■'322 EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE. 



You now discern that these bodies are perfectly oval 

 in form. One might, indeed, call them eggs, — for 

 they perform the part of such organisms, — but that 

 they have soft walls, covered on their whole external 

 surface with fine vibratile cilia, by the action of which 

 they are endowed with the power of free locomotion. 

 We see them, in fact, gliding about the water of the 

 live-box under view, with an even and somewhat rapid 

 motion, which appears to be guided by a veritable will. 

 Under this power they are seen to be of a soft rich lake- 

 crimson hue, all over. 



These little gemmules have a somewhat romantic history 

 of their own. I am afraid that these we see are too 

 recent to afford us any help in tracing it, and therefore 

 I must be satisfied with telling you what I have observed 

 of it on former occasions. 



After the beautiful little Coral Jelly has swum about 

 a few days, the umbrella begins to turn outward and 

 backward, and to contract more and more, until at 

 length it lies in shrivelled folds around the top, leaving 

 the whole peduncle exposed. Long before this, the 

 creature has lost its power of swimming, and lies help- 

 less on its side upon the bottom. Meanwhile the 

 orange ovaries have swollen; the purple gemmules 

 have become developed, and have gradually worked their 

 way through the ovaries, and fallen one by one upon the 

 bottom. There then they glide about for a little time, 

 perhaps for a day or so, by means of their vibrating cilia. 



At length each little gemmule loses its power of 

 wandering, its motion becomes feebler and more inter- 

 mitted, and finally ceases altogether. The little being 

 now rests on some solid body, — a stone or a shell, — to 

 which it firmly adheres. Its two extremities grow out, 

 adhering as they extend, and sometimes branching, but 

 still in close and entire contact with the support. At 

 length, after a day or two, from some point of the upper 



