586 ZOOPHYTES. 



Dsn II. ALCYONARJA. 



Zoophyta aut omnino carnosa, aut corattigena, gemmipara. Polypi 

 octo-tentaculaii ; tentaculis cequalibus papillosis, papillis apice perfo- 

 ratis. Plica, viscerales octo. Secretiones coraltigenas pedibus inte- 

 gumentisque internis, sed non plicis visceralibus, elaborantia ; internis, 

 cakareis ; e pedibus, corneis aut cakareis, raro siliceis. 



Zoophytes wholly fleshy or coralligenous, gemmiparous. Polyps 

 having the tentacles 'eight in number, papillose, with the papillae 

 perforate at apex. Visceral lamellse eight. Coral secretions formed 

 from the foot of the polyps, or by the internal tissues, but never by 

 the visceral lamellse ; the foot-secretions, for the most part, either 

 corneous or calcareous, rarely siliceous; the tissue-secretions cal- 

 careous. 



The general characteristics of this division of zoophytes have been 

 given on pages 42 to 50. The eight tentacles, furnished with a fringe 

 of perforate papilke, and the eight lamellse of the visceral cavity, con- 

 stitute the prominent characters of the polyps.* These eight lamellse 

 are sometimes part spermatic and part ovarian; but instances are also 

 given of eggs being produced from all; and in a Veretillum figured 

 by Milne Edwards, in the illustrated edition of Cuvier (pi. 91, fig. 1), 

 the same lamella? are spermatic above and ovarian below, in analogy 

 with a Gynandrous plant in the vegetable kingdom; yet in this 

 species, as in the Tubipora examined by the author, the spermatic 

 cords were confined to six of the eight lamellae. 



The animals vary in size from a third of a line to nearly an inch. 

 They appear to affiliate with the Actinaria through the Lucerna- 

 riae, which have a four or eight-lobed summit. Yet the occurrence 

 of only eight visceral lamellse, corresponding to eight papillose ten- 

 tacles, and alternating with them, forms a wide line of demarcation 



* Many of the published figures of the polyps of Alcyonarm, are drawn from the purtly 

 expandcd zoophyte, in which state, the papilla- of the polyps are very short, or are not at 

 all apparent. 



