MEDUSA. 



27 



able to provide this clue by means of my figures of Eleutln i'in nifl,-n/iit!, but they 

 have not yet been published, and only a preliminary description of the Medusa has 

 been printed. To any one who has seen either specimens or drawings of Elfutlurin 

 mil, i/tnii or E. hodgsoni it would be fairly easy to identify the genus. 



Eleutheria charcoti, now called by its rightful name, is, I consider, a new species, 

 and is distinguished from E. vallentini and E. hodgsoni by the radial canals having 

 slender lateral branches with a tendency towards anastomosis. As I have compared 

 Prof. Bedot's figures with the original specimens, I must say that his drawings arc 

 of the greatest accuracy, even to the minutest details. 



The largest specimens of Eleutherin in the ' Discovery ' collection have 20 to 

 32 tentacles, and in general appearance closely resemble the species from Falkland 

 Island. Each tentacle is bifurcated, the upper branch has clusters of nematocysts and 

 the lower is provided with a terminal adhesive disc. There are more clusters of 

 nematocysts, and their position upon the branch is different from that of E. vallentini, 

 but similar to that in E. charcoti. They are arranged laterally along the branch, i.e. 

 at right angles to the clusters of E. valient hii. 



There are also other characters, which will be mentioned later on, showing that 

 the Eleutheria in the ' Discovery ' collection is specifically distinct from the one found 

 in the Falklands. The two Antarctic species are more closely related to one another 

 than to E. vallentini 



I have much pleasure in associating the new Antarctic Eleutheria, brought 

 home by the ' Discovery,' with the name of Mr. T. V. Hodgson, whose perseverance 

 and energy under the most trying conditions have led to a very considerable advance 

 in our knowledge of the marine fauna of the Antarctic region. 



Our knowledge of the habits of Ele-utlier'm is almost entirely based upon 

 Eleutheria dichotoma, which only moves about by crawling, and is apparently 

 incapable of propelling itself through the water. There is no evidence that it uses its 

 tentacles for swimming, and its umbrella is far too much reduced for that purpose. 

 Mr. Vallentin saw the Falkland Eleutheria alive, and states in his notes that it 

 is able to swim at a fairly respectable pace by means of its tentacles, which rapidly 

 open and close, and so in a manner the Medusa rows itself along. But it evidently 

 prefers to crawl amongst seaweed, for Mr. Vallentin writes in his notes, " These 

 ambulatory gonozooids appear to live on a fine weed which is uniformly spread over 

 the bottom of the harbour. The gonozooids are always on the move, crawling in and 

 out of the fine filaments and twisting themselves into the most peculiar shapes as 

 they slowly progress through the miniature tangled forest." 



Mr. Hodgson informed me that he caught his specimens in a tow-net, which was 

 left all night over the stern of the ' Discovery.' The ship was at anchor and swung 

 with the tide. 









