198 MR. H. E. HURRELL ON THE POLYZOA IN NORFOLK WATERS. 
the Rotifera all on one and the same Xmas morning from under 
the ice in a ditch near Yarmouth; whilst in the early spring 
an abundance of material is always available, and a super- 
abundance later on when Nature is indeed a prodigal giver 
to all who seek her treasures. Any one who has once 
developed a penchant for pond-hunting, as it is popularly 
called, will seldom lose it, finding in it, as he must, an ever 
increasing delight in the fresh acquaintances he is almost 
sure to make on each and every excursion. It is a fine 
educational process to get a familiar acquaintance with the 
Infusoria and a close knowledge of those intensely interesting 
forms comprised in the Rotifera; and, further, a comprehensive 
familiarity with the humblest but most interesting Molluscoid 
type known as the Polyzoa, comprising as it does a veritable 
El Dorado of lovely forms and affording a never ending 
interest to the earnest student of their wonderful anatomical 
details. 
The Polyzoa, formerly known as Bryozoa, were at one 
time confounded with the Zoophytes, but it is now seen that 
apart from a slight resemblance in form in a few cases, there 
is a wide gap between them. The Zoophyte has not, so far 
as can be ascertained, any alimentary canal or stomach in 
the ordinary sense of the words, whilst the Polyzoa have 
a very clearly defined oesophagus and reproductive organs. 
It will be generally known that, as a class, the Polyzoa are 
mainly marine, and furnish, together with the Zoophytes, 
much of the so-called sea-weed familiar to holiday-makers 
at seaside resorts in the guise of ornaments on shell-boxes 
and other knick-knacks. 
The plant-like Flustra foliacea is popularly but erroneously 
classed amongst the sea-weeds. Any one interested in the 
mysteries of plant and animal life might easily be deceived, 
and even the budding naturalist might be forgiven for calling 
this well-established Zoophyte a sea-weed, and some of the 
great naturalists of former days did. It is, however, almost 
a century since their animal nature was demonstrated. 
Although the larger proportion of the Polyzoa are marine, 
the fresh-water types are not by any means the least interest- 
