Mr. J. Coppin on a new genus of British Marine Zoophytes. 273 



the smaller Teriades and Hesperice it flits over the grass in thou- 

 sands ; frequently it engages in play with others of its species, 

 with the hilarity of the little Theclce, but in a less degree. It 

 rarely rises to a greater height than a foot or eighteen inches 

 above the turf, and though its motions are swift and sprightly 

 yet it is very easily captured. It is active through all the seasons 

 of the year, 



£T<» be contiiiue<i.] 



XXIX. — Description of anew genus of British Marine Zoophytes 

 helonging to the family Eucratiadse. By John Coppin^ Esq., 

 IVLA. 



[With a Plate.] 



Nov. Gen. Salpingia. 

 (Derivation from crdXTny^j a t?mmpet.) 



Char. Cells elongated, sessile upon a branched stem ; apertures 

 lateral, broader above than below, produced; base of cells 

 surrounded by one or more spines and trumpet-shaped pro- 

 cesses. 



Salpingia Hassallii. 



C/iar. Polypidom calcareous, branched, confervoid, jointed, punc- 

 tated ; cells in a single series, distant, elongated, sessile, upon 

 a branched stem ; apertures lateral, produced, narrow below, 

 broad and straight above ; stem very slender, dichotomously 

 branched, dilating upwards to the base of each polype-cell ; 

 spines and trumpet-shaped processes springing usually out of 

 the angle formed between the stem and the cells, and from the 

 dilated portion of the stem on which the cell itself is seated. 



Hab. Parasitical on small filamentous Euci, together with the 

 Eucratea chelata. Brighton : rare. June 1848. — PI. X. fig. 3. 



This is a very elegant production, certainly both generically 

 and specifically distinct fix)m any hitherto-described zoophyte, 

 but displaying an evident relation to the genus Eucratea, which 

 has been made the type of a distinct family, Eucratiada. 



The appearance of this zoophyte under the microscope is very 

 beautiful ; the long and slender footstalks surmounted by the 

 uniserial cells, with their curious apertures, the singular-looking 

 but not inelegant trumpet-shaped processes, the entire polypi- 

 dom being at the same time regularly and delicately frosted or 

 punctated, all conspire to render this an exceedingly graceful 

 microscopic object. 



An attentive examination of the construction of the polypidom 

 of this species, and a consideration of the position of the several 



Ann. &^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. il 19 



