172 GLAUCUS ; OE, 



to their deoxygenating the water while alive, like 

 other animals, or to the fact that it is very rare to 

 get a specimen of zoophyte in which a large number 

 of the polypes have not been killed in the transit 

 home, or at least so far knocked about, that (in the 

 Anthozoa, which are far the most abundant) the 

 polype — or rather living mouth, for it is little more 

 — is thrown off to decay, pending the growth of a 

 fresh one in the same cell. 



But all the sea- weeds, in common with other 

 vegetables, perform this function continually, and 

 thus maintain the water in which they grow in a 

 state fit to support animal life. 



This fact, first advanced by Priestley and Ingen- 

 housz, and though doubted by the great Ellis, satis- 

 factorily ascertained by Professor Daubeny, Mr. 

 Ward, Dr. Johnston, and Mr. Warrington, gives an 

 answer to the question, which I hope has ere now 

 arisen in the minds of some of my readers, — 



How is it possible to see these wonders at home ? 

 Beautiful and instructive as they may be, can they 

 be meant for any but dwellers by the sea-side ? 



