ALCYONIDDDI (from Aleyoniess, on account of its external resemblance), a genus of animals belonging to the I ufundibulate section of the l'olyzoa, or Ascidian Zoophytes. It presents a fleshy variously lobed mass, containing in it 5-sided cells, which contain ascidian polypes surrounded with a double sheath. The most common species of this genus is the A. getatinosum, It is one of the most common productions of the sea-shore, and few persons can have been at tho sea-side without having noticed it. The older botanists described it as a plant. Gerard in his ' Herbal' says :—" This is a very succulent and fungous plant of the thicknesse of one's thumbs ; it is of a dark yellowish colour, and buncheth forth on everio nide with many unequal tuberosities or knots." He called it the ' Sea Ragged Stafre.' Hay called it a Feces ; but Lamoureux, who first classed it amongst plants, has the honour of having discovered that it was studded all over with polypes. We are indebted to Dr. Arthur Ferre for a very
elaborate account (` Phil. Trans.,' 1839) of this creature. The polype mass grows naturally in deep water attached to old shells and atones. It is however washed upon most of our coasts after every storm. Tho MASS is clustered or fingered, and rises to the height of from 6 to 12 or 13 inches. It resembles a compact sponge, but is more pellucid and gelatinous. The surface is smooth, but is speckled with dots which indicate the spots where the polypes are contained. The polypes are so closely connected with their cells that it is impossible to separate them without mutilation. The tentacles are 16 in number.
Two other species have been described as frequent on the British coasts, A. hirautum and A. paraeitium.
(JolunitAm, British Zoophytes.)