A popular history of British zoophytes, or corallines

Front matter

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Preface

Were I to say, “this is a very interesting little book,” many would conclude that I was nearly allied to a well-known bird, whose mouth is so often filled with the praise of its own beauty. And yet I might say so without the slightest vanity; for I shine by borrowed light, and for nearly all that is interesting in the book I am indebted to my talented scientific friends and precursors. I have been like the bee—not making, but gathering honey. Like the bee, I have formed the cells, and had I been able to equal her in skill, I might well have been pleased with my workmanship. But though inferior in skill, I have not, during the progress of the work, been inferior to her in vl PREFACE.

industry. Having the prospect of leaving home for a few months, I wished to have it in the hands of the printer before the end of March, and therefore during the winter, while I was all day, and every day, occupied with my professional duties, in the dark morning hours, and in the darker hours of night, when even in summer the bee would have been sound asleep, I was “aye write—writing ;” so that by dint of perseverance in working double tides, ere March was over my labours had come to a close.

Though carried on both late and early, the labours were far from being unpleasant. Admiring the beautiful creatures and their exquisite workmanship, a person is almost unavoidably led to think of Him who works in them, by them, for them,—and to say, If he cares for these almost invisible entities, which cannot, except by the happiness they exhibit, acknowledge His kindness, how much more will He care for us, if we seek to know Him, and put our trust in Him as our reconciled God !

I was cheered on also by the aid so readily given to me by many kind-hearted friends, to whom I am under great

PREFACE. Vil obligations. ‘To my much-esteemed friend, Dr. John Fleming, Professor of Natural Science in the New College of Edinburgh, I owe much, not only for what instruction I have derived from his well-known publications, but for information which I have received from his kind correspondence, without which I probably should never have entered on this department of study. To Dr. George Johnston, another much-valued friend, I need not say that I am specially indebted, for almost every page of my book proclaims my obligations; and I hope it may prove a stepping-stone to his admirable volumes. To George Busk, Esq., of Greenwich, | return my grateful thanks, for not only giving me information and drawings, but for kindly superintending the arrangement of the illustrations, and thus contributing much to the usefulness of the work. ‘To the Rev. Thomas Hincks, of Exeter, I am truly thankful for favouring me with a list of Devonshire Zoophytes, with specimens of the rarest of them, and for kindly permitting me to use his articles im the ‘Annals of Natural History’ respecting interesting Zoophytes which he has added to the British vill PREFACE.

Fauna. I return my kind thanks also to Richard Q. Couch, Hsq., for the benefit I have derived from his ‘ Cornish Fauna,’ and for other publications he kindly sent to me. For aid given me by the loan of books, by furnishing me with specimens, and in various other ways, I have been much indebted to Mr. Ralfs, of Penzance; to Mr. Tudor, of Bootle; to Mr. Bean, of Scarborough ; to Mr. Tumanowicz, of Hastings; to Mr. Wigham, of Norwich; to Dr. R. Th. Greville, of Edinburgh; to Dr. Scouler, of Dublin; to Mr. W. Gourlie, Mr. W. Keddie, and Mr. R. Gray, of Glasgow ; as also to Major Alexander Martin, of Ardrossan; and to all of them I now return my grateful thanks.

With still higher pleasure I acknowledge my obligations to many scientific ladies. Mrs. Griffiths, ever ready to instruct and oblige, favoured me with many specimens, when I had the pleasure of visiting her at Torquay. Many specimens I received from Miss Cutler, of Budleigh Salterton ; Mrs. Gulson, of Exmouth; and Miss 8. Beever, of Coniston. Many thanks are due to Mrs. Spode, of Armitage Park, for a tasteful drawing of a beautiful Zetland Zoophyte, Retepora

PREFACE. 1X

Beaniana, kindly lent for that purpose by Mr. Barlee. I am exceedingly indebted to Mrs. Gatty, of Ecclesfield Vicarage, for rare specimens, for much information, and for all the beautiful drawings in Plate XVIII., except the exquisite figure of Lepralia Gattye by Dr. R. Th. Greville.

I am glad that some of our Scottish scientific ladies have kindly come to my aid. I return Lady Emma Campbell, of Argyle, my respectful thanks for some interesting Zoophytes sent to me from Lochfine, and from the island of Islay. To Lady Keith Murray, also, I am greatly indebted for several rare Zoophytes, and for a list of those collected by her on the east coast of Scotland, near Stonehaven. To Miss C. Allardyce, of Cromarty, I return my grateful acknowledgments for some of the rarer Zoophytes collected on that classic coast; and to Mrs. Blair, of Blair, I render my best thanks for the aid she has kindly given me. |

With such a phalanx of able auxiliaries, I certainly ought to have produced a book that was readable. I have done what I could. The enterprising Publishers and the talented Artist have nobly done their part, and if the book x PREFACE.

should prove popular, to them much of the meed of praise is due. J have written chiefly for the young; and while I have wished to smooth for them the entrance into this delightful field of Natural Science, I have sought to give a good moral tone to the book, that they may look “ through Nature up to Nature’s God,” remembering that the God of Nature is also the God of Grace. He has given us the “ book of books” to make us wise unto salvation; but He has given us also the book of Nature, making it accessible to all; and in many a delightful page of it does He plainly say, “Come, see the works of my hand, so full of wonders, and so well-fitted to show forth my praise.” ‘* Every leaf in every nook,

Every wave in every brook,

Every Polype from its cell

In sea-rock pool or crystal well,

Chanting with a solemn voice,

Minds us of our better choice.”

KEBLE.

Gibraltar, June 22, 1852.

LIST

Pirate I.

Fig.

1 Hydractinia echinata... 2 Coryne pusilla ......... 3 Tubularia indivisa......

Prater IT. 4 Tubularia larynx ......

OF PLATES.

Prats VI, Page Fig. Page 104 | 18 Thuiaria thuia. .......... 139 105 | 19 articulata > ......< 139 114 Prats VII. 20 Antennularia antennina 14] 117 21 FAIMNOBAK: 54,20 S- 0 ds 142 5 Eudendrium rameum.. 108 Prate VIII. 6 Sertularia tamarisca ... 129 | 22 Plumularia falcata... 144. 23 erigtata 2 eee 145 Prats IL. 24 pennatula ......... 147 7 Halecium halecinum ... 121 | 95 pinnata Laz es. or ae aco 121 : — a 122 Prats IX. ig oy 26 Plumularia setacea ... 150 Prats IV. 27 Catharina ......... 151 10 Sertularia polyzonias... 123 | 28 myriophylum ... 152 11 TUQOSA.......eeeee es 124, | 29 frutescens ......... 156 12 POSACOR. cp c0c nc: 125 Prater X.

Se PUM cise 125 | 30 Laomedea dichotoma... 158 PLATE V. 31 geniculata ......... 160 14 Sertularia abietina...... 130 ae gelatinos te re Sore De 15 argentea............ 135 | 33 Campanul. verticillata 167 16 operculata ......... 133 Pratt XI. 17 —— filicula ............ 132 | 34 Laomedea obliqua ....., 162

Xi

Fig.

Pratm XII.

ao dyora viridis. .......,.... 40 Virgularia mirabilis ...

41 Pennatula phosphorea.

42 Gorgonia verrucosa ...

Prats XITT.

43 Adamsia palliata eeeece

44 Actinia Dianthus ...... 45 Mesembryanth....

Pirate XIV.

46 Actinia crassicornis 47 Uuanthos Scoticus......

48 Lucernaria fascicularis 49 UTICA 6.22.08. .

Pratt XV.

50 Tubulipora flabellaris... 51 Crisidia cornuta......... 52 Crisia eburnea............

54 Hippothoa catenularia .

Pratt XVI.

56 Anguinaria spathulata.

188 137 194. 205

228 254 242 ito

260 261 262

274 284, 281 286 292 293

287 288 |

LIST OF PLATES.

Fig. Page 58 Gemellaria loriculata... 296 59 Gemicellaria Bursaria . 297 60 Alecto major) .2.4. ani 279 Pirate XVII. 61 Cellipora ramulosa...... 300 62 Cellularia ciliata......,.. 337 63 Flustra foliacea ......... 346 64. iruneata ...¥.-50nee 348 65 Membranipora pilosa... 328 Prate XVIII. 66 Lepralia ciliata ......... 323 67 pediostoma......... 316 68 —— annulata............ 313 69 granifera ..).250¥0 309 70 —— melolontha......... 319 71 —— Gattye ........... 326 Piatt XTX. 72 Cellularia avicularia ... 341 73 Retepora Beaniana...... 361 74 Salicorn. farciminoides 362 75 Beania mirabilis......... 369 76 Serialaria lendigera ... 367 Piatt XX. 77 Vesicularia spinosa 368 78 Valkeria Cuscuta ...... 370 79 Farrella producta ...... 374 80 Mimosella gracilis ...... 376

1 me el

POPULAR

HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES.

Chapter I. Introductory

«The treasures of Nature are inexhaustible. Here is employment enough for the vastest parts, the most indefatigable industries, the happiest opportunities, the most prolix and undisturbed vacancies; and for our encouragement in this study observe what the Psalmist saith: ‘The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.’ ””—Ray,

** How sweet to muse upon the skill display’d

(Infinite skill!) in all that He hath made, -

To trace in Nature’s most minute design

The signature and stamp of power divine.” — Cowper. AccorpinG to a well-known axiom of Linneus, “ stones grow, vegetables grow and live, animals grow, live, and feel.” In writing a former little volume on Seaweeds, much as I admired these ocean-flowers, I felt that they wanted one charm: for though in one sense, according to Linneeus, they

: B might be said to live, they were not sentient beings,—they did not feel. A true lover of nature, however, treats them with kindliness, as if they enjoyed life. We have known amiable enthusiasts, who, without holding it as a fixed principle, acted as if the plants they admired and loved really had sentient life. The late Mr. James Smith, of Monkwoodgrove in Ayrshire, was a person of this description. They tell that when he was constrained to cut down a tree that was overshadowing other plants in his garden, he blindfolded himself that he might not see the wounds which the axe inflicted. When he was showing the beauties of his greenhouse one day to two ladies, friends of mine, one of them said to him, “ Mr. Smith, what is that in the flowerpot? it is very like a nettle’ His answer was, “ Indeed, ma’am, it is just a nettle, but it grew up sae bonnily, puir thing, that I could not think to pu’ it.’ Though we may not go the length of sparing the nettle in our mercy, who would wantonly injure a flower? Were we to see a young lady tearing the petals of a lovely rose, she would immediately appear less loveable in our eyes, for it would prove that she was dead to the charms of one of the most beautiful works of God. She has torn and cast to the ground what the fairest fingers and the greatest human skill could never have formed; and whether we look at the green leaves, the mossy calyx, the beautifully arranged crimson petals of the corolla, or are refreshed by its fragrant perfume, sweet as Sabean odours, there must be a lack of taste if we do not admire it, and a want of something better than taste if we do not acknowledge it as a kind gift of God to man.

He drove us from Paradise when it was polluted by sin, but he has permitted some of the sweets of Eden to follow us; and by giving us the true Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley, he seeks to melt our hard hearts, and to win us back to a heavenly Paradise, where the flowers never wither, and where the sun of glory and blessedness never goes down. Beautiful as seaweeds are, we felt, as we have said, in studying and describing them, that they were less interesting because they were destitute of sentient life. We are glad that we have now mounted a step higher im the order of nature, and that we are now to treat of creatures that grow, and live, and feel. The name Zoophyte, however, would seem to imply that it is only one remove, or rather, only half-removed from inanimate nature, the Greek words from which the term is derived signifying a Miwing plant. But this name was given to it when its nature was imperfectly understood; and it still retains the name, though it is now allowed that there is nothing in its growth similar to the growth of plants. The polype, that is, the animal part, grows, and increases in size like other animals; the polypidom, however, the house or covering of the polypes, though it grows, has nothing vegetable im its growth, but is caused to increase in size somewhat in the way that a shell is enlarged to suit the increasing size of its inhabitant.

Were we writing the biographical account of any distinguished person, or the history of any remarkable family, we should be disposed to trace their pedigree as far back as we could, especially if there were anything illustrious in the origin; nor would we fail to mention the existing relatives of the individual, and the various branches of the family, though widely spread throughout foreign lands, provided they reflected honour on the person, or were creditable to the family we had undertaken to describe. The families of which we are about to treat, can, at all events, boast of their antiquity, for they are at least as ancient as the period of the flood. We know of no individuals, however, who have risen to extraordinary distinction, from low beginnings growing in excellence, and rising to high renown. There has been no such wonderful development. The Sertulariea that wave their plumes in the sea in the present day, are wer F not in the least more skilful than those that lived immediately after the deluge. But they can boast of kindred who were great before the flood, which have for ever passed away, though their existence is proved by their wonderful remains buried in the rocks in every place of our land. And they can more proudly boast of kindred yet alive in foreign climes, numerous almost as the sand on the sea-shore, which have already achieved, what human power could never have accomplished; and which with unwearied assiduity are still carrying on works, which the united efforts of myriads of millions of mankind would in vain attempt to effect.

It will easily be understood that we are speaking of the coral-forming zoophytes of foreign seas. They have wrought wonders in the deep in ages that are past. According to my ingenious friend Mr. Ritchie’s dynamical theory of the formation of the earth, zoophytes and other apulmonic creatures were the only animals that existed in the preadamitic seas, when darkness brooded over the face of the deep, and ere God had yet said, ‘ Let there be light, and there was light ;’—that during countless ages they were working the work assigned to them by their Creator, gradually forming the crust of the earth. At whatever period the work was done, most evident is it that zoophytes must have greatly abounded in the primitive seas, and that then, as now, their constant employment was to separate the carbonate of lime from the waters, thus forming a habitation for themselves, but at the same time unconsciously raising in the deep what was afterwards to be the residence of men, and what was to furnish materials for constructing the cottages of the poor and the palaces of the rich. Most certain it is that the mountain limestone, which abounds throughout our land, so useful in agriculture, in architecture, and in the manufacture of iron the most use ful of metals, was prepared at the bottom of the sea to answer all these important purposes. In breaking up the limestone found in our quarries there is abundant proof of its marine origin, for the organic remains, in general so plentifully found in it, are evidently those of molluscous creatures, and of zoophytes and other animals known to be denizens of the deep.

Well do I remember the delight I experienced many years ago at finding in a little fertile field in my glebe at Stevenston, to which I had recently given a top-dressing of lime from Hullerhirst, in the same Ayrshire parish, the pretty entire remains of a Cassis, or helmet-shell, similar in some degree to those from foreign lands, which are so often placed as ornaments on our mantel-pieces. Though it had passed through the lime-kiln, it still retamed not only its form, but also some traces of its original colouring. It was sent to the Natural History Museum of the University of Edinburgh, where, I doubt not, it remains to this day. In the same limestone quarry I have gathered various Productz, Terebratule, Nucule, Spirifers, &c. Asaphus caudatus has occasionally been found, and a star-fish of the Ophiwra family. Encrinites are also there, and at times pretty Flustra-like zoophytes, as fresh on the rock as if their lacy web had been woven yesterday. The richness of this fossil deposit was first discovered by my lamented friend George Gardner, Esq., whose sudden death in Ceylon gave so much grief when he was rising to so great eminence in the scientific world. In one of our muscological expeditions he had separated from us for a little and wandered into the quarry. On returning to us he held up exultingly - some Zerebratule and a Trilobite, and to our eager inquiry whether there were any more of them, he replied, “ Abundance, they are just hotching.” A knowledge of Scotch 1s necessary to see the force and drollery of this expression. Our polished jambs and chimney mantel-pieces of our native marbles, owe much of their beauty to the remains of more magnificent zoophytes than are now to be found in our

British seas, showing that, under Providence, they had played no inferior part in the olden times in the preparation of what was to gratify the taste and to contribute to the comfort and happiness of the inhabitants of our land in the present day. But their place in our seas is now occupied by those tinier tribes which we are to attempt to describe; zoophytes, as respectable in size and as indefatigable and efficient as the antique, are even now carrying on their mighty operations in the great Pacific Ocean. Our recent British zoophytes have even now, in the Mediterranean Sea, many kindred tribes, which afford employment to some thousands of active seamen in collecting their beautiful works, as well as scope for the taste and industry of many neat-handed artificers ashore, by forming the coral into toys for children, as well as beautiful ornaments for the gay and affluent. Mediterranean corals constitute an article of commerce, and are diligently sought for by persons who fit out vessels for the purpose. They are generally branched in the form of shrubs, and they are broken off from the rocks to which they adhere by long hooked poles. When’a crop of corals has been obtained from a habitat, they who are engaged in the trade do not visit the same place again for about a dozen years, treating the corals as they would the wood of a forest by land.

After ten or twelve years of repose the branches have become a foot or sixteen inches long, and are again ready for the market. They vary much in price, according to the fineness of their tints and the compactness of their structure,—the finest bringing ten guineas an ounce, and the inferior ones not above a shilling a pound.

These Mediterranean corals hold as it were a middle place betwixt our own tiny zoophytes, and the magnificent corals of the great Pacific Ocean. The rate at which the latter grow or increase in size has not yet been accurately ascertained, though it is a matter which bears on questions of considerable scientific importance. Some say that the reefs on which their operations are carried on do not grow above six inches in a hundred years; others again say that from their own observation they are convinced that they grow a foot in a few years. The truth, it is probable, lies between these statements. The rate of growth, as we have said, of Mediterranean corals, has been ascertained with considerable accuracy—not by scientific naturalists, but by rough sailors, who find it their interest to know how often their coral groves yield a fresh crop. Though the rate of growth of our native zoophytes is in many cases matter of uncertainty, yet as we find some of them a foot in height growing on Algse probably not more than two years old, the growth of the zoophyte must be pretty rapid. The growth of Flustra foliacea is often very considerable on Laminaria evideutly only a year old. We have seen the silvery web overspreading the frond of a Laminaria several feet in extent, though the plant was not in all likelihood more than two years old. Though the growth, then, of corals in the Pacific may not be so rapid as even the Mediterranean corals, yet from analogy we are disposed to conclude that their growth is by no means so slow as some imagine. |

But slow or not slow, as coral reefs and coral islands are chiefly the work of marine artificers which are nearly allied in their nature to our British Zoophytes, which we mean to describe, and as their operations are carried on much in the same manner, we are paving the way for the study of the less, when we turn our attention for a little to the

greater. It is like applying the magnifying glass to what is - minute when we become better acquainted with the larger sized relatives. And certainly there is scarcely anything in the whole range of Natural History more deserving of our attention, or better fitted to fill us with wonder and. admiration, than when we see that the great Creator can, by means

INTRODUCTION. ky that might seem to us the feeblest, work out the most astonishing results. Great advantage would redound to us from this study of Natural History, were we more diligently to cultivate the habit of seeing the goodness and wisdom and power of God in the works of his hands. It 1s not enough that we admire beauty and exquisite workmanship, and astonishing results: we should seek habitually to behold not only the wisdom and power of God in these beautiful works, but the great kindness of our Heavenly Father in evidently caring so much for the happiness of the various creatures he has formed.

Williams, in his ‘ Missionary Enterprises,’ when about to give an account of some of the coral reefs and islands of the South Seas, says:—‘The great object for which all knowledge should be sought, and for which it ought to be employed, is to illustrate the wisdom or goodness of the great and beneficent Creator. And if we come to the study of natural phenomena with minds unchilled by scepticism or infidelity, we shall be led to sublime religious contemplations; and whether we examine the little coral insect of the ocean, or gaze upon the gigantic beast of the forest ; whether we study the little glow-worm which twinkles upon the bank, or the celestial luminaries performing their appointed revolutions in majestic silence amidst the vast expanse of infinity, with an ancient and scientific king we shall be led to exclaim, ‘ How manifold, O God, are all Thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all.’

“Yn all our prying researches after knowledge, it is necessary that the mind be firmly established upon two great points—the belief in a Divine creative agency, and in the Divine authenticity of the Sacred Scriptures; having a thorough conviction of the truth of the facts recorded, and of the correctness of the principles laid down. Without these our minds will be led into a dark mysterious void, instead of having our thoughts carried up to the Father of hight and of life.

“With these principles as our ballast, we may launch our bark, without any apprehension, upon the broad ocean of science, explore its coasts, and fathom its depths; but destitute of them our vessel will be in perpetual storm amidst rocks and shoals, without a rudder, a compass, or a chart.

«Thus equipped, you may accompany the geologist into the bowels of the earth, and examine its wondrous structure ; and you will return with an overwhelming conviction that the ‘ Eternal God made the earth by his power, that the pillars of it are his, and that he has set the world upon

INTRODUCTION. i them.’ With the astronomer you may ascend the skies, contemplate with ecstasy the movements of the heavenly bodies, and with the scientific Psalmist you will exclaim, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.’ With the voyager you may visit distant climes, and viewing man in all his multiplied and varied characters, you will be convinced that ‘God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the earth.’ Thus it is that in every age the evidences of revealed religion have advanced with the progress of sound knowledge. Indeed, it cannot be otherwise; for the God of Nature, whose operations it is the province of science to explore, is the God of the Bible; and, as the God of truth, he cannot set forth in his word principles at variance with those which, as the God of Nature, he has established in the material world. Both systems of knowledge, thus emanating from the same source, must harmonize with each other; for the Bible is something like a new edition of the book of nature, with a splendid appendix, which makes known the wonderful scheme of human redemption. If there is any apparent discrepancy in these editions of this same great work, it arises from our inability nghtly to decipher the characters employed.”

** Tf His word once teach us, shoot a ray Through all the heart’s dark chambers, and reveal Truths undiscerned but by that holy light, Then all is plain. Philosophy baptized In the pure fountain of eternal love, Has eyes indeed: and, viewing all she sees As meant to indicate a God to man, Gives Him his praise, and forfeits not her own.”—Cowyper.

The smallest fragment of coral is an object of interest. It is covered with perforations, but these punctures are not intended merely to add to its beauty. Every one of these little holes, or cells as they are called, was the habitation of an industrious polype. During its whole life it was building up its beautiful abode, and that without any painful effort on the part of the inmate, which was all the while enjoying itself amidst the eastern waves, spreading out its numerous tentacula in search of food abounding in the waters; or if threatened with being made the prey of some rapacious neighbour, ready on the slightest warning to retreat into its coral cave, where it was safe as amidst the munition of rocks.

When we admire a specimen of coral on our mantel-piece or in the cabinet of the curious, few are aware that we see not half its beauty. We have before us a portion of a rr —— a beautifully built city ; but where are its gay and active inhabitants? When in its native position in the deep, the numerous inhabitants appeared in bright array at the portals of their houses, like a happy assemblage of living flowers, not inferior in beauty to the flowers which adorn our gardens. Many of our sailors, who bring home to their friends beautiful fragments of coral, are not aware that they were once inhabited; for as they were collected when left uncovered by the tide, the inmates were unseen, having retreated into their moist cells till the waves should revisit them. A ship-master told me that on his first voyage to the South Seas, being delighted with the beautiful corals which aboundéd on the shore, he resolved to bring home presents to his friends in Scotland, and laid in a good supply; but he had not been many days at sea when his collection became so unsavoury that he was glad to throw the whole into the deep. On a second voyage he profited by past experience, and having enclosed his corals in a net he plunged them into the sea, and fastening the net by a rope to the stern, he allowed it to be dragged in the wake of the vessel for several days. When hauled up at the end of this time, the corals were found to be sweet and pure. The little scavengers of the deep had entered the minutest cell, and had eaten up what, in consequence of putrefaction, would soon, as on a former occasion, have sent forth an offensive odour.

How little do we think of the constant care of God for the comfort and happiness of his creatures. He gives even the minutest of them their food in due season, and very often, in furnishing a table for them, he is, through their instrumentality, removing what would not only have led to the discomfort, but would have proved injurious to the health of his rational creatures. Were the millions of animals that are constantly dying allowed to lie till they were utterly decomposed, they would pollute the waters and spread infection in the air. There are, however, on land, beetles that are grave-diggers, and worms that drag into their holes in the earth dead animal and vegetable matter. If a naturalist wishes to have a well-cleaned skeleton of bird or fish, he has only to place it in a pond filled with tadpoles; or if he be in Eastern lands, let him expose it for a night to a colony of white ants, and every particle of flesh or fish will be eaten away, and the beautifully-cleaned skeleton alone will remaim. How delightfully refreshing is it to walk on the sea-shore, where a person feels as if he were drinking in health to both body and mind ;—and yet