ZOOPHYTES. 133 



however much above animals we may consider ourselves 

 in the scale of nature. I do not mean to say that a 

 Zoophyte at all resembles a human creature in appear- 

 ance • but both of them consist of flesh, blood and bone, 

 and have will and power to accomplish the promptings 

 of that will. " Still," says the reader, " what is a Zoo- 

 v/iytc ? Well, then, let us try again. Mr. Tugwell, in 

 his "Manual of the Sea Anemones" (a little book that 

 I very highly recommend), observes: "The meaning of 

 Zoophyte is a living plant; and the animals included -in 

 this class arc so called, because, in the iirst place, they were 

 for a long time considered to be vegetables ; and be- 

 cause, sccoudly, a vast number of individuals arc found 

 united, like flowers on a plant, by a common stem. If 

 you go down to the beach and pick up the first object 



which you suppose to be delicate sea-weed — you will 



probably see (with a magnifying glass) that is it an assem- 

 blage of horny cells or hollowed vessels, on a stem of 

 similar structure ; and if the animal be alive, each cell 

 is tenanted by a little creature of most beautiful form, 

 and most active habits. All polyps arc not thus clus- 

 tered, but many arc, and the distinctive characters of 

 the class are the facts of their being fixed, cither soli- 

 tarily or in masses, by a stem, and their possessing arms 

 (tentacles e. g.), with which they seize their food." 



A Zoophyte, then, is an aquatic animal attached to rocks 

 or other substances in the sea or in rivers. It is the ma- 

 rine species, however, that we shall take into consideration 



here. 



1 



