226 HISTORY OP BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 



this neighbourhood, as the existence of such a zoophyte was 

 then unknown to me, I concluded that it was Zoantkus in a 

 peculiar state. 



FAMILY ACTINIAD^E. 



" Ah, yes ! the sea is still and deep, 

 All things within its bosom sleep ! 

 The night is calm and cloudless, 

 And still as still can he, 

 And the stars come forth to listen 

 To the music of the sea ; 

 They gather gather gather, 

 Until they crowd the sky, 

 And listen, in breathless silence, 

 To the solemn litany." Longfellow. 



Character. Animal single, fleshy, elongate or conical, capable 

 of extending or contracting itself, fixed by its base, but with the 

 power of locomotion ; mouth in the middle of the upper disc, 

 very dilatable, surrounded by one or two rows of tentacula ; ovi- 

 parous and viviparous ; marine. Johnston. 



Genus XXVIII. CAPNEA, E. Forbes. 



Gen. Ctiar. Body cylindric, invested in part by a lobed epi- 

 dermis, and adhering by a broad base. Tentacula simple, very 

 short, retractile, surrounding the mouth in concentric series. 

 Forbes. 



