G. GALAXAURA. 
11.5 
proach some species of Tubularias, as much as they do 
the Corallinas ; like the first, their stem and branches 
are fistular and of a cylindrical form, frequently mark- 
ed with parallel and circular rings ; like the second, 
they are articulated, regularly ramified, and of a mem- 
brano-fibrous substance, incrusted with a calcareous 
matter which effervesces in acids. But again these 
Polypidoms have not that rigidity which seems pe- 
culiar to the Corallinas ; they approach nearer the 
Liagoras in their flaccidity, their substance, and the 
position of their polypi. These animalcula are 
placed at the extremities of the ramifications, 
which frequently appear closed by the drying of 
the body of the animal, which is formed of a non-cre- 
taceous substance, more homy and more gelatinous 
than the other parts of the Polypidom : sometimes 
the substance is the same throughout the whole sur- 
face ; at others, the ramifications are open at their 
extremities. With such variety of character, we 
cannot wonder at the difficulty of determining their 
order. 
The form, however, of the Galaxauras does not 
greatly vary ; they are most of them dichotomous and 
regular in their divisions. Some of them are strongly 
articulated, and in others the articulations are 
scarcely discernible ; these last have in general their 
rings more strongly marked than the first; it appears 
as if nature had provided them with these rings to 
supply the deficiency of articulations. 
The colours of the species that are preserved in 
collections show a diversity of hues, from the violet 
to green, yellow, or white, sometimes most pleasingly 
