12 OCEAN LIFE. 



the tubular horny envelope is seen to be filled with granular 

 matter, and on attentively watching it, globules will be seen 

 moving in different directions, producing a sort of circulation, 

 or cyclosis, very much resembling what is observable in some 

 plants. The globules thus moving, do not appear to be con- 

 tained in vessels, but steal in slow currents, ascending along the 

 sides and returning down the middle in an opposite direction. 



It is interesting to view these Polyps with a microscope : 

 " Protruding themselves beyond the mouths of their cells, they 

 inflect their bodies in all directions in quest of prey, waiting 

 until some passing body impinges upon their tentacula, which is 

 at once seized and conveyed into the stomach with a rapidity 

 and dexterity almost beyond belief. The multiplication of these 

 singular animals appears to take place in three different modes : 

 first, by cuttings, as in plants ; second, by offshoots, or the forma- 

 tion of new branches bearing Polyps ; and, third, by gemrnules 

 capable of locomotion. The first mode strikingly resembles what 

 is observed in the vegetable kingdom ; for, as every branch of 

 the plant-like body contains all the parts necessary to independ- 

 ent existence, it can hardly be a matter of surprise that any por- 

 tion, separated from the rest, will continue to grow and perform 

 all the functions of the entire animal. 



" The second mode of increase, namely, by the formation of new 

 branches and Polyps, seems more like the growth of a plant than 

 the development of an animal. We will consider it under two 

 points of view : first, as regards the elongation of the stem ; 

 secondly, as relates to the formation of fresh cells containing the 

 nutritive Polyps. On examining any growing branch, it will be 

 found to be soft and open at the extremity, and through the ter- 

 minal orifice, the soft tegumentary membrane above described, as 

 forming the tube, is seen to protrude ; the skeleton is not, there- 

 fore, merely secreted by the inclosed living granular matter, but 

 it is the investing membrane, which continually shoots upwards 

 and deposits hard material in its substance, as it assumes the form, 

 and spreads into the ramifications peculiar to its species. 



" Having thus lengthened the stem to a certain distance, the 

 next step is the formation of a cell and a new Polyp, which is 

 accomplished in the following manner : The newly formed branch 



