ZOOPHYTES. 



253 



" the meshes are of different sizes, with their junc- 

 tions tied in a knot as it were by fairy fingers." 

 From each knot, in due time, springs the knotted 

 thread coralline (Laomedea geniculata). This 

 zoophyte is about an inch in height, very little 

 branched, and sometimes not at all so, of a very 

 clear white colour, now and then tinted with red. 

 Minute as is this animal, it presents under the 

 microscope an exceed- 

 ing beauty. Its po- 

 lypes may be seen, in 

 a fresh specimen, pro- 

 truding like so many 

 daisy flowers, and in 

 summer time when the 

 vesicles are plentifully 

 scattered about, we see 

 objects which" appear 

 like antique vases, 

 sculptured into most 

 graceful and elegant 

 form. This coralline 

 is often found on the 

 common grass-wrack 

 of our shores. 



Almost as common 

 as this, is the Gelati- 

 nous Laomedea (Lao- 

 medea gelatinosa], one 

 of our most elegant 

 zoophytes. Our figure . 

 represents part of ^ 

 specimen about eight 

 inches long, which was 

 p. eked up on the beach at Dover, but it is seldom 



