LECTURE XII. 
1£^5 
mens, its nature is still obscure; arid even Rs very 
existence has been occasionally doubted ; partitM^^ 
larly by Blumenbach and Muller. s^ There seems 
however to be no good reason for questioning the 
existence of some such animal, though the ac- 
counts of its extraordinary qualities muy have, been 
exaggerated. The best account of it is in a quarto 
pamphlet, published^ by a Dr. Iiagen,'-as an a^ 
demical thesis : invdiich nll tile’s observations relU^ 
tive to it are summed up in a coricise naunnepj 'and 
its real existence, seemingly, vVell ascertained.^' It 
is said to be generally about three quarters of an 
inch long, and in habit or shape to resemble a 
Scolopendra, as I before observed. n k. 
I shall now pass to a branch of Zoology distin- 
guished by peculiarities of organization and ap- 
pearance unequalled by any other parts of the 
animal kingdom. 
These wonderful productions are now, by the 
tommon consent of Naturalists, distinguished, in 
systematic arrangement, by the title of Zoophytes 
of Plant- Animals. Of these the genus Hydra Or 
Polype deserves our first attention ; not only from 
its wonderful nature and properties, but because it 
serves as a kind of standard or example of refer- 
I 
