82 Rev. T. Hincks on the Reproduction of the Campanulariad^e, 



at a complete knowledge of this interesting department of phy- 

 siology. While there are still many points altogether undeter- 

 mined, and many more respecting which greater certainty is 

 desirable, every contribution of accurate observation, however 

 humble, has a certain value. It is with this conviction that I 

 have prepared the following notes, embodying the observations 

 which 1 have been able to make on some of the British Campa- 

 nulariadce. 



Campanularia Syringa. 



The polype of this pretty species is furnished with sixteen ten- 

 tacula, or even more. It is very slender and graceful^ and pro- 

 trudes far beyond the mouth of the cell. 



The conical operculum is composed of many pieces. These 

 give way to allow of egress, and close as soon as the body of the 

 polype is withdrawn. 



The vesicles are oval, mounted on a very short stalk with one 

 or two rings. I am unable to say whether they are of rare oc- 

 currence ; but they are not described by either Dr. Johnston or 

 Sir J. G. Dalyell. 



Towards the close of April I obtained a specimen of the Cam- 

 panularia parasitical on Sertularia argentea, on which the vesicles 

 occurred in great profusion. They presented a very remarkable 

 appearance. Each vesicle was surmounted by a spherical body 

 containing an opake nucleus, which occupied nearly the whole 

 of its interior (PL III. fig. I). The vesicle itself was traversed 

 by a central column, which widened as it approached the top and 

 expanded into a somewhat roundish mass immediately below the 

 orifice. Occasionally one was met with in an earlier stage of 

 development. Here the external sac with its contained ovum was 

 wanting, and the vesicle exhibited the appearance represented 

 in PI. III. fig. 2. The column extended only about half way up 

 the vesicle, and terminated in an oval body containing granular 

 matter, and freely supplied by the nutrient stream which per- 

 vaded the entire zoophyte. This was evidently an " ovigerous 

 bud ^' in process of formation. In by far the greater number of 

 cases, however, the ova- bearing bodies had passed beyond the 

 mouth of the vesicle and were attached to the top of it. 



I was not fortunate enough to see any of the ova in the act of 

 escaping, but one was found in the watch-glass which had evi- 

 dently just emerged from its prison-house. It was circular, 

 opake white, and set round with very fine cilia. Subsequently I 

 noticed one of the sacs with a rent or opening in its side, towards 

 which the ovum seemed to be working its way. 



By compressing some of the vesicles between glass, and then 

 examining them with the microscope, the details of their struc- 



