[ 6 39 ] 
quarters of an hour or an hour by thofe 1 am now 
going to fpeak of. 
The Polypi of this fort are lefler and whiter than 
thofe others, which are reprefented greatly magni- 
fied in the above-mentioned figures. The clufter 
. which they form refts upon a ft cm eafie to be re- 
marked : this ftem is fixed to fome other body at its 
lower extremity, and from its other arife branches, 
making obtufe angles with the ftem itfelf $ 
other branches again fet out from thefe in different 
places, and from thefe lafl other new ones, and fo 
on. At the extremity of each branch may be feen 
a ‘Polypus: and as all thefe branches are not of an 
equal length, fo neither is every Polypus , as in the 
other fpecies, at the top of the clufter, or at an 
equal diftance from the bafe of the ftem, but on 
the contrary, there are here Polypi to be difcovered 
at all heights in the clufter. The affemblage of all 
thefe branches forms, together with the Polypi at 
their extremitys, a very pretty clufter or groupe, 
much refembling a tuft or a garland of flowers. 
The ftem, which carries all the clufter, and 
every branch in it, is capable of a remarkable 
fort of motion. Each will contrad fuddenly when 
it is touched, when the glafs containing the clufter 
is moved, and even fometimes when no reafon is 
to be perceived for their fo contracting {Fig. 6. a). 
The ftem and the branches contrad and fhorten, by 
difpofing themfelves'into fpirals, all whofe rings nearly 
touch each other. Every branch is by itfelf capable of 
contraction, independently of the reft : thb it but 
rarely happens that any one branch does contrad itfelf 
quite alone, for commonly in the adion of con- 
O o o o trading 
