62 CLASS II. 



In the two following years BERNARD DE JUSSIEU, the celebrated 

 Botanist, investigated Alcyonium (Lobularia), Flustra and Tubu- 

 laria on the coast of Normandy, and confirmed PEYSONNEL'S dis- 

 covery: whilst REAUMUR also adopted his views. LINNAEUS, 

 accordingly, transferred the Corals and stone-plants to the animal 

 kingdom : and thus more than half a century was required to 

 effect the adoption by Science, as a firm truth, of that view which 

 FERRANTE IMPERATO had announced at the beginning of the 

 16th century 1 . ELLIS, PALLAS, CAVOLINI and other authors, 

 in the latter half of the past century, extended and multiplied our 

 acquaintance with these interesting marine animals, of which the 

 investigation still affords to S9avants of the present day a rich 

 material for new and important discoveries. 



Polyps are either naked, or are provided with a body more or 

 less hard, which they surround like a bark, or by which they are 

 surrounded. To the naked Polyps belong the well-known Armed 

 Polyp of fresh-water (Hydra L., Polype d'eau douce, h bras en forme de 

 cornes). The body of this animal is hollow within, and terminates 

 in a little cylindrical stalk that is without any opening. There is 

 a single row of tentacles round the mouth which can be extended 

 like long rays, or be contracted into little conical swellings. 

 These tentacles are not all formed at once, but at different times : 

 their number is therefore indeterminate, and frequently varies in the 

 same species. Generally there are not more than six tentacles 

 present : rarely more than twelve. By their assistance the fresh- 

 water Polyp can creep along upon water-plants or upon the bottom, 

 overpower its prey, and convey it to the mouth. These Polyps are 

 very voracious, and feed upon minute Crustaceans ( Cypris, Daphnia, 

 Monoculus, &c.), and upon worms (Stylaria paludosa LAM. Na'iSj 

 TuMfex, &c.), which frequently surpass them in bulk. Accordingly 



1 To complete this compressed historical review, we refer to B. DE JUSSIEU, Examen 

 de quelques productions marines, &c. Mem. deTAcad. royale des Sciences, 1742. pp. 290 

 302 ; REAUMUR, Mcmoires pour servir a VHistoire des Insectes, Tom. vi. 1742. Pre- 

 face, pp. 49 80 ; PALLAS, Elench. Zoophytor. pp. 13 20; LAMOIGNON MALESHERBES, 

 Observations sur I'Histoire natur. de BUFFON et de DAUBENTON. Paris, 1798, n. pp. 154 

 206 ; EHRENBERG, Die Corattentliiere des rotlien Meeres, pp. 4, 5 ; MILNE EDWARDS, 

 Ann. des Sc. Natur. sec. SeVie, Tom. vi. Zoologie, 1836. pp. 5 9; FLOURENS, Analyse 

 dun ouvrage manuscrit intitule, Traite du Corail d'c. par DE PEYSONNEL, Ann. des Sc. 

 Nat. sec. SeV. Tom. ix. Zoologie, 1838, pp. 334 351. 



