MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 



89 



conical polypes and generally attached to a dead s^hell or 

 a piece of stone. No. 6 shows the spicules, which are red, 

 and cause the colour of the colony. 



The " sea-pens/' so called from their resemblance to 

 a quill pen or stiff feather, are not abundant in our seas, 

 but sometimes occur. They live with the thicker, lower 

 end of the stem embedded in the mud, and the beautiful 

 feathery part that contains the polypes expands in the 

 water above. 



Fig. VI., Alcyonium and Sarcodictyon (1 and 4 natural size, 

 the rest magnified). 



Professor Hickson, of Manchester, has written our 

 L.M.B.C. Memoir on Alcyonium, and Professor Herdman 

 has contributed some papers on Sarcodictyon to our 

 Reports. 



