70 THE OCEAN 



centre of the expanding disk is the real mouth, or 

 opening into the stomach. It is these tentacula, 

 which, spreading around exactly like the rays of 

 an aster or marigold, give to the Polype so striking 

 a likeness of a flower. These animals are exceed- 

 ingly voracious ; though when closed, you would 

 think them a mere lump of jelly-like flesh, utterly 

 helpless and incapable of any exertion ; yet when 

 the tentacula are all expanded, no small crab, or 

 shrimp, or mussel, can even touch one of them with 

 impunity. From some cause, not thoroughly under- 

 stood, each tentacle has the power of adhering with 

 wonderful tenacity to any object on the slightest con- 

 tact. I have often been surprised at the force re- 

 quired to draw away my finger when I have gently 

 touched one. No sooner, then, has some little 

 shelled Mollusk been thus caught, than instantly 

 other tentacles lay hold of it also, and it is inevitably 

 dragged by their contraction into the mouth. It 

 remains in the stomach a few hours, when the shell, 

 entirely cleared of all the meat, is vomited through 

 the mouth, there being but one orifice to the body. 

 The Polype is capable of great dilatation, which en- 

 ables it to swallow an animal even much larger than 

 the ordinary dimensions of its own body. A very 

 curious instance of this I shall presently mention ; 

 but first I must allude to that which forms the most 

 wonderful feature in its history, the power of repro- 

 ducing any parts that have been cut off. To so 

 great an extent does this power prevail, that even 

 if cut into many parts, each separate part will put 

 forth the parts wanting, and soon become a complete 



