NKW SI'KCIKS i)K ('|;A\V1,I\i; .\IKl>rSA KKd.M AI'SIRALIA lIl.'KK'.S. 95 



Till' Meiliisii w;is also stiulird by iiu-aiis of lixcd inalcria 1. Sctial 

 sei'tioihs were fiit in two diieftioiis, transversely and veitioally, and were 

 stained witlr Klirlieli's HaMiiatoxy lin followed by Kusin. The sections 

 were cnl in t liieUnesses vai'ving from c'^ to 10 ^t. 



MkTHOIi of CoIJ.KCTlNC. 



The searcli for the crawling Medusa has been conducted at Point 

 I'iper, Port Jacksv)n, from low water-mark down to tliree to five feet below 

 it. The material was obtained by scraping down the face of a weed- 

 i-overed wall and collecting tlie dislodged masses of sea-weed and other 

 marine growths in a small liand dredge provided with a hessian bag 

 weighted witii a stone and snnk from three to five feet beh)w the surface 

 of the water. At the same time a net of fine bolting silk attached to a 

 wire ring on the end of a liglit pole was swept backwai'ds and forAvards 

 through the water in oi-der to catch any specimens which may have been 

 set free during the scraping of the wall. 



The sea-weed from the dredge along with the contents of the net was 

 emptied into a biuiket of sea- water, well broken up, and thorough U' 

 agitated in order to detach any Aledii^^e which might be adhering to the 

 sea-weed, etc. The contents of the bucket were then poured oft' into* 

 another vessel through a coarse wii-e sieve in order to remove tlie moie 

 bulky material. The water with its sediment was next filtered thiough 

 tine bolting silk. The material caught on the silk was finally washed into 

 a small dish of sea-water and examined with a. binocular dissecting 

 microscope provided with a black background. 'JMie crawling Medusae 

 were picked out from anumg the fine debris by means of a pipetle and 

 transferred to small pots of sea-water for furthei' observation. 



When searching foi' the hydroid stage a dift'erent method was 

 employed, the sea-weeds being lemoved straight to glass vessels and 

 woi-ked over with a dissecting miciosci>pe. I have not, however, succeeded 

 in tracing the Medusa to the hydroid foini. 



Haiuts. 



I'rior to the publication of Gilchrist's observations on living speci- 

 mens of ('. (•(ijiciise, very little was known about the habits of t,he crawling 

 Medusne of the Southern Hemisphere. Browne httd recorded the inter- 

 esting fact that C. rulleiifliii had been observed to swim ; and altlu)ugh 

 Vanh(")ften examined and sketclied the living animals at Kerguelen Island, 

 he did not lefer to their habits beyond the brief meutii)n that his 

 specimens wei-e found crawling over the lobes of the thallus of a sea-weed 



in habits the crawling Medusa from Poit Jackson is very similai- to 

 the (Jape species — the mode of pi-ogression, the adhesive power of the 

 tentacles, and the difficulty experienced by the animal in legaining its 

 light position when placed on its back, agree entirely with Ciilchi-ist's 

 desri-iption. The latter's remaiks on the peculiar jerking movements 

 exhibited by the tentacles when the anitnal is stationary apply eijually 

 well to the form at present under consideration. 



