In these actions we apparently
behold as perfect a transmission of will in the zoophyte, though
composed of thousands of distinct polypi, as in any single animal.
The case, indeed, is not different from that of the sea-pens,
which, when touched, drew themselves into the sand on the coast of
Bahia Blanca. I will state one other instance of uniform action,
though of a very different nature, in a zoophyte closely allied to
Clytia, and therefore very simply organised. Having kept a large
tuft of it in a basin of salt-water, when it was dark I found that
as often as I rubbed any part of a branch, the whole became
strongly phosphorescent with a green light: I do not think I ever
saw any object more beautifully so. But the remarkable circumstance
was, that the flashes of light always proceeded up the branches,
from the base towards the extremities.
The examination of these compound animals was always very
interesting to me. What can be more remarkable than to see a
plant-like body producing an egg, capable of swimming about and of
choosing a proper place to adhere to, which then sprouts into
branches, each crowded with innumerable distinct animals, often of
complicated organisations.
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