10 THE OCEAN 
centre of the expanding disk is the real mouth, or 
opening into the stomach. It is these tentacula, 
which, spreading around exactly like the rays of 
an aster or marigold, give to the Polype so striking 
a likeness of a flower. These animals are exceed- 
ingly voracious; though when closed, you would 
think them a mere lump of jelly-like flesh, utterly 
helpless and incapable -of any exertion; yet when 
the tentacula are all expanded, no small crab, or 
shrimp, or mussel, can even touch one of them with 
impunity. From some cause, not thoroughly under- 
stood, each tentacle has the power of adhering with 
wonderful tenacity to any object on the slightest con- 
tact. I have often been surprised at the force re- 
quired to draw away my finger when I have gently 
touched one. No sooner, then, has some little 
shelled Mollusk been thus caught, than instantly 
other tentacles lay hold of it also, and it is inevitably 
dragged by their contraction into the mouth. It 
remains in the stomach a few hours, when the shell, 
entirely cleared of all the meat, is vomited through 
the mouth, there being but one orifice to the body. 
The Polype is capable of great dilatation, which en- 
ables it to swallow an animal even much larger than 
the ordinary dimensions of its own body. A very 
curious instance of this I shall presently mention; 
but first I must allude to that which forms the most 
wonderful feature in its history, the power of repro- 
ducing any parts that have been cut off. To so 
great an extent does this power prevail, that even 
if cut into many parts, each separate part will put © 
forth the parts wanting, and soon become a complete 
