their living condition. 

 Henceforth the number of investigators in the field became more 

 numerous, and it may not be amiss to give here a slight account 

 of the more prominent among them. 



Darwin s fascinating book, published after his voyage to the 



