REPORT ON THE DEEP-SEA MEDUSAE. 29 



half of the oesophagus, and its external (abaxial) wall formed above by the umbrella collar, 

 below by the velum. The upper (proximal) margin touches the peripheric margin of the 

 gastral cavity, and corresponds to the exumbral coronal furrow, whilst the lower (distal) 

 margin forms the opening of the umbrella cavity. 



The gastrovascular system (figs. 1, 4) is divided in Cunantha CBginoides, as in all 

 other Narcornedusad, into two essential and very distinct principal parts — into the 

 central stomach with oesophagus, and the peripheric corona of pouches with a circular 

 canal ; the former is fastened to the ventral side of the central umbrella lens, the latter 

 to that of the peripheric umbrella collar. The central stomach (gc) is a flat circular 

 pouch, whose horizontal covering or upper aboral wall is formed by the lower, slightly 

 convex, depressed surface of the central gelatinous lens of the umbrella. The bottom 

 or lower wall of the central stomach, on the contrary, is only a narrow ring, whose thick 

 muscular wall extends downwards like a cone, and becomes a long strong oesophagus 

 (fig. 3, gt). This oesophagus is very mobile and contractile, nearly as long as the 

 horizontal diameter of the umbrella, the upper half conically funnel-shaped, the lower 

 half nearly quadrangular])* prismatic ; it ends below in a narrow oral opening, which 

 sometimes seems quadratic, sometimes circular (fig. 3, na). Like the whole lower wall 

 of the stomach, the proboscis-like oesophagus is capable of great extension and con- 

 traction. 



The peripheric corona of pouches which runs from the periphery of the basis of the 

 stomach (towards the inside of the coronal furrow) begins with four broad perradial 

 gastral pouches, lying crosswise (figs. 2, 4, bg), whose upper (adumbral) wall is sup- 

 ported in its perradial middle line by the stiff tentacle root lying on it (tr). The 

 breadth of the four gastral radial pouches increases remarkably towards the outside, and 

 surpasses the length considerably ; after a short course they bifurcate into two semi- 

 oval c-ecal pointed lobe pouches (figs. 2, 4, hi). These fill the largest part of the sub- 

 umbral wall of the collar lobes, and at the same time represent the genitalia, as the ova 

 are developed from the exodermal epithelium of their subumbral wall (fig. 4, so). Only 

 a few (two to four) large ripe ova lie in each lobe pouch, among numerous others very small 

 and undeveloped. A double clasp canal or peronial canal (fig. 4, ck) runs out between 

 the two lobe pouches of each perradial gastral pouch from the middle of the distal end 

 of the latter. This double canal consists of two narrow parallel tubes, which are separated 

 by the deep furrow of the peronium or umbrella clasp. The two parallel canals diverge 

 on the umbrella margin, at the distal end of the peronium, turn almost rectangularly in 

 contrary directions, and run along the distal margin of the umbrella lobe, in whose centre 

 they unite with the half of the corresponding neighbouring canal running towards them. 

 In this way there is formed a peculiar annular canal shaped like a garland or a festoon, 

 whose arches border the periphery of the umbrella lobes, and whose inverted corner 

 corresponds with the insertion of the tentacle. In proportion, as the arches of the lobe 



