PATTERN OF BUDDING 339 



The second groups of all the main zone cormidia were tripartite, whereas this condition was found 

 only in the first and fifth cormidia of the oral zone. Lee-branches were found only in cormidium i 

 of the oral zone, the best developed, whereas they occurred in all the main zone cormidia. Aboral 

 branches were absent from cormidia 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the oral zone, but all the cormidia except VII of 

 the main zone had an aboral branch. Fewer lateral groups occurred in the oral zone than in the main 

 zone. All the main zone cormidia consisted of at least seven groups, and one of them (I) had thirteen. 

 In the oral zone all the cormidia had four groups at least and one of them (1) had ten. 



f il'l 1 M 



Text-fig. 19. Physalia physalis. Young right-handed specimen, K2, viewed from above, 

 showing the positions of the seven main zone cormidia. 



Now that I have made a fresh study of Physalia I can in general confirm the facts given by Steche 

 (191 o, p. 361) about the main zone of cormidia in young specimens except that I find seven cormidia. 

 This is the most valuable part of his paper, being an analysis of young specimens collected by' Vettor 

 Pisani ' in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The earlier part of the same paper dealing with still 

 younger developmental stages was based on deductions made from figures by Huxley and Haeckel. 

 This part, in my view, is not of much value because these figures themselves are not all of sufficient 

 accuracy to be reliable. Haeckel's (1888) figures in particular are obviously simplified, idealized and, in 

 some respects, erroneous as Steche suspected.* There is a further useful criticism I must make of 



* For instance Haeckel's fig. 3 of a specimen purporting to be about 17 mm. in float-length was probably finished from a 

 wrongly interpreted sketch. It shows a large ampulla at the base of the primary polyp where one never develops. In the 

 original sketch, no doubt this was correctly meant to represent the oral end of the float, but in the finished drawing, a gap has 

 appeared between this end of the float and the oral zone of cormidia which is labelled as a tentacle. The tiny tentacle so 

 characteristic of the primary polyp can just be recognized at its base. It is shown clearly in Haeckel's fig. 4. His fig. 3 does 

 show what might be taken to be five cormidia in the main zone as one would expect, but the gonodendra have been repre- 

 sented as too far advanced in development, and the ampulla of the cormidium at the oral end of the main zone appears to be 

 unusually large. The muscular lamella uniting the ampulla to the base of the tentacle has been omitted, and the extent of the 

 remains of the deflated crest is not properly indicated. All these points show that deductions made from this sort of figure 

 are unreliable, although the figure does show correctly the first three large secondary gastrozooids to appear. I am a great 

 admirer of Haeckel's industry and artistic ability and generally speaking his figures are a great advance on anything available 

 in his day. 



