ROOM XL 
Nat. Hist. 
68 
plates, arranged like the squares of a pavement. The 
teeth and caudal spines of these fishes are often found 
in a fossil state; the former being called palates. 
The last family of fishes is that of the Lampreys 
(. Petromyzidce ). Theirs is the most imperfect skeleton 
of all the vertebrated animals. Their body is long, 
slender, and cylindrical, ending in a circular mouth, and 
destitute of any pectoral or ventral fins. The true 
Lamprey ( Petromyzon ) has seven branchial openings, 
whence their vulgar name Seven Eyes, and the skin under 
the tail forms a kind of fin. Their mouth is armed with 
teeth. 
The Gastrobranchus ( Gastrobranclws ) differs from 
the Lamprey, by the tongue only being armed with teeth, 
like the Lobworms. These animals emit such a quantity 
of mucus through the pores of the lateral lines, that it 
converts the water in which it is placed into a jelly. 
Cases No. 9 —23 contain the general collection of 
Fish preserved in spirits. They are at present under 
arrangement: when finished, they will be disposed in 
the same order as the Dry fish. 
The Table Cases in the centre of the room contain 
the continuation of the collection of Radiated animals. 
The Tables No. 1 — 8 contain the Animal Flowers 
( Zoantharia ), and the stellated corals which they 
form for the protection of their soft bodies. These 
animals have a regular flower-shaped, very contractile 
body, with a single opening to their digestive cavity. 
Their mouth is surrounded by numerous, variously 
shaped tentacula. The body is very soft, of an uniform 
cellular texture, and usually covered with a coloured 
coat. The digestive cavity is lined inside with longi¬ 
tudinal, membranaceous folds. The tentacula are cy¬ 
lindrical and tubular, placed in a single or multiple 
series round the mouth, or on the lobes of which the 
mouth is formed when it is parted. 
Most of these animals are attached to marine bodies 
by their expanded base, but some few of them, espe¬ 
cially of the naked kinds, have the faculty of moving 
about, 
