OUT OF THE DEPTHS 121 



dredge or trawl at the depth of fifteen to thirty 

 fathoms. 



Then, is it established conclusively that these 

 creatures live planted upright in the manner 

 suggested ? I confess I was thoroughly sceptical 

 on this point until I was referred by a passage 

 in Marshall's book to Darwin's " Voyage of the 

 Beagle" page 126 of the edition of 1889. He 

 there describes a kind of sea-pen ( Virgularia 

 patagonica) which he saw at Bahia Blanca. " At 

 low water hundreds of these zoophytes might be 

 seen, projecting like stubble with the truncate 

 end upwards a few inches above the surface of 

 the muddy sand. When touched or pulled they 

 suddenly drew themselves in with force, so as 

 nearly or quite to disappear. By this action the 

 highly elastic axis must be bent at the lower 

 extremity, where it is naturally slightly curved. 

 ... It is always interesting to discover the foun- 

 dation of the strange tales of the old voyagers ; 

 and I have no doubt but that the habits of 

 this virgularia explain one such case. Captain 

 Lancaster, in his voyage in 1601, narrates that 

 on the sea sands of the island of Sombrero, in 

 the East Indies, he ' found a twig growing up 

 like a young tree, and on offering to pluck it up 

 it shrinks down to the ground and sinks, unless 

 held very hard.' On being plucked up, a ' great 

 worm is found to be its root, and as the tree 

 groweth in greatness, so doth the worm diminish, 



