BUDDING TENTACLES OF GONIONEMUS. 



243 



made without a considerable body of facts before us, coming 

 from actual observations on this particular point ; facts which it 

 would be very difficult if not impossible to obtain. It seems to 

 me, however, that we can suggest a probable answer from con- 

 ditions observed in other cases, which bear more or less directly 

 on this point. A comparison of -Figs, i and 2 with some of 

 those in Hargitt's paper show that buds do not always arise 

 from pads. Indeed of the six figures of bifid and trifid tentacles 

 shown in that paper and in this, only two show the bud as 

 arising from the pad. This alone would show quite conclusively 

 that there is no necessary or regular connection between the bucl 



FIG. 3. 



Fn:. 4. 



and the suctorial pad. This is further emphasized by the fact 

 that F found nine tentacles having each three pads, apparently 

 well developed and functional, and yet there was not the least 

 sign of buds arising from any of the pads. These facts all point 

 directly toward an unusual predisposition to a duplication of 

 organs, and this perhaps offers the most satisfactory explanation 

 of the budding and bifurcation of tentacles. 



C5 



The bud showed a constriction near its middle region, but did 

 not present externally any signs of annulation, or rather of the 

 ectodermal ridges present on the old tentacle. However, nemato- 

 cysts were present in abundance. The general appearance of the 



