60 SARSIA PROLIFERA. 
one of the gemme has attained a stage of development far beyond that of the other children 
of its parent, for it has assumed a distinct campanulate form ; its sub-umbrella is lneated by 
the gastro-vascular canals ; its tentacular bulbs are defined, and separated from the margin, 
and present large and conspicuous ocelli, and its tentacles have assumed a definite form and 
ample dimensions. The whole hangs by a very short and slender peduncle to the tentacular 
bulb, which exhibits besides three other buds in early stages of development, ready to advance 
when the firstborn of the parent finger has loosened its ties, and embarked on a free voyage 
of its own. A youthful Sarsta, which has just cast off its leading-strings, is represented at 
3, 7. The funiculus still remains projecting from its summit, and its stomach is so rudi- 
mentary, that, for its own sake, we must wish it a rapid accumulation of new tissue, since at 
present it can scarcely hope to live very long, unless it provides itself with a more efficient 
receptacle for nourishment. Perhaps it was undutiful, and left its mother too soon; all the 
worse for it, and the better for us, since we learn from its examination, that the little process at 
the summit of the sub-umbrella is the remains of the funiculus, and that the umbrella does 
not attain its true shape and dimensions till after the sub-umbrella has been formed, and the 
tentacula and organs of sense comparatively advanced. The great size of the ocelli in these 
young animals, as compared with the entire body, is very striking, especially in the species 
before us, where the ocellus is eventually very small and inconspicuous, though well defined. 
The order of formation of tissues and organs in the Sarsi@ seems to be as follows :—Ist, the 
motor tissue begins; 2d, the cavity of the disk is outlined, though closed; 3d, the pigment 
cells of the ocelli commence to appear; 4th, the cavity opens, and the tentacula grow as lobes ; 
5th, the vessels are formed, and the distinction between the tentacle-bulbs and tentacles 
appears; at this time the veil between the tentacle-bulbs is indicated by lobes, and the 
peduncle appears; and 6th, the mass of the cellular tissue of the umbrella is formed, and the 
peduncle completed after the bud has become free. 
What strange and wondrous changes! Fancy an elephant with a number of little 
elephants sprouting from his shoulders and thighs, bunches of tusked monsters hanging 
epaulette-fashion from his flanks in every stage of advancement! Here a young pachyderm 
almost amorphous, there one more advanced, but all ears and eyes; on the right shoulder a 
youthful Chuny, with head, trunk, toes, no legs, and a shapeless body; on the left an infant, 
better grown, and struggling to get away, but his tail not sufficiently organized as yet to 
permit of liberty and free action! The comparison seems grotesque and absurd, but it really 
expresses what we have been describing as actually occurring among our naked-eyed Meduse. 
It is true that the latter are minute, but wonders are not the less wonderful for being packed 
into small compass. The multitude, being muddle-headed, love magnitude, but the philo- 
sopher does not estimate a whale above a minnow for his mere bigness. ‘‘ Nosci digna heec 
animalcula, non quia Deus maximus in minimis est, eque enim magnus in omnibus, at ob 
eximiam membrorum exilitatem, miram organorum diversitatem, varia Creatoris eundem finem 
obtinenda media et pulchritudinem et proportionem quam nihil excellit.” So wrote Otho 
Frederic Miiller—filled, by his studies of minute life, with a deep spirit of reverence and 
admiration of his monoculi; so might we write of our Medusz. But when to all the wonders 
of their structure are added such surprising physiological facts as those which we have just 
been narrating concerning their reproduction, the spirit of reverent astonishment fills us 
fuller and fuller. ‘‘ La force qui développe, l'intelligence qui spécifie et co-ordonne, l'amour 
