Excerpt from United States Exploring Expedition, During the Year 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, Under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U. S. N: Zoophytes Although the external resemblance to objects of the vegetable king dom is so striking, there is little similarity in actual structure. Each of these flower-animals has a mouth, and a cavity to receive and digest food and the appendages that look like petals are organs fitted either for securing their prey or for some other animal function. Some species have actually been fed, and the process of digestion watched by the naturalist. They are not always invisible animalcules, as has been the common impression on the contrary, many of the most common varieties are half an inch in diameter, while others are one, two, or three inches, and still others are a foot to eighteen inches. Neither have they the consistence of jelly, for the texture is usually more like flesh, and the exterior is sometimes quite firm and even leathery. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.