56 
LIFE, IN ITS LOWER FORMS. 
operator forced the body of the one into the mouth of the 
other, pushing it down so that the heads were brought 
together. After forcibly keeping it for some time in this 
state, the two individuals at length united, and a polype 
was formed, distinguishable only by having twice the 
usual number of tentacles. 
There is one species which can actually be turned inside 
out like a glove, and yet perform all the functions of life 
as before, though that which was the coat of the stomach 
is now the skin of the body, and vice versd. If it should 
chance that a polype so turned had young in the act of 
budding, these are, of course, now within the stomach. 
If they have arrived at a certain degree of maturity, they 
extend themselves towards the mouth of the parent, that 
they may thus escape when separated. But those which 
are less advanced turn themselves spontaneously inside 
out, and thus place themselves again on the exterior of the 
parent. 
A multitude of other variations, combinations, and 
monstrosities, have been, as it were, created by the 
ingenuity of philosophers ; but these are sufficient to give 
a notion of the extraordinary nature of these animals, 
and to account for the wonder with which they were re- 
garded. 
The Hydra was, until lately, considered as an animal 
of very simple structure, being composed of mere gra- 
nules of jelly, sot in a glairy, enveloping fluid. But the 
further we push our researches, the more are we disposed 
to hesitate in pronouncing on the comparative simplicity 
or complexity of any organism. We have already seen 
the elaborate array of weapons in the tentacles. M. 
