638 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1775. 



a new basis, perfectly similar to that which had been severed from it, will any 

 longer maintain such an opinion ? During the great equinoctial tides, in places 

 whence the sea seldom recede?, I saw several of these animals which had been 

 cut through the middle, perhaps by some crab, or by the sudden collision of 

 pebbles, or by some other means, which though not unnatural, we may yet not 

 be able to account for. They soon began to recover. I should have taken 

 them for a new species, had not my former experiments pointed out to me the 

 gradual reproduction with which nature, no less various than impenetrable in her 

 resources, kindly indulges them. Are not the accidents which happen to birds, 

 quadrupeds, and even to man, frequently followed by effects, which seem in- 

 tended to convince us, that we lay too great a stress on the resources of art, 

 and trust less than we ought to do to nature ? Though I could never yet arrive 

 at any certain knowledge concerning the generation of this species, I suspect 

 that it is different from that of the others. Several of my specimens have sud- 

 denly let fall to the bottom of the vessel, in which they were kept, a slimy sub 

 stance, nearly of the colour of their bodies, perhaps somewhat yellower, which, 

 in the microscope, appeared to consist of a great number of globular particles, 

 pretty much resembling the spawn of fish. 



The first anemonies procured of the 4th species, had probably been brought 

 near the coast by fishermen, for they generally keep in deep water, where they 

 are found adhering to oyster shells. I caused several to be brought into my 

 study, where being put into sea water they soon expanded. The largest, which 

 opened first, puzzled me not a little. I could discover no basis, but only saw 

 limbs projecting on every side. I flattered myself that a greater expansion would 

 clear up the difficulty ; on the contrary it only added to it. The others opened, 

 and appeared in a shape much more similar to that which I expected. I saw a 

 basis, a body, a great number of slender limbs, the assemblage of which formed, 

 at first, different kinds of tufts, and afterwards various fine plumes of a whitish 

 hue inclining to carnation. I returned to my first specimen, which now ap- 

 peared to consist of 2 animals joined at the basis. I became very solicitous to 

 unravel the mystery of this singular union. At length I perceived, that this 

 was a monster of its kind, consisting of 3 different animals blended into one. 

 It perished 12 days after I had received it. Its internal structure, though in 

 great confusion, was yet an interesting object to those who are acquainted with 

 that part of this animal, and who have -a taste for comparative anatomy. It ap- 

 peared in such disorder, that 1 can scarcely conceive how it was possible for the 

 creature to live in that condition. The state of dissolution, which began soon 

 after, and the impossibility of representing every part at one view, prevented my 

 taking a drawing of this remarkable inside. Its mouths on either side were 

 regularly shaped, but rather less than the usual size ; and in the folds, formed 



