HALF AN HOUK WITH SEA-MATS AND SQUIRTS. 151 



men's fingers " (Alcyoniurn). Within the last few 

 months an additional interest has been given to 

 these creatures through Darwin, in his " Descent of 

 Man," speculating that evolution, or development, 

 has proceeded direct from them up to man. It is 

 in allusion to this hypothesis that Major Holland 

 humorously remarks : " Now take off your hats, 

 and behold in reverent silence the unchanged 

 descendants of the first vertebrate progenitors of the 

 human race. These are old-fashioned fellows, who 

 have not departed from the customs of their fore- 

 fathers. Ages ago, some adventurous speculators 

 developed themselves desperately, and their progeny 

 are now kings, and bishops, and judges, and no one 

 knows what ; but these are the offspring of steady- 

 going old ' square-toes/ who clung to the good old 

 ways of the good old times ! They hated ' selection,' 

 and eschewed development ; this is the reason why 

 they are still Ascidians, and instead of ' saving ' 

 France or 'unificating' Germany, they are being 

 dragged up by the trawl, and put into a pickle- 

 bottle !" There are no fewer than nineteen species 

 of Ascidia found in British seas. One (Ascidium 

 echinatum) may be readily identified by the nu- 

 merous conical projections on the surface, each of 

 which has a bunch of radiating bristles. 



In many respects the next genus, Cynthia, is 

 nearly allied to the foregoing. The illustration in 

 Fig. 80, of Cynthia rustica, will show the same 

 arrangement of mouth and arms. It may easily be 



