126 POPULAR HISTORY OF THE AQUARIUM. 



seaweeds, and expanding its web-like disc in the transpa- 

 rent water, presents one of the most beautiful objects that 

 can be conceived. It has been found on Fuel, on the 

 coast of Devonshire, by Montagu and Tleming ; and at 

 Weymouth, by Gosse. From its elegant form it suggests 

 a variety of comparisons, such as the flower of convolvulus, 

 the expanded mouth of a trumpet, a hanging bell, and a 

 small Medusa, 



It has a short knotted stalk, which is capable of adhering 

 to the stems on which it hangs, or of gliding along it and 

 shifting its position. The narrow end of the bell is at- 

 tached to this stalk, and is divided by eight beaded or 

 knotted ribs. The bell expands rather suddenly towards 

 the outer extremity, where it attains the form of an octa- 

 gonal disc. The disc is thin and filmy, and at each angle 

 of the octagon is a little claster of thread-like tentacles, 

 which are, like those of Cari/oph?/Uea, globular at the ends. 

 Mr. Gosse thus describes his examination of some young 

 specimens : — " Collecting a basketfull of tufts at random, 

 I brought them home ; one by one I waved them to and 

 fro, in the tank of water, between my eye and the light, 

 whereby the animals became distinctly discernible, and were 

 easily detached. Sometimes four or five were scattered over 



