The ocean / By P.H. Gosse.

  • Gosse, Philip Henry, 1810-1888.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The ocean / By P.H. Gosse. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to the tip, representing the vane. Along the upper edge of each of these pinna are placed the cells, inhabited by minute, white, eight-rayed Polypes. The stem contains a long, needle-shaped bone, very slender at each extremity, which is bent backwards so as to form a hook. Some authors have affirmed that the Sea-pen swims freely in the sea by the waving motion of its pinna, but modern observa- tions tend to throw discredit on this statement, which in itself seems improbable: the fishermen affirm that it abides with its stem inserted in the mud at the bottom; and those which have been kept for observation have remained at the bottom of the vessel, without any apparent power of even turning over on the other side. This species, as its scientific name imports, is one of the many ani- mals that inhabit the sea, which are endowed with the faculty of producing light: in this instance, it appears from experiments that the power is exerted as a means of defence, as only when injured or irri- tated does the animal give out its light, which is of a faint bluish cast. Its sudden illumination at the bottom of the sea may have the effect of terrifying some of its enemies, and of thus protecting it from the dangers to which its otherwise helpless frame would be exposed.