COLLECTION OF POLYPI. 533 



mals. But Bernard de Jussieu, Ellis, and others 

 convinced themselves that these envelopes are 

 destitute of organization, and serve only to pro- 

 tect the delicate animals which construct them ; 

 and their opinion, adopted by M. de Lamarck, is 

 now generally received. 



The collection in the Museum is composed of 

 one thousand specimens belonging to five hun- 

 dred and fifty species. It was begun in 1795 

 with those procured from the Dutch cabinet, 

 to which were added the beautiful collections 

 made by Mauge, Peron, and Lesueur in the West 

 Indies and the South seas, and some no less cu- 

 rious specimens presented by other travellers. 

 They are arranged in the lower part of the chests 

 of drawers, and divided into five orders accord- 

 ing to the method of M. de Lamarck. 



The first is that of the floating polypi, which 

 are nearly allied to the radiaria. They are united 

 into an elongated, fleshy, living mass, adhering 

 to a calcareous or cartilaginous axis. Several 

 species of the genera 'veretillum ) funiculina, and 

 pennatula are preserved in spirits ; and dried du- 

 plicates of them are placed in the frames with 

 the axis of the virgularia australis, procured by 

 M. Leschenault from the island of Bali. By the 

 side of the urchins we see the osseous trunk of 

 a pennatula upwards of 5 feet long, from the 



