192 FALKLAND ISLANDS. [CHAI-. ix. 



and inner rows of cells, I have little doubt, that in their functions, 

 they are related rather to the horny axis of the branches than to 

 the polypi in the cells. The fleshy appendage at the lower 

 extremity of the sea-pen (described at Bahia Blanca) also forms 

 part of the zoophyte, as a whole, in the same manner as the roots 

 of a tree form part of the whole tree, and not of the individual leaf 

 or flower-buds. 



In another elegant little coralline (Crisia?), each cell was fur- 

 nished with a long-toothed bristle, which had the power of moving 

 quickly. Each of these bristles and each of the vulture-like heads 

 generally moved quite independently of the others, but sometimes 

 all on both sides of a branch, sometimes only those on one side, 

 moved together coinstantaneously ; sometimes each moved in 

 regular order one after another. In these actions we apparently 

 behold as perfect a transmission of will in the zoophyte, though 

 composed of thousands of distinct polypi, as in any single animal. 

 The case, indeed, is not different from that of the sea-pens, which, 

 when touched, drew themselves into the sand on the coast of Bahia 

 Blanca. I will state one other instance of uniform action, though 

 of a very different nature, in a zoophyte closely allied to Clytia, 

 and therefore very simply organized. Having kept a large tuft of 

 it in a basin of salt-water, when it was dark I found that as often 

 as I rubbed any part of a branch, the whole became strongly 

 phosphorescent with a green light : I do not think I ever saw any 

 object more beautifully so. But the remarkable circumstance was, 

 that the flashes of light always proceeded up the branches, from 

 the base towards the extremities. 



The examination of these compound animals was always very 

 interesting to me. What can be more remarkable than to see a 

 plant-like body producing an egg, capable of swimming about and 

 of choosing a proper place to adhere to, which then sprouts into 

 branches, each crowded with innumerable distinct animals, often 

 of complicated organizations? The branches, moreover, as we 

 have just seen, sometimes possess organs capable of movement and 

 independent of the polypi. Surprising as this union of separate 

 individuals in a common stock must always appear, every tree 

 displays the same fact, for buds must be considered as individual 

 plants. It is, however, natural to consider a polypus, furnished 

 with a mouth, intestines, and other organs, as a distinct individual, 

 whereas the individuality of a leaf-bud is not easily realised ; so 



