« The Britijh Sea Pen is of a bright red colour, and pofleffes the fame quality ° 
fhining in the dark. Thefe are found near many of the coafts of this kingdom, a ' 
hering to the baits on the fifhermen’s lines, elpecially when they make ufe of ft 111 c 
to bait their hooks. Numbers have been taken on the coaft of Scotland, m° re 
particularly near to Aberdeen and Banff.” 
A 
The kind reprefented by the drawing of the Plate is a very fmall fpecies, feld orTl 
exceeding two inches in length, or more commonly of the fize of fig. a. They inh a 
bit the deep; never are found near the coaft. The drawing was made while die ani- 
mal was in full health, floating about in its native element ; and, while it waves alon^ 
imbibing the virtues of the tide, the fpreading tentacula aflumes variety of beauti 
expreflion, but faintly fliewn by the reprefentation A. The extremities of the ram 1 ' 
fications which form its tentacula are exquifitely fine, and unfold like fo many 
flowers, to gather and inhale its nouriftiment. The more ufual appearance thefe P 
on, which was always varying with their movements, is exhibited by the magnify 
fpecimens at b. B. 
'Whether this be of another fpecies, or only 'differing from refembling ones, fr olTl 
the healthful and lively ftate of the animal when the drawing was made, it is not p el ^ 
haps eafy to difcriminate with precifion : but every fuch inftance may convey to 
fome new idea of that vaft variety of productions, which flourifh with life and beau 
in the depths of the ocean, and cannot fail to excite fome furprife at the fcheme 
repleni filing that unfeen realm with fuch profufion of ornamental exiftences. 
The great defign of fo extenfive a fcene of wonder, which there are no ration 11 
fpeccators to Purvey, muft remain to us in a great meafure infcrutable ; but the 
rious elegance, ufe, and beauty, of every feveral form of life, as it occurs to V1 
when brought by human ingenuity from their profound abodes ; as thefe ftill aif ^ 
us new ideas of the infinite diverfity of animated being, it enlarges the fphere of ^ 
admiration, and opens a boundlefs profpeCt of the entertainments that may be ft 1 
(tore, from a more ftudious inveftigation of the fubmarine regions. 
5 
