382 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the prevailing colour and in the adults a dark reddish 

 brown. A few adult specimens were taken with brilliant 

 crimson tentacle-bulbs and with the ring and radial canals 

 also full of a crimson pigment, not in circulation, but as 

 small particles in the endoderm cells. These brilliantly 

 coloured specimens are an exception and duller colours 

 usually prevail. Another medusa — Euphysa aurata — 

 shows a similar brilliancy of colour in a few specimens 

 only. 



The most interesting feature connected with this 



medusa is the carrying of young hydroids in the umbrella 



cavity. So far as I know this has not been recorded 



before in any other medusa. I first observed this in the 



specimens taken in 1893 which led me to obtain more 



specimens in 1894 so that I might investigate the 



development of the ovum. This I have nearly completed 



by means of series of sections and the results will be 



published soon. When the medusa first appeared at the 



end of March the asexual method of budding medusae 



from the base of the large tentacle alone existed, which 



must add considerably to the original number of medusae 



which leave the hydroid. Each medusa buds off at least 



four other medusae, all of which become sexual later on, 



and some of the young medusae have also medusa-buds. 



About the middle of April the reproductive cells began to 



appear on the manubrium, at first as a slight swelling of a 



transparent gelatinous appearance, faintly tinged with a 



yellowish-brown colour. When squeezed, the mass breaks 



up into small round cells (germinal cells), each with a 



nucleus. As these cells increase in size a large oval mass 



is formed upon the manubrium. It appears from sections 



that one of the original germinal cells becomes the ovum 



which increases in size at the expense of the other germinal 



cells which are absorbed. The ovum remains attached to 



