I shall conclude with a few remarks on the best methods of studying and preserving the 
Naked-eyed Medusz. 
They are to be sought for in summer and autumn, when the weather is warm and dry, and 
the sea calm and clear. They abound, within reach, mostly in the afternoon and towards night- 
fall—probably also during the night, though not then so near the surface of the water. A small 
bag of fine muslin, attached to a metal ring, is the best instrument by which to take them, 
and may be used either as a hand-net fixed to the end of a stick or pole, or as a tow-net 
suspended over the stern of a vessel, when at anchor, or making very gentle way through 
the water. My friend Professor Acland took great numbers at Oban, by attaching a tow-net 
to the buoy in the bay, and leaving it there during the night. They abound most in sheltered 
bays near strong tideways or headlands projecting into the Atlantic. The majority 
being oceanic, they are most numerous and varied on those parts of our shores which are 
touched by oceanic currents. Hitherto the Zetlands, Hebrides, and coasts of Cornwall have 
yielded the greater number of species. Many new forms may be expected to occur on the 
Atlantic coasts of Ireland. Indeed, I fully expect that the number of British species will be 
doubled within the next ten years, now that attention is directed to these beautiful little 
animals. 
When the tow-net is taken out of the sea it is to be carefully reversed, and its contents 
gently emptied into a basin or glass jar, filled with clear salt water. It is best to plunge the 
net beneath the surface when being emptied, as thus the Medusze are enabled to detach 
themselves from the threads, and swim away without injury. When the net is out of the water, 
they appear like little, adhering, shapeless masses of clear jelly, and exhibit no traces of their 
elegant form and ornaments. When in the jar or basin, they are often, on account of their 
extreme transparency, very difficult to distinguish, but by placing the vessel in the sun, or 
beside a strong artificial light, we see their shadows floating over the sides and bottom of the 
basin, like the shadows of flitting clouds ona landscape. These soon guide us to the creatures 
themselves, and before long we distinguish their ocelli and coloured reproductive organs. 
The next step is to secure such as we wish to examine closely, and transfer them to watch- 
glasses or small glass tubes. To do this is often not an easy task, for when alarmed they 
are extremely agile and alert; so that if we attempt to capture them with a teaspoon, they 
usually escape us, or if taken, by their slippery nature, slide out of the spoon whilst we pour 
away the superabundant water. This difficulty may be got over by using a small but deep 
glass spoon, with its handle set very obliquely. When we have placed some in a glass tube 
with a little water, or in a small compressed glass jar, which I find an excellent aid in exa- 
mining them, we can observe their profile, the changes their body undergoes when 
contracting and expanding, and the extent to which the creature can lengthen its tentacula. 
We then place them in a watch-glass and submit them to microscopic examination, 
carefully noting the number, colour, form, and structure of the ocelli and tentacula, the 
arrangement of the gastro-vascular canals and reproductive glands, and the form and 
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