RADIATA. 37 
P. grisea, Esper (fig. 27), inhabit the Mediterranean ; Vergularia juncea, 
Esper (fig. 24), Europe. 
Fam. 2. Aleyonidw. Fleshy, with calcareous granules. Aleyoniwm 
jiciforme (pl. 75, fig. 46), size and shape of a fig, and of a yellowish- 
brown color; and A. palmatum (fig. 47), stem divided irregularly, some- 
what like a hand; pale-red. Mediterranean. 
Fam. 3. Cornularide. With corneous tubular coralla. 
Fam. 4. Tubiporide. With calcareous tubular coralla.  Z'ubipora 
musica (pl. 75, fig. 66) is of a fine red color, the body green. Indian seas. 
Fam. 5. Gorgonide. With basal epidermic secretions. Gorgonia 
flabellum (pl. 75, fig. 48). Reticulate, branches inwardly compressed ; 
three feet long. Warm seas of India and America. (G. verrucosa, Linn. 
(pl. 75, jig. 49). Atlantic, six to twelve inches. G. ceratophyta (fig. 50), 
Mediterranean. Jsis hippuris, Linn. (jig. 53); stem jointed and strong, 
branches dichotomous. East Indies. Coraliwm nobile, Linn. (pl. 75, 
Jig. 52), is branched, one foot high, varies from a fine deep-red to a rose 
color, or white with a reddish tinge. It admits of a fine polish, and is 
much used for light ornamental work. When fresh, the exterior is fleshy 
and polypiferous, which, in drying, forms a crust with scattered cellules. 
The forms of the corals which most of the zoophyta secrete, are extremely 
varied ; representing various plants and mosses, variously shaped vessels, 
domes, obelisks, radiated disks, leaves, &c.; and the size of the coral mass 
varies from a few lines to twelve or even twenty feet. The large masses 
have commenced in a single animal, from the successive budding of which, 
the whole has resulted. 
** Calculating the number of polyps that are united in a single Astrea 
dome of twelve feet diameter, each covering a square half inch, we find it 
exceeding 100,000; and in a Porites of the same dimensions, in which the 
animals are under a line in breadth, the number exceeds five and a half 
millions. There are here, consequently, five and a half millions of mouths 
and stomachs to a single zoophyte, contributing together to the growth of 
the mass, by eating, and growing, and budding, and connected with one 
another by their lateral tissues and an imperfect cellular or lacunal com- 
munication.”— Dana, p. 60. 
In those cases where single polyps occupy the extremity of dead branching 
stems, there is no union of the soft parts of different individuals. 
Class 3. Echinodermata. 
The Echinodermata, which are all marine, and include what are popularly 
termed star-fish, sea eggs, &c., are the most highly organized class in the 
radiated division of the animal kingdom. The bodies of some are raised upor 
a pedicle, the base of which is fixed to a single place; others are without a 
pedicle, and move freely and slowly along the bottom. Some of the latter 
are provided with a multitude of sucker-like feet, which, in Asterias 
aurantiaca, amount to 840, according to Tiedemann. Some are provided 
with eye dots, which, in Asterias, &c., are situated at the extremity of the 
rays; and where the nervous system has been detected, it forms a circle 
ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOP&DIA.—VOL. II. 16 241. 
