LAOMEDEA. 159 



Dr. Johnston frequently finds it on branches of trees that 

 have been carried by floods into the sea. 



It rises to the height of a foot, and even two feet. The 

 stem is filiform, zigzag, giving off a short branch from 

 every bend. The cells are bell-shaped, on ringed pedicles, 

 which are about three times the length of the cells. The 

 short-stalked vesicles are axillary and pear-shaped. The 

 polypes are reddish. 



It is truly edifying to observe, that He who made all the 

 inhabitants of the world, extends his kind care to even the 

 minutest of them, whether in the air, or on the earth, or 

 in the sea. He has consulted the safety and comfort of 

 this thread-like zoophyte; and it is pleasant to see Ellis 

 observing this. " This coralline is found in great abund- 

 ance on the south-west coast of England, and seems most 

 curiously contrived, from its structure, to resist the violence 

 of the waves, all its joints being furnished with springs. 

 Its vesicles also are formed so as to yield easily to every 

 violent impulse of the water without injury, from their 

 being placed on footstalks formed like screws." 



It is not common on that part of the Ayrshire coast with 

 which I am best acquainted; but I have fine specimens from 

 Mrs. Griffiths, Mrs. Gulson, Miss Cutler, and Mr. Tudor. 



