THE EOLIS. 109 



Lansbergii, should be sought for every Aquarium, care 

 being taken to keep them out of the way of the Ane- 

 mones, which they mercilessly attack. Believe in no 

 woodcut representations of these exquisite creatures ; 

 all woodcuts are libels. The plates of Alder and Han- 

 cock's magnificent monograph approach as near to the 

 beauty of nature as can be expected of plates ; but 

 even they necessarily fall short of the delicacy of tissue 

 and witchery of colour often displayed by these animals. 

 There is nothing but actual possession which ought to 

 satisfy you ; and possession is not difficult. 



We delicately lay open the back to expose the 

 stomach, which lies on the dorsal, not the ventral 

 surface. We shall find the Eolis rejoicing in a diges- 

 tive apparatus as perfect as that of an Alderman, but 

 somewhat difi'erent in structure. Stomach, properly so 

 called, it can hardly venture to claim; for that pyri- 

 form pouch which you observe, is rather an expansion 

 of the intestinal tube than a distinct organ. Observe 

 how this tube is continued along the whole length of 

 the body : in some species it is wide and tapering ; in 

 the one before us it is more constricted ; and be par- 

 ticular in noticing how this tube gives off pairs of 

 branches, which again subdivide into smaller branches, 

 and run up into those club -like projections, called 

 dorsal or branchial papillae, the cavities of which they 

 almost entirely fill, sometimes as mere dilations, some- 

 times with shrub -like arborescence. Having thus 

 traced the stomach, the intestine and its ramifications, 

 we must now look out for the next important organ of 



