29 



krybende Grene, hvilke af og til danne Anastomoser (se 

 Fig. 38, a, a), Stilkene, som hæve sig opad i større eller 

 mindre Afstand fra hverandre og saaledes danne en eneste 

 Rad langs ad Stolonen og dennes Grene, hvorfra de voxe 

 frem ved Prolification, have ogsaa ganske den samme Be- 

 skaffenhed, Form og Tykkelse (se Fig. 39). Man finder 

 dem saaledes af forskj eilig Længde (ibid. b, b'— b"") fra 

 en neppe synlig rund Knop og indtil 8 — 10 M.m. lange, 

 medens deres største Tykkelse ikke overstiger £ — £ M.m. 

 De ere altid enkelte, aldrig grenede, sjeldent eller aldrig 

 lige, men altid mere eller mindre bugtede, jævntykke 

 overalt, deres Overflade næsten glat eller kun med svage 

 Rynker hist og her (Fig. 40, b), aldrig med Ringe som 

 hos Eudendrium ramosum, og, ligesom den krybende Sto- 

 lon, af en meget svag lys gulagtig Farve og ganske gjen- 

 nemsigtige. Stolonen saavelsom Stilkene indslutte Poly- 

 p erne s tynde cylindriske Del, ved hvilken alle Polyp erne 

 i en Coloni ere forbundne med hverandre, og som inde- 

 holder en Hule, hvori en Vædske circulerer, der tjener 

 til den hele Polypstoks Ernæring. Denne cylindriske Del 

 (Fig. 40, e) (det af Loven saakaldte Tarmrør) udvider sig 

 ved den øverste Ende af Stilkene (ibid. i) og kommer 

 frem udenfor disse Rør som det saakaldte Polyphoved 

 (capitulum) eller Polypernes nøgne øverste Del. Denne 

 (Fig. 39, 40, c) er bleg minierød, kølleformig, dobbelt 

 eller undertiden tredobbelt saa tyk som Stilken; den er 

 nemlig meget contractu og derfor snart (i udvidet Til- 

 stand) langstrakt eller tenformig (Fig. 39, c), snart (ved 

 Contraction) omvendt pæreformig (&') eller endog næsten 

 kugleformig (&")• Rundt om Midten af denne kølleformige 

 Del staar en enkelt Kreds af traadformige, imod den ydre 

 Ende efterhaanden noget tyndere Tentalker (Fig. 39, 40, 

 d, d). Disse, som i deres Indre vise store langstrakte 

 Celler i Tværretning, have omtrent ^ — |. af Stilkens Længde, 

 og ere vel bløde, men temmelig rigide og lidet følsomme 

 for ringere Irritationer; naar disse imidlertid blive stær- 

 kere, forkorte de sig langsomt og betydeligt, idet de til- 

 lige alle bøie sig indad imod Munden, som er en cirkel- 

 rund Aabning paa Toppen af Køllen, hvorved denne sid- 

 ste næsten faar Formen af en Kugle (Fig. 39, f) besat 

 oventil med en Hob smaa Knopper, som ere de contra- 

 herede Tentakler. Man ser saaledes, at Tentaklerne vel 

 ere contractile, men ikke retractile d. e. kunne ikke dra- 

 ges ind i Køllen, ligesom denne heller ikke kan trækkes 

 ind i Stilkens Rør. Tentaklernes Antal var hos de fleste 

 Polyper 8 eller 10, kun hos et eneste Individ fandtes 12; 

 yngere Polyper have færre, 7 eller 6. Da Tentaklerne 

 ere stillede i en Kreds i Tværretning rundt om Midten 

 af Køllen, rager dennes øverste Del, paa hvis Top (Fig. 

 40, h) Mundaabningen findes, frem over Tentakelkrand- 

 sen som en conisk Proboscis, som imidlertid, da den er 

 meget contractu, snart er langstrakt og smal, snart kort 

 og tyk; det er saaledes alene denne Del, ikke den under 

 Tentakelkredsen, som bevirker de ovenfor omtalte for- 

 skj eilige Former af Køllen. Den i Stilken indeholdte cy- 

 lindriske Dels (Tarmrørets) Hule (Fig. 40, e) ser man 

 gaa over i Køllen (ibid. i) og udvide sig stærkt efter 



form Anastomoses (see fig. 38, a, a). The stems, which 

 issue upwards at a greater or less distance from each 

 other, and thus form a single row along the stolon and 

 its branches, whence they proceed by prolification, have 

 also quite the same nature, form and thickness, (see fig. 

 39). We find them thus of various lengths (ibid b, V — b"') 

 from a scarcely visible round bud, up to 8 — 10 M.m. long; 

 while their greatest thickness does not exceed £ — £ M.m. 

 They are always single, never branched, seldom or never 

 straight, but always more or less bent, of equal thickness 

 in every part; their surface is nearly smooth, or only 

 with slight furrows here and there (fig. 40, b), never with 

 rings, as in Eudendrium ramosum, and, like the creeping 

 stolon, of a very pale light yellow color and quite trans- 

 parent. The stolon and the stems contain the thin cylin- 

 drical part by which all the polyps in a colony are con- 

 nected with each other, and in the cavity of which there 

 circulates a liquid that serves to aliment the whole poly- 

 pary. This cylindrical part (fig. 40, e) (the intestinal 

 canal as Loven calls it) is enlarged at the upper end of 

 the stem (ibid i), and projects outside of these tubes as 

 the so-called Polyp-head (capitulum) or the naked supe- 

 rior part of the polyps. This head (fig. 39, 40, c) is of 

 a pale minium-red color, club-shaped, twice, or sometimes 

 three times as thick as the stem; it is very contractile, 

 and therefore sometimes (when extended) elongated or 

 fusiform (fig. 39, c) sometimes (when contracted) inversely 

 pear-shaped (b*) or even nearly globular (&"). Round about 

 the middle of this claviform part, there is a single circular 

 row of filiform tentacles slightly tapering towards the 

 outer extremity (fig. 39, 40, d, d). These tentacles, which 

 exhibit, in their interior, large elongated cells placed trans- 

 versely, are about j-— J- of the length of the stem; and 

 although soft are rather rigid, and not very sensitive to 

 slight irritation; but when strongly irritated they contract 

 themselves slowly and considerably, curving themselves at 

 the same time in towards the mouth, which is a circular 

 opening at the top of the club, whereby the latter as- 

 sumes almost the shape of a ball, (fig. 39, f) having on the 

 top a number of small knobs, which are the contracted 

 tentacles. It thus appears that the tentacles, though con- 

 tractile, are not retractile; i. e. they cannot be withdrawn 

 into the club, nor can the latter be drawn into the tube 

 of the stem. The number of the tentacles was in most 

 of the polyps 8 or 10; only in one individual there were 

 12; younger polyps had fewer, 7 or 6. As the tentacles 

 are placed in a ring transversely round about the middle 

 of the club, the higher part of the latter, at the top of 

 which (fig. 40, h) is the oral aperture, projects above 

 the circular row of tentacles like a conical proboscis, 

 which however, being very contractile, is sometimes elon- 

 gated and thin, sometimes short and thick. It is there- 

 fore this part only, not the part below the tentacles, 

 which causes the shape of the club to vary as above no- 

 ticed. The cavity of the cylindrical part contained in the 

 stem (the intestinal canal) (fig. 40, e), is seen continued 

 in the club (ibid, i) and enlarged, conformably with the 



