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XXXVIT. — Observations on the Sertularia Cus- 
cuta of Ellis ; imth a Figure, 
By the Rev. John Fleming, D. D. F. R. S. E. 
M. W. S. &c. Minister of Flisk. 
(Read 8th March 1823.) 
TDhERE are many objects in the animal kingdom which 
baffle the exertions of naturalists to determine their charac- 
ters. They are seldom met with even by those who are 
indefatigable in their researches, or, when secured, they 
are not in a condition calculated to furnish satisfactory re- 
sults. These remarks apply in all their bearings to the 
Sertidaria Cuscuta. Mr Ellis, the well-known author of 
the " Essay on Corallines,"" examined the Zoophytes of the 
British shores with the most persevering industry, visiting, 
at different seasons of the year, various parts of the coast, 
and receiving from correspondents the productions of those 
districts which his circumstances did not permit him to ex- 
plore. Yet, with all these favourable opportunities, the 
present Coralline seems to have occurred to him in such 
an imperfect state, that he was unable to detect evcii the 
