318 EVENIXGS AT THE MICROSCOPE. 



the peduncle, becoming more and more cloudy and indis- 

 tinct as digestion in the stomach dissolved its tissues. 



The greater portion of the food is by and by dis- 

 charged from the mouth ; the fluids which have been 

 extracted from it being on the other hand carried up 

 through the base of the peduncle, and distributed along 

 the four radiating vessels, conveying nutrition, supply 

 of waste, and growth to all parts of the system. 



We may now liberate our little Sarsia, with thanks 

 for the gratification he has afforded us, to resume his 

 active play among his many companions. Meanwhile 

 we will look for one of another kind among the group. 



Here is a pretty and interesting species. Active it is, 

 but less vigorously rapid in its movements, than either 

 the Bero'6 or the Sarsia. It is, as you see, something 

 less than a hemisphere, or resembling a watch-glass in 

 shape, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. In 

 general character it resembles the Sarsia, but the pe- 

 duncle is small, never reaching to the level of the margin, 

 and its mouth is terminated by four expanding fleshy 

 lips, which are extremely flexible and versatile. 



The four radiating vessels here carry, just before they 

 merge into the marginal canal, a dilatation of the com- 

 mon flesh, which, as you see, bulges out the surface of 

 the umbrella. We will examine one of these dilatations 

 with the microscope. 



It is, as you perceive, occupied by a number of clear 

 globes, each of which has another minute globose body in 

 its interior. They are very diverse in size, some being- 

 very small, others comparatively large ; and it is to the 

 dimensions of these latter that the swelling of the surface 

 of the umbrella is due. These vesicles are the eggs of the 

 animal considerably advanced towards maturity ; and the 

 dilatations around the radiating vessels are the ovaries. 



The margin, however, presents us with the most obvious, 

 and perhaps the most interesting, points of diversity from 



