272 ZOOPHYTES. 



says this writer of these polypes, " they acquire a 

 firm and palatable consistence, and then may be 

 eaten with any kind of sauce. They are of an 

 inviting appearance, of a light shivering texture, 

 and of a soft white, and reddish hue. Their smell 

 is not unlike that of a warm crab or lobster." After 

 all, they would not, to any of us, be more unin- 

 viting than a dish of snails, yet to the Hungarians 

 this is agreeable, as it was to the ancient Romans ; 

 and delicate ladies dine on snails, cut into small 

 pieces and dressed with seasoning, while they 

 would shudder at the sight of a raw oyster. 



Twenty different kinds of sea anemone are found 

 on our coast, some of them much larger than the 

 common species which we have described. 



Passing by many interesting zoophytes to pro- 

 ceed to the other large class, the Polyzoa or 

 Bryozoa, often called the moss corals, we find 

 there a very different structure of the animals, 

 though much resemblance in the skeletons. The 

 Polyzoa, though smaller than the Anthozoa, are of 

 higher organization. In the compound anthozoa, 

 as in the sea fir and sickle beard, the polypes seem 

 each to be a bud issuing from a common fleshy 

 trunk; but, in the polyzoa, every individual is 

 distinct, though they are all connected by one 

 common bond of union. Dr. Johnston's compari- 

 son of the former to a " chain, of which all the 

 links are welded; and the latter, to a necklace 

 where the beads are strung together by a common 

 thread," presents us with a good idea of the dis- 

 tinction. In the anthozoa, the horny plant-like 

 fabric, or the stony substance of the coral, has 

 little or no organic connexion with the fleshy por- 

 tion ; for although it originates in the polypes, and 



