246 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
the Algerian coast. Other genera make their appearance on the 
coast of Scotland, of Norway, in the Red Sea; and in the Indian 
Ocean they appear in great numbers... : 
In the Aiyonide, properly so called,:the polypidom is very thick, 
of a’semi-cartilaginous consistence, granular, and rough to the touch. 
The’ genus Adyonium is numerous in species which are widely 
dispersed. A. adigitatum is very common on our shores; and on 
many parts of the coast scarcely a stone or shell is dredged up from 
deep water which does not serve as a support to some'one or, more 
species of Adcyonium. It is known by various popular names by our 
sea-side population, such as cows’ paps, from its resemblance to the 
teats of the’cow ; dead man’s singers, from the occasional ‘resemblance 
of its finger-like lobes to a man’s fingers. 
The outer skin of the polypidom is tough and coriaceous, studded 
all over with star-like figures, which on examination are found to be 
divided into eight rays, indicating the number of the polyps enclosed 
‘in its semi-transparent: membrane. Each polyp is dotted over with 
minute calcareous bodies, and marked with eight longitudinal lines 
or septa, stretching between the membrane and the central stomach, 
which divide the intermediate space into an equal number of com- 
partments. These lines not only extend to.the base of the tentacula, 
but run across the oral disc, and terminate in a central mouth. The 
tentacula are short, obtuse, ciliated on the margins, and strengthened 
at their roots by numerous calcareous spicula. The polyp cells are 
oval, placed just under the investing membrane, and are the termi- 
nating points of certain long canals which traverse the whole polypi- 
dom. The polyps, which are distributed over the whole surface, can 
withdraw into the cavities; they are, besides, of extreme sensibility, 
the least shock impresses itself on the tentacula, the impulse of a 
wave even producing contraction, in response the animal imme- 
diately retires to hide itself in the cell. 
We find, as we have said, on the coast, in the Channel, and in 
the North Sea, Alcyonium digitatum, the mass of which is of a reddish 
white, ferruginous, or orange colour. A. s¢edlatum, found on the 
shores of the Mediterranean, is expanded in its upper part, narrow 
towards its base, very rough on the surface, and rose-coloured ; 
A. palmatum is cylindrical, branching at the summit, of a deep red, 
except at the base, where it is yellow—this is met with in the 
Mediterranean. 
We may note as a type altogether different from any yet touched 
upon the genus JVephthya, in which the polypidom is a coriaceous 
tissue bristling with spicula over its whole surface. In MW. Chabrolit, 
