in natural history, a species of *Gorgonia*.—The keratophyta are called the *frutices coralloides*, or sea shrubs; and generally known among naturalists by the different appellations of *liophyta*, *lihoxyla*, and *keratophyta*; epithets tending to convey an idea of their composition, which at first view seems to consist partly of a woody or horny, partly of a stony or calcareous substance, variously disposed with respect to each other. Their general form approaches to that of shrubs, having a root-like base, by which they adhere to some solid support in the ocean; and a stem or trunk, and branches differently disposed; some rising up in one or more different twigs, subdivided into smaller and separate ramifications; while others have their smaller branches connected in such a manner, as to form a curious net-like structure: from this diversity of figure they borrow the names of *sea-fans*, *sea-feathers*, &c. The seeming fibres of the base are, in reality, small tubes, of which the whole shrub consists: these tubes run up longitudinally into the trunk, and are also circularly disposed about the centre of the trunk: the woody part, as naturalists have called it, thus formed, affords when burnt a strong smell like burning horn; whence some have called it the *horny part*. Upon this part is superinduced a kind of stony or calcareous coat, which covers both trunk and branches to their extremities. In this coat may be discovered regular orders or pores of cells; and viewed by the microscope, it always appears to be an organic body consisting of a regular congeries, like the cells in which animals have been formed or existed. Some of this kind of bodies have lost their calcareous covering by the violence of the waves and other accidents. In some specimens of an advanced growth, the calcareous tubes just mentioned send out little cells of animals of the polype kind, with proper openings to them all: these cells are diffused along the branches in some regular order, much in the same manner as they are in the corallines. From the cells the animals have been discovered extending themselves, as well to procure food, as materials for the increase of this surprising structure; and therefore there is no reason to doubt that they are animal productions.

A small sprig of the keratophyton *stabelliforme*, or warted sea-fan, is represented in Plate CCL. The outside is covered with a crust full of little lumps. Kerckring (Theodore), a famous physician of the 17th century, was born at Amsterdam, and acquired a great reputation by his discoveries and his works. He found out the secret of softening amber without depriving it of its transparency; and made use of it in covering the bodies of curious insects in order to preserve them. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and died in 1693 at Hamburg, where he had spent the greatest part of his life, with the title of resident of the grand duke of Tuscany. His principal works are, 1. Specilgium anatomicon. 2. Anthropogenie ichnographia. There is also attributed to him an anatomical work, printed in 1671 in folio.

Keri Cetib, are various readings in the Hebrew Bible: keri, signifies that which is read; and cetib, that which is written. For where any such various readings occur, the wrong reading is written in the text, and that is called the cetib; and the true reading is written in the margin, with p under it, and called the keri. It is generally said by the Jewish writers, that these corrections were introduced by Ezra; but it is most probable, that they had their origin from the mistakes of the transcribers after the time of Ezra, and the observations and corrections of the Maimonites. Those Keri-cetibbs, which are in the sacred books written by Ezra himself, or which were taken into the canon after his time, could not have been noticed by Ezra himself; and this affords a presumption, that the others are of late date. These words amount to about 1000; and Dr. Kennicott, in his Differatio Generalis, remarks, that all of them, excepting 14, have been found in the text of manuscripts.