anatomical provision for this purpose. No mouth, 

 no orifice of any kind can I find which indicates 

 that the animals actually eat. Yet, not only do they 

 pass an active existence, using up much energy in 

 their cavorting career, but they also actually in- 

 crease in size. 



I now set about to transfer some of the water of 

 the tanks to various smaller receptacles: for it is 

 becoming plain as time goes on that the mother 

 jellyfishes will not endure. And their death, entail- 

 ing as it must disintegration and decay, will be 

 dangerous to the smaller fry; thus threatening 

 grief to future observations. 



Barely are my precautions taken before the 

 larval hordes cease swimming and sink to the bot- 

 toms of their jars. 



Have I, by making this change, unwittingly 

 brought about their end? . . . Are these rovers of 

 the open sea incapable of living elsewhere than in 

 their natural habitat*? . . . So for a space it seems. 

 Then I subject the various containers to a careful 

 examination. Thereupon is disclosed the real rea- 

 son for my dismay. 



The larvae are far from dead. But a decided 

 change, indeed, has taken place in their appear- 



[369] 



