THE LOWER FORMS OF LIFE. 83 



of eighteen or even thirty-six inches, in which state it looks like the 

 tail of a squirrel, and has hence obtained the name of " Squirrel- 

 tailed Coralline." Johnston, in his '" British Zoophytes," describes 

 sixty-eight species and varieties of the Sertularia, and figures fifteen 

 or sixteen of them. Figures 105 and 106' (p. 81) are the young 

 and mature species, which I have selected to illustrate the genus 

 Thuiaria, so called from the Greek word for cedar, Thuia, and the 

 terminal aria. In its mature state the branches fall off the lower 

 part of the stem, giving it the appearance of a " Bottle Brush," 

 which is its popular name among the fishermen of Scarborough. It 

 reaches to a height of twelve inches. The hydrothecae or polyp 

 cells are seen at a, arranged alternately on each side of the magni- 

 fied branchlet. There are only two species of Thuiaria. 



Figure 107 illustrates the genus Antennularia, of which there is 

 one species. In their natural state they are seen springing from a 

 clustered root, and rising up single or irregularly branched to a 

 height of ten or twelve inches. When dried the unbranched speci- 

 mens look like the antennae of a lobster ; hence the scientific (Anten- 

 nularia) and popular names (" Lobster's Horn," or "Sea-Bend") 

 given to it by Ellis. The colour is yellowish horn. 



Figure 108 illustrates a very beautiful genus that of Plumularia, 

 so called from their graceful feathered forms of which Johnston 

 figures eight species. The one figured is called by Ellis the " Sea- 

 Bristle," and springs from some shale or stone like a bristle fastened 

 on the upper half, with branches carrying the hydrothecae, as shown 

 in the figures. It is thus described by the Rev. D. Landsborough, 

 in his "Excursions to the Isle of Arran : " 



" There was something in the scollop shell more conspicuous ; . . 

 it was like a drookit white feather. But place it again in the water, 

 and what does it become ? It has recovered from its state of 

 collapse, and though still like a feather it is one of great beauty and 

 elegance ; it is a Zoophyte, Plumularia pinnata. You would not 

 think that that beautiful white feather had life ; but you see only 

 the habitations. The alarmed inhabitants have fled into their 

 houses (hydrothecae C. B. B.) But place the polypidom, as it is 

 called, in a tumbler of sea-water, and when the alarm is over the 

 inhabitants will again appear. The polyps are hydraform, and 

 spread forth many tentacula in search of food, which they greedily 

 grasp. The feather is formed of calcareous matter, mixed with 

 gelatine to give it flexibility, so that it may better stand the buffeting 

 of the waves. Observe the stem or quill of the feather, and you 

 will see that it is full of red matter (the coenosarc 0. E. B.) 

 Every plumule of the feather is a street. Even with the naked eye 

 you may observe in each plumule about a dozen notches. Each of 



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