POLYZOA. 611 



the pretty leaf-like Sea Mats strewn on the beach, and admired the 

 wonderful regularity of their structure, perceptible to the naked eye; 

 but when magnified, even by a pocket lens, their beauty increases in pro- 

 portion to the power employed, and the marvellous arrangement of the 

 cells and the orderly system in which they are placed are almost beyond 

 belief. Beautiful, however, as they are in this state, they are but the 

 dead and lifeless habitations of the creatures who built the wondrous 

 cells, and the only method of showing the Sea Mat in its full glory is 

 to take a living specimen from the stone or shell to which it is affixed, 

 and watch it under the microscope while the creatures are still in full 

 activity. In the illustration is shown a portion of the common Sea 

 Mat, sometimes called the Hornwrack. 



