348 Miscellaneous. 



ed — the ali 



class : the tentacles, now grasping and ciliated — the alimentary canal, 

 curved on itself, packing so closely and cleverly into its cell — the 

 well-defined stomach, with its contents whirUng swiftly romid aad 

 round, possibly by the agency of cilia — the distinct muscular appa- 

 ratus for the retraction of the polype — the dehcate membrane conti- 

 nuous between it and its protecting envelope — and moreover the very 

 liver-like appendages to the stomach, presented no especial pecu- 

 liarities differing from other Bryozoa. 



But whilst watching the polypes gently and cautiously emerging 

 from their cells, like the lady from the gold vase in Hoffmann's ' Gold- 

 enen Topf,' and suddenly and swiftly retreating when the currents 

 formed by their ciliated tentacula brought morsels, grateful or 

 otherwise, within their lips, or when their expanding arms touched 

 those of a neighbour (for, as is unfortunately the case with other 

 beings when forced into close companionship with others having the 

 same personal interests, they seemed to fear and dishke each other 

 most cordially), — the eye was startled by an occasional sudden snap, 

 as sharp and decisive as the descent of the hammer when the trigger 

 is touched, — a little out of focus, and proceeding from the bulbous 

 termination of a slender tube which arose from the central stem just 

 above the vase-like cell in which the polype lived. 



On examining more closely (with a good :|^-inch object-glass), one 

 saw that this bulbous termination — this bowl of the tobacco-pipe — 

 possessed a pair of jaws — no, not jaws, but a bill, an inverted par- 

 rot' s-b ill ; the lower mandible sharp, hooked, and firmly fitted onto 

 the edge of the bowl, with a process running down its external con- 

 vex border, and the upper slender, curved, moveable, fitting accu- 

 rately into the lower one, attached to the bowl by an exquisitely 

 formed flexible membranous hinge, acted on by a distinct fan-shaped 

 muscle, whose expanded origin was attached to the greater part of the 

 inner surface of the bowl, and whose tendon ^was inserted into the 

 sUghtly inflated base of the mandible. 



The action of this muscle was seen very distinctly at each opening 

 or shutting of the beak. 



Both mandibles were of a distinct, bluish, steel]/ gray, sharp and 

 keen, looking fit for their business (whatever it was) . 



The only thing I have ever seen at all like it is the * parrot-beak ' 

 of a Mediterranean Cephalopod which resembles it very strikingly. 



The upper beak may be often seen to move up and down two or 

 three times before it closes entirely, which it generally does sharply 

 and with a sort of snap, so decisive that one almost fancies that one 

 can hear it. At the same time the globular contents of the bowl are 

 jerked sharply upwards. 



Within the bowl and behind the fan-shaped muscle, or perhaps 

 between the two fan-shaped muscles, was seen indistinctly an irregu- 

 larly globular mass, which was thrown into active motion whenever 

 the jaw closed. 



I never could trace any communication between the tobacco-pipe 

 apparatus and the lower larger polype-cell, or the central stem. In- 

 deed the * howl ' seemed to be distinctly separated from the * shank ' 



