75 



tager successivt i Tykkelse op til Enden, hvor den knap 

 er 8""" tyk, før den deler sig i to Grene. Den er saa- 

 godtsom nøgen paa 2 Sider og dertil lidt fladtrykt, saa 

 den kan betragtes som havende en Bug- og en Rygside. 

 Bugsiden er for Størstedelen nøgen, kun ved dens nederste 

 Parti, strax ovenfor Basaldelen og noget længere op paa 

 Stammen, udspringe enkelte smaa Polypgrupper, der dog 

 ved nøiere Betragtning staa noget til Siden, Fig. 58. 

 Rygsiden er ganske nøgen, naar undtages dens nederste 

 Del, hvor der er en liden, tynd Giren, som bærer nogle 

 Polyper, Fig. 59, a. Paa begge Sider af Stammen 

 derimod udspringe Grenene lige fra Basaldelen til Toppen, 

 Fig. 59. Grenene staa temmelig langt fra hverandre, ere 

 af forskjellig Længde, — de længste findes omtrent paa 

 Midten af Stammen, — men alle ere furede paalangs, og 

 paa den Side, der svarer til Stammens Rygside, ere de 

 nøgne, Fig. 60. Paa de tyndere, yngre Grene ere begge 

 Flader ligesom paa Stammen nøgne, saa at Polyperne 

 udspringe fra Grenens Sider. Ligefra Grenenes Udspring 

 og til deres Ende ere de forsynede med Polyper, der dels 

 udgaa enkeltvis og direkte, dels danne Grupper, som samle 

 sig i en Stilk, der gaar over i Grenen, Fig. 58. 59. Paa 

 Enden af de større Grene findes i Almindelighed en Samling 

 af 6 — 8 Polyper, Fig. 60. Baade Stammen og Grenene ere 

 temmelig bløde og bøielige. 



Polyperne ere retraktile, langstrakte, cylindriske, 

 8 — 9""" lange med en temmelig lang Bagkrop og en noget 

 mere udvidet Forkrop, Fig. 61. Polypkroppen er omtrent 

 5""" lang og rig paa Spikier. Paa Bagkroppen ligge de 

 paatvers i 8 Længderækker, Fig. 61, a, og der, hvor den 

 gaar over i Forkroppen, omgive de denne som Guirlander; 

 men paa selve Forkroppen antage Spiklerne en mere lod- 

 ret Stilling og danne 8 Længderækker, imellem hvilke ligge 

 mere paatversgaaende Spilder, Fig. 61. Tentaklerne ere 

 omtrent halvt saa lange som Kroppen, og paa deres hele 

 aborale Side sees Spilder; Pinnulerne ere temmelig lange 

 og forsynede med Spilder, Fig. 61. 



Den anatomisk-histologiske Bygning. 



Stammen og Grenene ere udvendigt beklædte med 

 et tykt Epithel, bestaaende af mange Lag væsentligst poly- 

 ædriske Celler, der ere fra 0.006 — 0.008'"™ store, have en 

 temmelig skarpt begrændset Membran, som er ganske klar 

 og trøder kun frem ved Farvning, samt en rund Kjerne, 

 0.004"™ i Diameter med et, stundom to Kjernelegemer, 



measures 30 — 35'"'" in circumference at the base, but dimi- 

 nishes, gradually, in thickness up towards the summit, at 

 which point it is barely 8'"'" thick, when it ramifies into 

 two branches. It is almost entirely bare on two sides, and 

 is, besides, a little flattened, so that it may be considered 

 as having, a ventral and also a dorsal side. The ventral 

 side . is, for the greater part, bare ; on its lower part, alone, 

 immediately above the basal part and somewhat further 

 up the stem, a few small groups of polyps shoot out, but, 

 upon closer examination, these are seen to be placed some- 

 what to the side (fig. 58). The dorsal side is quite bare 

 with exception of its lowest portion, where, there is a 

 small thin branch carrying a few polyps (fig. 59). On both 

 sides of the stem, on the other hand, the branches spring 

 throughout the Whole length from the base to the summit 

 (fig. 59). The branches are situated pretty far apart from 

 each other and are of variable length. The longest bran- 

 ches are found about the middle of the stem, but all of 

 them are longitudinally grooved, and upon the side that 

 corresponds to the dorsal side of the stem they are bare 

 (fig. 60). On the thin younger branches, both surfaces 

 are bare, as in the case of the stem, so that the polyps 

 shoot out from the sides of the branches. From the 

 very root of the .branches, and up to their extremities, 

 they are furnished with polyps wh'ich, partly, shoot out 

 individually and direct, partly, form groups which collect 

 together into a stalk that is produced into the branch 

 (figs. 58. 59). At the extremity of the larger branches 

 there is, usually, a collection of 6 — 8 polyps (fig. 60). 

 Both, the stem and the branches, are rather soft and 

 flexible. 



The polyps are retractile, elongate, and cylindrical; 

 they measure 8 — 9'"'" in length, have a rather long poster- 

 ior body, and a somewhat more dilated anterior body 

 (fig. 61). The body of the polyp measures about b mm in 

 length, and is abundantly furnished with spicules. On 

 the posterior body, the polyps are placed transversely in 

 8 longitudinal series, (fig. 61 a), and. at the point where it 

 becomes produced into the anterior body, they surround 

 it like garlands, but on the anterior body, itself, the spi- 

 cules acquire a more vertical position and form 8 longi- 

 tudinal series, between which, spicules, placed more trans : 

 versally, appear (fig. 61). The tentacles are about half 

 the length of the body, and spicules are visible along the 

 entire aboral side. The pinnules are rather long and are 

 furnished Avith spicules (fig. 61). 



Anatomo-histological structure. 



The stem and the branches are, exteriorly, clad with 

 a thick epithelium consisting of many layers principally 

 of polyhedrical cells, measuring from 0.006—0.008'"'" in 

 diameter; these have a pretty sharply defined membrane, 

 which is quite pellucid and only appears visible on 

 staining; and further, a spherical nucleus measuring 



10* 



