ZOOPHYTES. 



351 



first saw it, leaving only the shallow depression to mark 

 its situation. 



The form of the column is in general that of the trunk 

 of a tree, or that of a long cone ; hut there is a sudden 

 constriction just ahove the base, and another below the 

 point, where what may be called the flower expands. It 

 is the petals of this latter which constitute the principal 

 charm of this creature. They are, properly speaking, the 

 tentacles of the polype, answering in function and position 

 to those on the Laomedea, but differing considerably from 

 them in form. Each of the eight is thick and broad at its 



POLYPES OF COW'S PAP. 



origin, and quickly tapers to a point : on each of two 

 opposite sides — viz., those which look towards the two 

 adjoining tentacles — runs a row of delicately slender fila- 

 ments, which at the middle part of the tentacle are mode- 

 rately long, but diminish regularly as they approach either 

 end. Starting from the side of the tentacle, in the plane 

 of its transverse diameter, these elegant pinnss presently 

 arch downwards, but with perfect uniformity and sym- 



