176 
Z. ASTEROIDA. 
Pennatula. 
Penna marina, Sib. Scot. ii. lib- tert. 28 P. rubra, Bohad. Anim. 
Mar. 101, pi. 8. fig. 1-6- Pennatula phosphorea. Lin. Syst. 1332. 
Ellis in Phil. Trans, liii. 420, pi. 19. fig. 1-5. Mull. Zool. Ddh. 
prod. 255, no. 3075. Turt . Gmel. iv. 688. Wern. Mem. i. 565. 
Turt. Brit. Faun. 217. Stew. Elem. ii. 450. Blumenh. Man. 274. Lam. 
Anim. s. Vert. ii. 426. 2de edit. ii. 643. Cuv. Reg. Anim. iii. 318. 
Bose, Vers, iii. 62, pi. 28, fig. 3, 4. (pessima) Elem. Brit. Anim. 507. 
Stark, Elem. ii. 420. Johnston in Trans. Newc. Soc. ii. 248, pi. 7- 
Roget, Bridgew. Treat, i. 174, fig. 71, 72. (bad.) P. rubra, Pall. 
Elench. 368 P. Britannica, Ellis and Soland. Zooph. 61. La 
Pennatule luisante, Blainv. Actinolog. 517. 
Hab. Deep water. “ It is found in great plenty sticking to the 
baits on the fishermen’s lines, round the coasts of this kingdom; es- 
pecially when they make use of muscles to bait their hooks. Great 
numbers have been taken on the coast of Scotland, especially near 
Aberdeen,” Ellis. Frith of Forth, Jameson . Coast of Berwick- 
shire, abundant, G. J 
Our fishermen call this zoophyte the Cock’s-comb, a name which 
is not unapt, but less expressive of its general form than that of Sea- 
pen conferred by naturalists. It is from two to four inches in length, 
and of a uniform purplish-red colour, except at the tip or base of the 
stalk, where it is pale orange-yellow. The skin is thickish, very 
tough, and of curious structure, being composed of minute crystalline 
cylinders, densely arranged in straight lines, and held together by a 
firm gelatinous matter or membrane. These cylinders are about six 
times their diameter in length, straight and even, or sometimes 
slightly curved and bulged, closely compacted yet distinct, and of a 
red colour, for the colour of the zoophyte is derived from them, and 
they are accordingly less numerous where the purple is faint or de- 
fective. They are apparently inorganic and calcareous, being dis- 
solved, with effervescence, in the mineral acids.* Their form and ar- 
rangement is the same in every part of the skin ; and the papillae on 
the back of the rachis, as well as the polype-cells, are constructed of 
them, but none can be detected in the subcutaneous uncoloured ge- 
latinous flesh. 
The stalk is hollow in the centre, and contains a long slender 
bone, which is white, smooth, square, and tapered at each extremity 
* Br Coldstream, of Leith, on whose observations I place a greater reliance 
than on my own, writes me thus — “ The spicula of the Pennatula appear to me 
to be solid. I have examined them with high powers, after having exposed them 
to a high temperature, and have not been able to see any evidence of a cavity 
within ; — whether viewed with reflected or transmitted light they seemed to be 
opaque. When connected with the body of the animal, they certainly seem to 
be red, but a slight degree of heat is sufficient to bleach them.” 
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