A CURIOUS COLONY. 51 



oyster-shells and other objects. Little wonder that 

 it is called a sea-plant, for its habits and its appear- 

 ance certainly lend support to that view of its nature. 

 Scan its structure, however, a little more closely by 

 aid of this lens, and you observe that in place of 

 leaves or flowers the branches bear hundreds of little 

 cups set in each side. If you care to see what these 

 cups are like when still more highly magnified, look 

 at fig. \*J a. You perceive they are of definite shape, 

 and do not agree with anything you recognise as be- 

 longing to the world of plants. In truth, this "sea- 



Fig. 17. Sea-fir, largely magnified, showing its cups (a) ; at b, one of its 

 egg-producing capsules is shown. 



fir" on which we have stumbled is not a plant at all. 

 To cut short speculation, I may declare that it is a 

 true and veritable animal, masquerading in the like- 

 ness of a plant. 



To understand the constitution of the sea-fir you 

 require to see one alive under the microscope. Then 

 your gaze alights on a curious sight. You find that 

 each of these cups or cells is tenanted by a living 

 animal. Each unit of this colony is simple enough 

 in structure. It consists of a tubular body, bearing 



