CHAPTER IV. 

 ZOOPHYTES. 



NOT many years ago our knowledge of the lower forms of 

 life was very imperfect, and it was believed that the gulf 

 between the animal and vegetable kingdoms was bridged over 

 by certain creatures which could not properly be classed in 

 either, because they appeared to unite the characters and 

 organization of each. Such was the case with the sponges, 

 already dealt with, and with the creatures now to be consid- 

 ered. These last were on that account called Zoophytes, or 

 animal-plants, a term which we must render to-day as plant- 

 like-animals. Some of us have again got to the notion that 

 there is no sharp division between animal and plant-life ; but 

 with increased knowledge we have put back the debatable or 

 common ground much lower in the scale of life. 



With the whole of the families included in this division of 

 life, I do not propose to deal in the present chapter : the Sea 

 Anemones and the Sea Jellies, for instance, being treated in 

 succeeding chapters, for each group deserves and demands a 

 chapter to itself. It is characteristic of the Zoophytes that 

 they form a bag of jelly-like material, with an opening at one 

 end which may be regarded as a mouth, though it is without 

 tongue or teeth, and opens directly into the stomach. Around 

 this mouth are set a number of limb-like organs, called ten- 

 tacles, which are used for seizing the prey and conveying it 

 within the orifice. Their entire structure is very simple, and 

 apart from primitive muscular and nervous systems, and the 

 possession of stinging threads, which can be quickly extruded 

 through the exterior walls of the body, they appear to be 



