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ORDER I. THE CARNOSI. 355 
anal organization, and so far are a puzzle to naturalists. They are 
always found curiously paired, one within the cavity of the other; yet they 
can in all cases be separated without injury to the life of either. They are 
gelatinous and transparent, and move like the Meduse. 
CLASS IV. POLYPI. 
Most naturalists give the name of Polypus to certain gelatinous animals, 
generally shaped like little bags, the borders of which are provided with fila- 
ments, causing them to resemble those pulps which the ancients called 
Polypi. Destitute of interior organs, without eyes, lungs, or brain, with- 
out nerves, or even intestines, these animals subsist entirely by absorption. 
They are wholly stomach, and throw off the surplus of digestion through 
the mouth. When cut into a number of pieces, and each divided into par- 
ticles, each separate fragment becomes a new and complete animal. They 
may be turned inside outward, like a glove, without their vital functions 
being at all impeded by the operation. Two Polypi, or two portions of the 
same Polypus, may be grafted together, and the united mass will continue 
to live as before. They are often connected together in greater or less 
numbers, and possess one common vitality diffused among them all; for the 
food taken by each contributes to the nourishment of the whole community ; 
and yet each individual Polypus acts for itself, seeking its own sustenance, 
and fighting for it with the other Polypi to which it is joined. They subsist 
on shell aquatic animals, which they seize with their feelers, and introduce 
into the pouch which serves them for a stomach. Sometimes their prey is 
larger than themselves. During the hot weather they multiply by suckers, 
like vegetables, with great rapidity; but on the approach of winter they 
fall to the bottom of the water, where, it is said, they are protected from 
the cold till the return of the spring. 
This class forms three orders. 
ORDER I. THE CARNOSI. 
The Carnosi are those fleshy animals that have the power of fixing them- 
selves by their base, though many of them can crawl upon that base, or 
detach it and swim; but the motion which they most usually perform is that 
of expanding or retracting the tentacula, and opening and shutting the 
single aperture of the body. The order consists of two genera. 
Actinta.— These Polypi have a fleshy body, frequently adorned with 
