POLYPI. 



125 



extremity of the branches, presenting the greatest similitucle 

 to flowers. The Flu^lra (Fig. 63) is composed of minute 



61 



62 



63 



64 



and almost microscopic cells, spread over a flat membra- 

 neous substance, resembling, in the flexibility of its texture, 

 and its mode of subdivision, the leaves of plants. These 

 cells are arranged in rows, with great regularity, like those 

 of a honey-comb, as is seen in the magnified view of them, 

 Fig. 64. 



In other tribes the inorganic base of support is internal, 

 constituting a kind of skeleton or axis; the polypous mouths 

 being spread at intervals over the surface of the fleshy lay- 

 er which covers this skeleton. This is the case with the 

 Gorgonia, jSntipathes, and the Coral, which exhibit still 

 closer resemblances to the branched forms of vegetable stems. 

 The flesh contains granules of calcareous matter, which, in the 

 dried specimens, adhere to the surface of the stems. Fig. 

 G5 is a branch of the Corallium rubum, of w^hich Fig. ^G 



is a magnified portion, showing the appearance of the poly- 

 pes in their expanded and contracted states. The way in 

 which the polypes are embedded in the flesh is seen in Fig. 

 67, which represents a section of the Gorgonia Briareus, 

 In many cases the polypes arc lodged in cup-like depres- 



