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Show \ I x8 'Ibe Hi)Jory of P L A N T S. 3· Alcyonium rotundum cavum. Round hollow Alcyonium. This is a very fingular fp.ecies, tho' lefs beautiful th.an the two former. It ~ro~s to the rocks by a circulr1.r rim, furrounded with a mulutude of fibres. The nm ~s about an eighth of an inch broad; the circle it makes is often three quar.ters of an tnc!l · n diameter and the internal fpace has no part of the plant annexed to It. From this ~ircular bare the plant cxterrds itfelf to the bignels of a man's ~!l, but the hollow fiill continues. The whole con:Gfis only of a crufi: of a :Gxth of an mel~, or thereabout, in thickncfs which is compofed of rigid fibres, ari:Gng from the Circular bale, and running thr;ugh the whole plant, varioufiy entangled with one another, and frequently meeting and coalefcing together; thefe fibres. are fo numerous, and fo well connetled by their inofcula tions, that they fo~·m a contmuous fubflance clofe toward the fu.rface, but more lax within and of a m1ddle degree of den:Gty between the two fpec1es already defcribed. The cavity contained w.ithin this globul~r cafe is large, and is always full of fea-water. The plant is fomet1~1 es of a ~reentfh, but more ufually. of a browniili yellow colour; but it grows white, ~n bemg .beat about on the 0ore. Imperatus defcribes this ui~der the na~e of Aurantmm mannum ; others call. It Burfa marina, and Pannum mannum. It IS frequent about the coafis of the Mediterranean. 4· Alcyonium· ovatum cortice durio'ri. The oval Alcyoninm with a hard coat. This fpecies fomewhat refembles the former in ihape, but it differs g:eatly i.n it:s firutlure. It rifes from a circular bafe, and ufually there grows from this a cylmdnc neck iliort and thick, which from it's top exp~nds into an oval figure. The whole plan;, as in the former fpecies, is compofed of rigid fibres, variou~y entangled. one with another, but they are laid lefs clofe together. Th~ furface IS covered Wlth a kind of bark formed of the fame fibres, more clofely mterwoven, and frequen tly inofculating a~d cohering one with another. This crufi is but thin, b4t aU there is of the fibrous fubfiance, that compofes the plant, is propagated from it toward the center. The colour of the whole is a browni(h grey, it's fize very uncertain I have feen moffes of it twice as big as a man's head, but the bignefs of an orange is it's more ufual :Gze. It is often thrown up on the coafis of Italy. It fometimes grows to fiones, fometimes to other fea plants. Imperatus has defcribed it. under the nat~le . of Alcyonium tuberofun,1; and C. Bauhine under that of Alcyonmm forma ahcujUS ficus. · The other fpecies of the Alcyonium, properly fo called, will be undcrfi:ood fu ffic iently by their names, after thefe defcripti ons of the more fin gular on es. They are, I. The harder, fpongious, and porous tuberous Alcyonium. 2. T he funn el-{haped Alcyonium. 3· The foft branched Alcyonium. 4· The great, hard, a'rborefcent Alcyonium. 5· The yellowi£11, ramofe, and fofter Alcyonium. 6. The ramofe fcabrous Alcyonium. S r.l B M A R I N E S. Clafs the Second. Genus the Firfi. Thofe of a firm texture, tough and elajtic. CAMPY L I U M. AMP Y L I U M is a genus of Submarines, con:Gfling of a tough, flexible mat-ter, ufually formed into a kind of fhrubby appearance, and covered with a hard or gritty crufi, in which the fruCtification feems to be placed in little granules wi th open tops. The Campylia agree with the corals, in the having this kind of crufi for this purpofe; they differ from them in their wanting the fiony hardnefs, which charatleri[ es the others. The botanical wri ters in general have agreed to arrange thefe plants into a genus by themfelves, but they have called them by generical names, not properly expreffive of them. Tournefort calls them, Lithophy a, or fl:ony plants, a name The Hiftory of P L A N T S. 19 name that any bo~ y will perceive belongs not properly to them, but to the corals. Linnmn calls them LithoxyL1, cxp~·dJin g them to be par ly o[ a woody, part ly of a fiony nature ; and Boerhaave, ac ordmg to the h ard n t:f~ of d .. etr cru fis, arranges them into two genera, under the names of Ceratophyta and T itanoceratophyta. As what has been m ant to be exp1 effed by thefe gcott ical names, h<tS been principally the flexile texture of the pbnt:s, which fome have exprt:ffed by refembling it to that of horn, others to that of' wood, neither 'of which fobfiances the plams tbem(e]ves truly refernble; it feems more proper to call them by a name which exprc!fcs only their being flexil e, without conveyi ng an idea of a refe nblatJcc which does not exifi. L innc:cus feem not to have bet:n aware, that his gcncrical charatler of the Lithoxyla took in the corals, which he afterwards makes anOther genus. r . CampJdiztm cora!ltforme. Coral-like Cam.pylium. This is the plant which we ufually meet with, under the name of black coral. It grows fi·om a flat b1fe, 'of the thicknefs of a !hilling, which extends itfelf for two or three inches over the rocks, and ailtunes the form of the part of them it grows on. F10rn this bafe there ufuallji ifes a fi ngle fiem , fometimes more, of the thicknefs of a man's li ule finge r. Th~s runs up fin gle three or four inches, and then begins to divaricate and fend off branches. T he height of the whole plant is from eight inches to a foot or more, its branches fcldom fend out any other fmaller ones ; fo that the whole reprefents very well a fh rub of red coral, except that it is lefs thick in proportion to it's height. It's colour is a dark brown, approach ing to black ; it's fur.flce is not per£ Clly fm~ oth : it is cxtreamly flexile, indeed it will not be broken without confide rabl~ diffic ulty. ~ tis fr~qucn tly found in this naked fiate, but, where perfeCt, it has a whi tiili crufi , f riable, and compofed of a gritty matter extended over it's furface; this is of· the ~ hicknefs of a i11illing or more, and is beautifully mar ked with cavities and openings. Moil of the botanical writers have de[cribed this fpecics. Tonrnefo_ rt calls it, ~ithophyto n nigrum arboreum ; and others, Corallium nigrum, and Ant1pathes. It IS common about the !ho1es of the Bermudas, and in many other pl ces. 2 . Campylittm ramoji.Jlimum fruticiforme. The jhrttb-like extreamly branched Campylium Th~s is an extreamly elegant plant. I t grows to three or four feet high, and extends Its branches to more than that mcafure in diameter. It ri les from a broad and thick ba[e, a01xed to fome rock or la:ge ~one, and confot ming itfelf to its D1ape. From thts there grows a fiem or trunk ol an mch and half or mort in diameter ; this rifes fin gle to the h ight of four or five inches, and then it begins to fend out branches from fpace to fpace on every fide ; the largefi of thefe arc fometimcs as thick as a man's thumb at the bafe, and a foot and half or more in length : thefe branches fend off others, an~ ~ho{e fiill ~ nd out more, fo that th whole phnt looks cxtrcamly bu!hy; ~h e extrenu ttes of all the branches are long and Dendcr filaments. While the plant is In the water, thefe extend thcmfelves. every yvay, and ~ake a very beautiful appearance; but,_ when taken. out, they droop wtth thetr own we1gbt. The plant is of a tough, flext le matter, ~t ke ~he otbcrs of th is clafs, and is, when perfect, covered wirh a cruH, formed o~ a gntty m::rtter, hke that of the others, but of a very beautiful red colour, fo that 1t adds gr~:.1tly to the beauty of t!1e plant. It grows about the Cape of Good Hope, near the 1iland of Ceylon, and 111 fome parts of the Amcric..tn feas. Moil df the botanical writers have defcribed it. Clufius calls it Fwtex marinus elegantiffimus ; and C. Bauhine, Corallina cortice reticulate pmpur;tfccnte. 3· Campylium ramojum reticulare. Branched reticulated Campy lium. This is another elegant fpe~ies , very fiogular in its manner of growing. It rifes ~om a large, flat, and very thtck bafe. It's trunk is an inch or two in diameter. It IS finglc to ~bout five or fix inches in height, but there divaricates into two branches, whtch foon after divide again, and fend out a vafi number of finallcr ramifi- ~;ations. |