YCALEPHYE. 527 



ACALEPH^E. 



Lesson (Histoire naturelle des Zoophytes. Acalephes. 

 Paris, 1843) has arranged the Acalephse in the " Suites a 

 Buff on." As this naturalist liacl made a voyage round the 

 world, and enjoyed sufficient opportunities of seeing most of 

 these marine animals in a fresh state and alive, it was fair 

 to expect that he would be most completely master of his 

 subject ; his performance, however, has but little corre- 

 sponded with this expectation. With the internal structure 

 of the Acalephse and the history of their development Lesson 

 appears to have given himself small concern. In this work 

 he has, for the most part, thrown loosely together all the 

 materials appertaining to the subject, without working them 

 up into a whole, and in doing this has caused to be printed 

 quite literally only those German writings that have appeared 

 as translations in the French journals, whilst he has ignored 

 the remaining German works, with the excuse that he had 

 met with no translator for them, although there are, in 

 Paris, numerous persons who live by translating German 

 works. The Reporter consequently restricts himself, on the 

 present occasion, merely to exhibiting Lesson's systematic 

 arrangement of the Acalephse. He institutes in them the 

 following eight families : I. BEROID.E, with the eight tribes : 

 Cestoidese, Callianirse, Leucothoese, Calymmese, Neisidse, 

 Ocyroe33, Cydippse, and Berose. II. MEDUSA, which has 

 four subdivisions. (1) Medusa without proboscis and stem, 

 with the five tribes : Endorse, Carybdese, Marsupialse, Nuclei- 

 feres, Berenicidse ; (2) True Medusse, with the three tribes : 

 Thalassanthse, ^Equoridse, Oceanidse ; (3) Medusse with a 

 stem ; and (4) Medusse with a proboscis, with the two tribes: 

 Monostomse and Polystomse. III. DIPHYD^E, with the three 

 tribes : Polygastricse, Moiiogastricse, and Dubise. IV. 

 POLYTOM^E or PLETHOSOM.E, with the two tribes : Plethosomse 

 and Stephanomise. V. PHYSOPHOK/E, with the seven 

 tribes : Rhizophorse, Discolabse, Angelse, Athorybise, Physo- 



