RADIARIES. 215 



number of stalks terminating each in what 

 seems a many-petaled flower of various hues, 

 so that those who have an opportunity of observ- 

 ing them from a diving bell, may see the sub- 

 merged rocks covered with beautiful blossoms of 

 various colours, and vying with the parterres 

 of the gayest gardens. Ellis, who was the first 

 Englishman who opened his eyes to the beauties 

 and singularities that adorn the garden which 

 God has planted in the bosom of the ocean, has 

 named many of these from flowers they seem 

 to represent, as the daisy, the cereus, the pink, 

 the aster, the sunflower, &c. 



These animals, at first, appear to come very 

 near the polypes, especially the fresh-water ones, 1 

 bearing a number of individuals, springing, as 

 it were, from the same root, each sending forth 

 from its mouth a number of tentacles, which are 

 stated to terminate in a sucker, and by which 

 also, like the other Echinoderms, they respire 

 and reject the water ; they also reproduce their 

 tentacles when cut off. Portions of the base 

 when divided are reproductive, but they do not 

 separate from the parent till their tentacles are 

 completely formed. Their internal organization, 

 however, is much more advanced than that of 

 the polypes. They have a separate alimentary 

 sac or tube, surrounded by longitudinal muscles, 



1 Hydra. 



