174 
ZOOPHYTA ASTEROID A. 
polypi, though circumscribed, were so incessant, that by watch- 
ing attentively I could observe them with the naked eye, and 
they became more conspicuous as the ova advanced to the open 
base of the stomach. From their restlessness, as they approach- 
ed that last passage which separates them from the sea, they 
seemed to feel the impulse of a new element, which they were 
impatient to enjoy, and by following the direction of that im- 
pulse they appeared to find their way into the lower open extre- 
mity of the stomach, without any organic arrangement to lead 
them into that narrow canal. In their passage through the sto- 
mach, which was effected very slowly, the spontaneous motions 
of the ova were arrested, unless some imperceptible action of 
their ciliae, or some contractions of their surface, might tend to 
irritate the sides of that canal, and thus direct or hasten their 
escape. ,, 
The native species referable to the Order are not well ascer- 
tained. They are apparently few in number, but belong to 
three distinct families. 
Family I. PENNATULIDiE. 
Polype-mass free, pennated, car nous, the skin spicu lifer ous, the 
axis bony , simple , continuous : Polypes arranged along the margin 
of the pinnce. 
12. Pennatula. Polype-mass plumous. 
13. Virgul a ri a. Polype-mass linear-elongate. 
Family II. GORGONIADiE. 
Polype-mass fixed, arborescent , the axis covered with a thick ere - 
taceo-gelatinous celluliferous crust : Polypes scattered over the whole 
surface . 
14. Gorgonia. Polype-mass arborescent with a horny continu- 
ous flexible axis: “ cells for the polypi sessile.” 
Family III. ALCYONIDiE. 
Polype-mass fixed , coriaceous or somewhat carnous, without any 
distinct axis but strengthened by variously disposed calcareous or 
siliceous spicula : polype-cells subcutaneous, scattered over the sur- 
face. 
15. Alcyonium. Polypes scattered over the whole surface : the 
spicula calcareous. 
16. Cydonium. Polype-mass tuberous : the spicula siliceous. 
