ZOOPHYTES. 241 



girded round with from five to nine bands, and 

 rising into short spines ; another has them covered 

 over, at top, with a rounded lid. The germs 

 within these vesicles, or seed-vessels, are seen by 

 the aid of the microscope to be very small gra- 

 nules, their surfaces covered with minute hairs 

 (cilise), and actively floating within these vases. 

 They are extremely irritable, and if they come 

 in contact with a hair, a grain of sand, or other 

 small substance, they are capable of contracting 

 their bodies into various forms. They whirl about 

 in constant motion, until they select some point of 

 attachment, where they fix themselves, and thence, 

 in course of time, arises the goodly spray which 

 delights our eye. 



Zoologists arrange the zoophytes into two large 

 classes; the Anthozoa, which- have symmetrical 

 bodies, capable in every part of contraction, with 

 a single aperture for food ; and the Polyzoa, 

 sometimes called Bryozoa, whose bodies are un- 

 symmetrical, and incapable of contraction. The 

 Anthozoa contain the larger animals ; but those 

 forming the Polyzoa, have the more perfect organ- 

 ization, and are in a higher scale of animal life. 



A few common examples of the first class, to be 

 described, will, by the aid of our engravings, beat 

 once recognised by every one accustomed to the 

 shores of our island, as objects long familiar. 



A very frequent and pretty zoophyte, is that 

 called the Small Coryne (Coryne pusilla), which 

 may be found on old shells, or on stones or sea- 

 weeds, between the tide marks. It differs as to 

 size, but is not often more than an inch in height, 

 adhering to the shell or other substance on which 

 it grows, by means of a fibre, which creeps over it. 



K 



