Fig. 2. EUDENDRIUM RAMOSUM. a, b, c, d. Development of "Pyrulum." e. Planulæ. f. Germ-cap

sules. g. Young Polyp

Fig. 3. HYDRACTINIA SQUAMATA

Fig. 4. SERTULARIA ARGENTEA

Fig. 5. CAMPANULARIA DICHOTOMA.

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a. Reproductive

vesicles. b. Reproductive vesicle giving birth to a young Medusa; represented at c and d as it appears after its liberation .. 130 Fig. 6. SERTULARIA POLYZONIAS. a. Cells with expanded Hydra. b. Reproductive vesicle, the contents of which are seen escaping at d. c. Planulæ. e, f, g. Development of young Polyp

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TUBULARIA INDIVISA.

CHAPTER X.

"Thy very weeds are beautiful."

TUBULARIA INDIVISA.

THE SIMPLE TUBULARIA, OR OATEN-PIPE CORALLINE.

THE Tubularia indivisa (Pl. II. fig. 1), one of the most elegant of our native zoophytes, might easily be mistaken by a superficial observer for a flourishing vegetable, which, although destitute of leaves and branches, exhibits, in the rich tints of its "animal flowers," a spectacle hardly to be surpassed by the gayest productions of the realms of Flora.

This beautiful polyp, although very generally to be obtained on most parts of the coast, is an inhabitant of deep water, dwelling at a depth of thirty or forty feet below the surface of the sea, and is therefore, under ordinary circumstances, only procurable by means of a dredge net; but when thus obtained, will amply repay the Aquariist for his exertions, and afford him an abundant supply of subjects for observation.

A bunch of Tubularia fresh from its native bed is indeed not unfrequently a perfect garden in itself, every stem being densely populated with other forms of zoophytes, growing in rich profusion from its surface, and affording a spectacle well calculated to im