RADIATA. 



' Alcj utiium. a Portion enlarged, showing 

 Polypuses attached. 



a Upper sile of Ye leia L;ita. 



b Lowor side of Vtllela Lata. 



link between different sub-kingdoms, are devoid of the spine, though retaining some marks, however slight, 

 which authorise us to rank them in this class. 



The Star Fish, and Sea Urchin, or Echinus, come under this class. 



The Sea Anemone is found in all oceans and seas, except the very coldest. The mouth is in the centre 

 of the upper surface, and is surrounded by tentacula, in rows. The under side forms a sucker, by which 

 it holds on to rocks. It belongs, like the Hydra, to the class Polypifera. 



The Alcyonium is found abundantly on many parts of the British shores, and the different varieties are 

 called by fishermen, dead man's hand, sea-fingers, sea paps, &c, from their flabby texture, and the peculiar 

 forms they present. They have Polypuses attached to them, which can be drawn within the protuberances 

 of the Alcyonium. 



The Pennatula, or Sea Pen, belongs to the same class, and in some respects resembles the red coral. It has 

 a stony axis, but this is flexible at the extremities, and it is not attached by a solid basis, but moves about 

 at the mercy of the waves 



The Vellela, Rataria, Porpita, and Polybrachiona, are placed by Linnreus among the Medusae. 



The Vellela Lata has a membranous, oval body, much depressed, convex and swollen, supported above 

 by a transparent, oval, subcartilnginous piece, marked with concentric striae, and crowned by a vertical 

 and oblique crest, concave beneath, with a mesial nucleus, having a central mouth at the end of a probo- 

 scis-like prolongation, encircled by feelers of two kinds, the outer being much longer than the inner ones. 



This animal is widely diffused, being found in the seas of Europe and America, Asia, and Australia. 

 They are often found far at sea. huddled together, young and old, in considerable masses. 



m mm''*, ■•• 



Rataria. 





Sea Pen. 



(381) 



%M 



f ^ 



Forpita Gigantea. 



