376 THE MICKOSCOPE. 



living phenomena discovered within were even more ad- 

 mirable than the beautiful contrast of colours, the elegant 

 forms, and the exquisite structure of all the parts ; when 

 observed with a lens, the ova were seen to be in constant 

 motion, and quite free within the bodies of the polypes. 

 They moved themselves backwards and forwards, and fre- 

 quently contracted their sides, as if irritated or capable of 

 feeling. I could observe none passing upwards between 

 the stomach and the sides of the polypes. They never 

 assumed the appearance of a string of beads enclosed in a 

 narrow, short, curved tube, as represented by Spix, but 

 swam freely in the water which distended the polype, as 

 figured by Ellis. Their motions in the polypes, though 

 circumscribed, were so incessant, that, by watching atten- 

 tively, I could observe them with the naked eye ; and 

 they became more conspicuous as the ova advanced to the 

 open base of the stomach. From their restlessness, as they 

 approached the last passage which separates them from 

 the sea, they seemed to feel the impulse of a new element, 

 which they were impatient to enjoy; and by folio wing the 

 direction of that impulse, they appeared to find their way 

 into the lower extremity of the stomach, without any or- 

 ganic arrangement to lead them into that narrow canal. 

 In their passage through the stomach, which was effected 

 very slowly, the spontaneous motions of the ova were 

 arrested, unless some imperceptible action of their cilia, or 

 some contraction of their surface, might tend to irritate 

 the sides of that canal, and thus direct or hasten their 

 escape." 



Alcyonium gelatinomm. Attached to old stones and 

 shells is this jelly-like transparent spongy zoophyte, grow- 

 ing to a height of nearly a foot, and sometimes much 

 longer. It is branched, and of a brown or yellow colour, 

 dotted with polypes, which are attached to the cells. 

 Through angular openings they protrude their arms or 

 feelers. 



TUBIPORID.E. To this family belong th^ handsome Tubi- 

 pora musica, "Organ-pipe coral" (fig. 195, No. 10). The 

 polypidum of which is composed of parallel tubes, united by 

 lateral plates, or transverse partitions, placed at regular dis- 

 tances ; in this manner large masses, consisting of a congeries 



