436 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



CHAPTER XL VII. 



POLYZOA continued " AVICULARIA " " VIBRACULA," 

 ETC. 



" There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 

 Than are dreamt of in our philosophy ! " 



MANY genera of the Polyzoa are furnished with re- 

 markable accessory organs, that appear to be in some 

 measure analogous to the ' f pedicellaria " of Star- 

 fishes and Sea-urchins, which must by no means be 

 passed over in silence. 



A very beautiful Polyzoon, for example, is generally 

 to be found growing parasitically upon specimens of 

 the Flustra truncata (of which abundance may be met 

 with upon every shore in the north of England, 

 although upon the southern coasts it is comparatively 

 of rare occurrence), called the BUGULA AVICULARIA. 

 This pretty polypidom is easily recognizable : in shape 

 it assumes somewhat the form of a miniature pine, 

 or larch-fir, rising about an inch in height by a short 

 stem, around which the boughs are disposed rather in 

 a spiral arrangement. The root runs superficially 

 over the Flustra, secured by radicles. Each cell, of 

 which this elegant arborescence consists, is occupied 



