The tentacles or feelers are fishing rods to bring game to the fleshy mouth which is protruded from the centre of the vase. A great many such mouths surrounded with their tentacles are necessary to feed this singular compound creature.
All that I can tell you of these microscopic animals will be nothing compared to a study of them with your own eyes, so I will only give you hints of what you may expect, thereby hoping to create sufficient interest to induce you to stroll to out-of-the-way places, where you may find many of Nature's marvellous works. We want more field workers in every department of Natural History, and especially in microscopy where unexplored fields are awaiting you.
When the tide has receded, various objects of interest will meet your eye at every step. Look at that old dead sea shell covered with a rough, shaggy nap. Ah, as we approach, the shell is moving off! What can it mean? Why, it means that a hermit crab has set up housekeeping in the old shell, and he, no doubt, thinks us suspicious characters and wants none of our company. But we are after microscopic objects now, and this hermit, interesting as he is, is not to claim our attention to-day. The rough coat on the outside of the shell is of more interest.
With the aid of a pocket lens you will find it another zoophyte. You can see the polypes, as thick as they can well stand, rising erect and straight from the shaggy coat like a miniature field of wheat. With a higher power you will see that each mouth is surrounded with tentacles like those of Laomeda, but yet it is quite a different looking creature. If we touch one of these polypes ever so lightly, the great army immediately close their tentacles, for the same life pervades the entire colony, and those on the extreme outer edge feel the contact as quickly as the one we touched.
LARES.
One of the most comical and amusing creatures of all the zoophyte tribe, is figured and described by Mr. Gosse under the name of Lar Sabellarum. He was the first observer of this curious creature; he found it inhabiting the outer edge of the tube of a worm—the Sabella. So when you are looking for microscopic objects do not overlook any tube that you may see standing above the surface of sand and mud, as it may be surrounded by this singular zoophyte. The tubes usually extend an inch or two above the surface, and about as far below. I have found the tubes surrounded with the creatures, but not in as good condition for investigation as those Mr. Gosse mentions. Mine were too thick and crowded to distinguish clearly. But as Mr. Gosse describes them, they have a most close resemblance to the human figure as they stand erect around the mouth of the tube of Sabella.
A loose network surrounds the top of the tube and the strange forms spring from the angles of the meshes. The creatures are furnished with heads, and immediately below the head are two arms. (Fig. 2.) The head moves to and fro on the neck, while the arms are tossed wildly about as if gesticulating in the most earnest manner. Or, as in the wild and disorderly dances of savages the body sways back and forth while the arms are thrown upward and downward in a frantic way.
One summer I found a colony standing so thickly together that they did not show off to very good advantage. Apparently they were like a packed army of Liliputians, striking out with their arms and struggling with one another. But when I came to observe them more carefully, I found they were not interfering with one another at all, but each was intent on his own business of obtaining a livelihood.
