found on the North-east Coast of Ireland. 29 



into the apartment, I noticed that several of the heroes had one 

 of these little animals in the cavity of the stomach, the bright 

 green colouring of the cyclops rendering them particularly obvi- 

 ous, and contrasting beautifully with the crystalline transpa- 

 rency of the body in which they were inclosed. Although the 

 length of these crustacea was equal to the one-fourth of the ave- 

 rajre length of the bodies of their devourers, some of the latter 

 were not content with even this quantity of food, for two heroes 

 were noticed in each of which two of the cyclops were contained. 



If, however, the heroes prey upon the small crustacea, they 

 in turn furnish a supply of food to medusae more powerful than 

 themselves. On the 12th of May I took a small medusa of the 

 genus Callirhoe, but of a species undescribed by Lamarck, and 

 placed in the glass vessel with it a beroe which had been taken 

 at the same time. While the latter was swimming round the 

 glass with that lively and graceful movement for which it is so 

 remarkable, it came in contact with the filiform tentacula attach- 

 ed to the arms of its companion. The arms instantly closed, 

 and the beroe was a prisoner. I endeavoured to separate them, 

 and for thisr purpose moved them about, by pushing them with 

 a camel-hair pencil, but without effect. In about half an hour 

 afterwards, when I again observed them, they were asunder, the 

 beroe swimming about, and the cilia of its bands vibrating as 

 briskly as usual. It had not, however, escaped uninjured from 

 its captor. The Callirhoe had taken from the body of the beroe 

 " a huge half moon, a monstrous cantle out." In fact the por- 

 tion thus removed occasioned a vacancy which extended trans- 

 versely across three of the bands, and longitudinally for about 

 the one-third of its entire length. The being who had suffered 

 this mutilation seemed, however, quite unconscious of its misfor- 

 tune, moved about in every respect as before, and for four days, 

 during which I afterwards kept it, seemed to possess all its 

 powers in unimpaired activity. 



To this instance of apparent insensibility to pain may be added 

 one illustrative of the extent to which the principle of vitality, or 

 of vital irritability, seems embued throughout every portion of 

 its]frame. On one occasion two heroes were taken after a storm, 

 with some of the cilia abraded, and other parts of the body shat- 

 tered and even torn. Any of the cilia, however, which were at- 



