

RADIATA. 



yonium. A. Portion enlarged, showing 

 Polypuses attached. 



b Lower side of Vellela Lata. 



,4s, are devoid of the spine, though retaining some marks, however slight, 

 ■i in this class, 

 .chin, or Echinus, come under this class. 



iound in all oceans and seas, except the very coldest. The mouth is in the centre 

 W, and is surrounded by tentacula, in rows. The under side forms a sucker, by which 

 Uniceiiaria Cheiat» roe k s _ It belongs, like the Hydra, to the class Polypifera. 



r .iic Alcyonium is found abundantly on many parts of the British shores, and the different varieties are 



called by fishermen, dead man's hand, sea-fingers, sea paps, &c, from their flabby texture, and the peculiar 

 forms they present. .They have Polypuses attached to them, which can be drawn within the protuberances 

 of the Alcyonium. 



The Pennatula, or Sea Pen, belongs to the same class, and in some respects resembles the red coral. It has 

 a stony axis, but this is flexible at the extremities, and it is not attached by a solid basis, but moves about 

 at the mercy of the waves 



The Vellela, Rataria, Porpita, and Polybrachiona, are placed by Linnaeus among the Medusae. 



The Vellela Lata has a membranous, oval body, much depressed, convex and swollen, supported above 

 by a transparent, oval, subcartilaginous piece, marked with concentric striae, and crowned by a vertical 

 and oblique crest, concave beneath, with a mesial nucleus, having a central mouth at the end of a probo- 

 scis-like prolongation, encircled by feelers of two kinds, the outer being much longer than the inner ones. 



This animal is widely diffused, being found in the seas of Europe and America. Asia, and Australia 

 They are often found far at sea. huddled together, young and old, in considerable masses. 



Ilntaria. 



Sea Pen. 



(381) 



Porpita Gigantea. 



